Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex is an administrative grouping of six National Wildlife Refuges in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, managed by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

. It includes: * Flattery Rocks National Wildlife Refuge (, ) * Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge (, ) * Copalis National Wildlife Refuge (, ) * Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge () * Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge () * San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuge ()

Washington Islands Wilderness refuges

Flattery Rocks, Quillayute Needles, and Copalis are a group of 870

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s, rocks, and

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...

s extending for more than 100 miles along

's coast from

Cape Flattery Cape Flattery () is the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States. It is in Clallam County, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean. It is also part of the Makah Reservation, and ...

to Copalis Beach. These islands are protected from human disturbance, yet are close to abundant ocean food sources. They make up the Washington Islands Wilderness and are closed to the public, with wildlife observation only from boats and the mainland, and a 200-yard buffer zone surrounds each island. Only

Tatoosh Island Tatoosh Island is a small island and small group of islands about offshore (northwest) of Cape Flattery, which is on the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Tatoosh is the largest of a small group of islands also often refe ...

, James Island, and Destruction Island are not included in the

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

, which was established in 1970. The wilderness has a total land area of covering over of ocean. More than a million seabirds,

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

, and

shorebird 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s may live on the islands during migration season. Breeding colonies of 14 species of

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

s use these rocks to raise their young. Mammals that live near the islands include

sea lion Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...

s, sea otters, and

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s.^{/sup>

These three lie within the boundary of Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is one of 15 marine sanctuaries administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Declared in 1994, the sanctuary encompasses of t ...
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
). Along with nearby Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...
the three agencies cooperate on research programs and other issues that may have impacts on the resources.

The refuges were originally created as Flattery Rocks Reservation, Quillayute Needles Reservation, and Copalis Rock Reservation on October 23, 1907, by executive orders from Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
. They were renamed by a presidential proclamation on July 25, 1940. Flattery Rocks encompasses the islands off the Washington coast between latitudes 48° 02′ North and 48° 23′ North, Quillayute Needles those between latitudes 47° 38′ North, and 48° 02′ North, and Copalis those between latitudes 47° 08′ North, and 47° 29′ North. James Island was removed from Quillayute Needles in 1966 and returned to the Quileute when the island was discovered to be part of the Quileute Indian Reservation
The Quileute Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation for the Quileute people located on the northwestern Olympic Peninsula in Clallam County, Washington, United States. The reservation is at the mouth of the Quillayute River on the Pacific co ...
.Removed by Public Land Order 4095, September 19, 1966, according t
Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Environmental Assessment, Chapter 1
page 1-8.
File:Point of arches flattery rocks nwr.jpg, Point of Arches, Flattery Rocks
File:Quillayute Needles NWR.jpg, Quillayute Needles
File:View to Copalis Rock from Roosevelt Beach, WA 14.jpg, Copalis Rock from Roosevelt Beach

File:Flattery Rocks NWR Map.svg, Flattery Rocks map
File:Quillayute Needles NWR Map.svg, Quillayute Needles map
File:Copalis NWR Map.svg, Copalis map

See also

* List of marine protected areas of Washington

References

External links

Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge ComplexFlattery Rocks National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Copalis National Wildlife Refuge
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Washington Islands Wilderness

{{authority control

National Wildlife Refuges in Washington (state)
Protected areas of Clallam County, Washington
Protected areas of Jefferson County, Washington
Protected areas of Grays Harbor County, Washington
Protected areas established in 1907
1907 establishments in Washington (state)}