Highest wildlife refuges by state

How to read this ranking

North Dakota has the highest published wildlife refuges in this comparison, at 74. The next states shown are California (63) and Minnesota (47).

The table orders 51 states by national wildlife refuges. It describes one published measure, not an overall judgment about where to live.

Use the result as a starting point, then compare the underlying source, dates, and local county figures before making a decision. National wildlife refuges, plus the wildlife management areas and national monuments the Fish and Wildlife Service administers. Counted where their boundary falls, so a refuge spanning several counties is counted in each. Excluded are the waterfowl production areas and farm service tracts in the same source: they are parcels the agency holds rather than places a person visits, and counting them would put forty easements in a county with no refuge. A count rather than a rate, and a county reading zero has none within its own lines. USFWS realty boundaries.