Nearest city Necedah, Wisconsin | Established 1939 | |
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Location Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States Area 43,696 acres (176.83 km) Governing body U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website Necedah National Wildlife Refuge | ||
Necedah National Wildlife Refuge is a 43,696-acre (177 km2) National Wildlife Refuge located in northern Juneau County, Wisconsin near the village of Necedah. It was established in 1939 and is famous as the northern nesting site for reintroduction of an eastern United States population of the endangered whooping crane. Other threatened or rare species at the site include the Karner blue butterfly, massasauga rattlesnake, Blanding's turtle, and wolf packs. Refuge operations are largely funded through timber sales.
In 2001, the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership raised whooping cranes (Grus americana) chicks in the refuge then guided them to Florida's Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge, utilizing ultra-light aircraft to teach the birds the migratory pathway. That population has been successful and by 2010 there were up to 105 migrating birds established in the eastern United States for the first time in over 100 years.
In most years the refuge is also an important stopover for migratory waterfowl on the Mississippi Flyway.