Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is one of more than 560 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System that is administered by the Department of the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Great Swamp is here to conserve its natural resources for the America public while protecting threatened and endangered species for future generations. The National Wildlife Refuge System is a network of lands and waters managed specifically for the protection of wildlife and its habitat. It represents the most comprehensive wildlife management program in the world.The Great Swamp NWR is located in Morris County, New Jersey, about 26 miles west of Manhattan's Times Square. The refuge was established by an act of Congress on November 3, 1960. Today the refuge consists of 7,768 acres of varied habitats, and the refuge has become an important resting and feeding area for more than 244 species of birds. Fox, deer, muskrat, turtles, fish, frogs and a wide variety of wildflowers and plants can be found on the refuge.The Wilderness Act of 1964 created the National Wilderness Preservation System in order to ensure that an  increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas in the United States, and its possession, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition. The Great Swamp Wilderness Act of 1968 established the first wilderness area designated within the Department of the Interior.