Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge

Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge is a 0.57 acre National Wildlife Refuge in central Minnesota. The refuge consists solely of two small islands in Mille Lacs Lake, and is the smallest National Wildlife Refuge in the United States. It was created on May 14, 1915, to preserve breeding habitat for several bird species. The islands are one of only four breeding colonies of common terns, a threatened species in Minnesota. Other native species breeding within the refuge include ring-billed and herring gulls and double-crested cormorants.