Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge

The National Wildlife Refuge System is a series of lands and waters owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wildlife conservation is at the heart of the refuge system. It drives everything we do from the purpose a refuge is established, to the recreational activities offered there, to the resource management tools we use. Selecting the right tools helps us ensure the survival of local plants and animals and helps fulfill the purpose of the refuge.

Much of Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge and the surrounding lands were once part of the Great Black Swamp, a biologically diverse, vast network of habitats consisting of forests, wetlands and grasslands. Today much of the swamp has been destroyed, and refuge habitat management involves a variety of tools and techniques used to mimic the habitat conditions once common within the swamp.

Refuge staff work hard to restore the functions of the Lake Erie marsh ecosystem, which includes coastal marshes and wooded wetlands. At the same time staff are attempting to decrease the exotic plant and animal species present on the refuge that threaten native wildlife.