About Us

A yellow breasted chat with nesting material in its mouth.
Image Details

Established in 1975, Hillside National Wildlife Refuge supports hundreds of wildlife species. Before what is now refuge land was transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it was used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to capture sediment from the Yazoo Basin Headwater area. Today, the refuge includes hardwood forest bottomlands – with oaks and cottonwood trees in higher elevations and willow, bald cypress and tupelo sloughs (or brakes) in lower elevations.  

Our Mission

Conservation priorities on Hillside National Wildlife Refuge focus on moist-soil management, water management, forest management, law enforcement, public hunting and fishing, invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.

Learn more about invasive species control, research, inventory and monitoring, education and interpretation.

Other Facilities in this Complex

Hillside National Wildlife Refuge is one of nine refuges that make up the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Each refuge in the complex plays vital role to conserving our nation's resources.  A National Wildlife Refuge Complex is an administrative grouping of two or more Refuges, wildlife management areas or other Refuge conservation areas that are primarily managed from a central office location.  Refuges are grouped into a complex structure structure
Something temporarily or permanently constructed, built, or placed; and constructed of natural or manufactured parts including, but not limited to, a building, shed, cabin, porch, bridge, walkway, stair steps, sign, landing, platform, dock, rack, fence, telecommunication device, antennae, fish cleaning table, satellite dish/mount, or well head.

Learn more about structure because they occur in a similar ecological region, such as a watershed or specific habitat type, and have a related purpose and management needs.  Typically, a Project Leader oversees the general management of all Refuges within the complex and Refuge Managers are responsible for operations at specific Refuges. Supporting staff, composed of administrative, law enforcement, Refuge manager, biological, fire, visitor services, and maintenance professionals, are centrally located and support all Refuges within the complex.

Checkout the list below of the other Refuges within the Complex, and visit each one for new and different experiences!

A pair of ducks preen in water among grasses.
Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge
Bayou Cocodrie National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1990 to conserve some of the last remaining, least disturbed and largest stands of bottomland hardwoods in the Lower Mississippi Valley. The refuge offers a variety of ecological niches for wildlife. It harbors more than 150 species of...
National Wildlife Refuge
Ferriday,LA
A wildlife biologist holding four small bear cubs in his arms
Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge
Named in honor of an African-American hunting guide who led President Theodore Roosevelt on famous Mississippi and Louisiana bear-hunting trips, Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2004.
National Wildlife Refuge
Hollandale,MS
A flock of mallard ducks take flight over a winter wetland with brown grasses and leafless tress in the background
Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge
Mathews Brake National Wildlife Refuge was established to provide habitat for wintering and resident waterfowl. The deep water and bottomland hardwoods attract migratory bird species throughout the year. The refuge is also a valuable resting area for large numbers of migrating ducks during fall and...
National Wildlife Refuge
Cruger,MS
Group of mallards take flight over open wetland.
Morgan Brake National Wildlife Refuge
Morgan Brake National Wildlife Refuge was established “to contribute to the perpetuation of the migratory waterfowl resource in the lower Mississippi River Delta” and for the conservation, maintenance and management of the wildlife resource and its habitat.
National Wildlife Refuge
Cruger,MS
A thin orange band glows above a flat body of water, with some tall trees in the background.
St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge
St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1990, provides an important wintering habitat for migratory waterfowl and seasonal habitat for other migratory birds
National Wildlife Refuge
Natchez,MS
Theodore Roosevelt Visitor Center
Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge
Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge is the only national wildlife refuge named for a president, and no president has left a greater conservation legacy than President Theodore Roosevelt.
National Wildlife Refuge
Rolling Fork,MS
Head of an alligator in the brush, mouth slightly open
Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge
Located in the heart of Mississippi’s Delta Region 25 miles south of Greenville, and five air miles east of the Mississippi River in Washington County, Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge is the oldest national wildlife refuge in the state of Mississippi.
National Wildlife Refuge
Hollandale,MS