View source for Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex

{{Short description|United States Wildlife Refuge Complex}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

The '''Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex''' was established for the protection of [[migratory bird]]s including waterfowl, shorebirds, and songbirds. It is located along the [[Mississippi Flyway]], one of the major routes for migrating waterfowl. Refuge units also provide important habitat for big-river fish and a variety of other native wildlife such as deer, fox, beaver, frogs, turtles, and snakes. Key goals are to conserve and enhance the quality and diversity of fish and wildlife and their habitats, to restore floodplain functions in the river corridor, and to provide wildlife-related recreational experiences for the public.

Several units within the Complex were established in the 1940s following construction of the [[Mississippi Valley Division|lock and dam system]]. Those units were consolidated into Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge in 1958. Since then, other areas have been added to Mark Twain, which now includes {{convert|45000|acre|km2}} scattered along {{convert|345|mi|km}} of the Mississippi River and short distances up the Illinois and Iowa rivers.

In 2000, Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge was split into five separate [[National Wildlife Refuge]]s - [[Port Louisa National Wildlife Refuge]], [[Great River National Wildlife Refuge]], [[Clarence Cannon National Wildlife Refuge]], [[Two Rivers National Wildlife Refuge]], and [[Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge]]. The Refuge Complex administration office, located in [[Quincy, Illinois]], has retained the [[Mark Twain]] name.

The [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] is an agency of the [[Department of the Interior]].

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060709151922/http://www.fws.gov/midwest/MarkTwain/ Official home page]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060713203914/http://www.fws.gov/midwest/marktwain/maps.html Map]

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{{Protected Areas of Illinois}}
{{National Wildlife Refuges of the United States}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:National Wildlife Refuges in Illinois]]
[[Category:Protected areas on the Mississippi River]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1958]]
[[Category:1958 establishments in Illinois]]


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