Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is located in Morris County, New Jersey, about 26 miles west of Manhattan's Times Square. It was established by an act of Congress on November 3, 1960, and exists to conserve its natural resources for the American public while protecting threatened and endangered species for future generations. Today the refuge consists of 7,768 acres of varied habitats, and 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 here. The Wilderness Act of 1964 created the National Wilderness Preservation System to ensure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas in the United States, 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.