Maple River National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota. It is managed under Kulm Wetland Management District.
National Wildlife RefugeSystem is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants. Since President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge as the first wildlife refuge in 1903, the system has grown to over 562 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts encompassing more than 150,000,000 acres (607,028 km2).
North Dakota is a U.S. state in the midwestern and northern regions of the United States. It is the nineteenth largest in area, the fourth smallest by population, and the fourth most sparsely populated of the 50 states. North Dakota was admitted to the Union on November 3, 1889, along with its neighboring state, South Dakota. Its capital is Bismarck, and its largest city is Fargo.
Located in south-central North Dakota, Kulm Wetland Management District was established in 1971. Located in the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, Kulm Wetland Management District provides breeding, nesting, and brood rearing areas for many species of waterfowl and other migratory birds. The District currently manages 201 waterfowl production areas that total 45,683 acres (184.87 km2), 3 national wildlife refuges that are easement refuges, and 120,000 acres (490 km2) of wetland and grassland easements. The District's headquarters is in Kulm, North Dakota.
Maple River National Wildlife Refuge was established by Executive Order 8162, signed on June 12, 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Refuge boundaries encompass 1,120 acres (4.5 km2) of private land. A system of management easements allows the District flood land within the river channel and to restrict hunting, trapping and other harassment of wildlife.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and became a central figure in world events during the first half of the 20th century. Roosevelt directed the federal government during most of the Great Depression, implementing his New Deal domestic agenda in response to the worst economic crisis in U.S. history. As a dominant leader of his party, he built the New Deal Coalition, which realigned American politics into the Fifth Party System and defined American liberalism throughout the middle third of the 20th century. His third and fourth terms were dominated by World War II. Roosevelt is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in American history, as well as among the most influential figures of the 20th century. Though he has also been subject to much criticism, he is generally rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U.S. presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". It is similar to real covenants and equitable servitudes; in the United States, the Restatement (Third) of Property takes steps to merge these concepts as servitudes.
Hunting is the practice of killing or trapping animals, or pursuing or tracking them with the intent of doing so. Hunting wildlife or feral animals is most commonly done by humans for food, recreation, to remove predators that can be dangerous to humans or domestic animals, or for trade. Lawful hunting is distinguished from poaching, which is the illegal killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species. The species that are hunted are referred to as game or prey and are usually mammals and birds.
The District manages two dams on Maple River National Wildlife Refuge. A low level dam on the Maple River raises the level of Maple River and floods an adjacent 90-acre (360,000 m2) marsh area. A dam on Maple River marsh holds water in the marsh as flow in Maple River drops following spring run-off. Both the river channel and the marsh provide breeding, nesting and brood rearing habitat for many marsh dependent birds and other wildlife. Maple River is near enough to the James River to be part of the migration corridor for many species of birds.
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan, dating to 3,000 BC.
The Maple River is a tributary of the Sheyenne River, about 198 miles (319 km) long, in the Red River Valley of eastern North Dakota in the United States. Via the Sheyenne River, the Red River of the North, Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson River, the Maple is part of the watershed of Hudson Bay.
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species. Marshes can often be found at the edges of lakes and streams, where they form a transition between the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They are often dominated by grasses, rushes or reeds. If woody plants are present they tend to be low-growing shrubs. This form of vegetation is what differentiates marshes from other types of wetland such as swamps, which are dominated by trees, and mires, which are wetlands that have accumulated deposits of acidic peat.
Maple River National Wildlife Refuge is located in central Dickey County, North Dakota. From Ellendale the Refuge is located 4 ½ miles east on North Dakota Highway 11, then 5 miles (8.0 km) north and 1-mile (1.6 km) east on county and township roads.
Dickey County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 5,289. Its county seat is Ellendale.
Ellendale is a city in Dickey County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Dickey County. The population was 1,394 at the 2010 census. Ellendale was founded in 1882. Ellendale is the home of Trinity Bible College, located on the former campus of the North Dakota State Normal and Industrial School and the Ellendale Opera House currently under renovation.
A 414-acre (1.68 km2) portion of Maple River National Wildlife Refuge was purchased by the Service in the early 1960s with funds from the Small Wetland Acquisition Program. Lands purchased with Duck Stamp funds are delineated with Waterfowl Production Area (WPA) signs instead of the familiar blue goose Refuge sign.
Refuge portions of Maple River National Wildlife Refuge are closed to all public use. Portions of the Refuge owned by the Service and marked with WPA signs are open to public use. Hunting, wildlife observation and photography are available to the public on the WPA part of the Refuge.
