540 — number of national wildlife refuges in the U.S.1
95.3 million — size, in acres, of the refuge system2
19.3 million — size, in acres, of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the largest refuge in the country3
0.6 — size, in acres, of Minnesota’s Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge, the smallest refuge in the country4
20.7 million — acres of designated wilderness in the refuge system5
59 — number of refuges established to protect endangered species6
1.4 million — number of volunteer-hours contributed to refuges7
22 — percentage of all work on refuges done by volunteers8
8 million — acres of the refuge system invaded by invasive species9
675 — number of invasive species identified so far on national wildlife refuges10
2 billion — funding backlog, in dollars, of the refuge system11
200 — approximate number of refuges with no on-site staff12
350 million — increase in refuge funding, in dollars per year, needed to fully fund the refuge system13
400.5 million — taxpayer portion of the cost, in dollars, of the Paul Brown Stadium for the Cincinnati Bengals14
327.8 million — cost... Read more
Articles by Noah Matson
Noah Matson is director of Defenders of Wildlife's public lands program.