The Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge (ORINWR) is a

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System 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 ...

(NWR) in non-contiguous sites consisting of islands along of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

, primarily (85% of acreage) in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

. There are also two islands upstream in

Beaver County, Pennsylvania Beaver County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 168,215. Its county seat is Beaver. The county was created on March 12, 1800, from parts of Allegheny and Washington counties. It took ...

, and a pair downstream in

Lewis County, Kentucky Lewis County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Vanceburg, Kentucky, Vanceburg. History The area presently bounded by Kentucky state lines was a part of the U.S. State of Virginia, know ...

.USFWS map
/ref> Going downstream, the refuge is currently located in parts of these counties: Beaver, Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Pleasants, Wood, Jackson, Mason, and Lewis. All counties are in West Virginia, with the exceptions in Pennsylvania and Kentucky mentioned above. The ORINWR was established in 1990 and consists of of land and underwater habitat on 22 islands and four mainland properties. The refuge headquarters and visitor center is located in

Williamstown, West Virginia Williamstown is a city in Wood County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metropolitan area. The population was 2,997 at the 2020 census. The now closed Fenton Art Glass Company wa ...

Islands

The following

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s in the Ohio River are part of the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge. All are in West Virginia unless indicated otherwise. * Phillis Island (Pennsylvania) * Georgetown Island (Pennsylvania) *

Wheeling Island Wheeling Island is the most populated island in the Ohio River. It lies within the city of Wheeling in Ohio County, West Virginia, in the United States. The 2000 census showed a resident population of 3,142 people on the island, which has a la ...

– part * Captina Island *

Fish Creek Island Fish Creek Island is a 48-acre (19-hectare) island on the Ohio River in Marshall County, West Virginia, United States. The island is located across the river from Captina, West Virginia, south of Moundsville, and north of the mouth of Fish Creek ...

* Paden Island * Williamson Island * Witten Towhead * Crab Island *

Wells Island Wells Island is a bar island in Tyler County, West Virginia on the Ohio River. In 1891, the Board on Geographic Names officially decided upon Wells Island as the island's name. It lies to the southwest of Sistersville. Wells Island is protected ...

* Mill Creek Island *

Grandview Island Grandview Island is an island on the Ohio River in Tyler County, West Virginia. Grandview Island lies between New Matamoras, Ohio and Friendly, West Virginia. The island takes its name from a small community to its southwest on the Ohio shore by ...

* Grape Island * Middle Island *

Broadback Island Broadback Island is an island in the Ohio River in Pleasants County, West Virginia. It is opposite the city of Belmont, West Virginia. Broadback Island is a part of the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The island is popular with bird ...

Buckley Island Buckley Island is an island on the Ohio River in Wood County, West Virginia between Marietta, Ohio and Williamstown, West Virginia. The Interstate 77 bridge over the Ohio crosses the island's western portion. Throughout its history, Buckley Is ...

Muskingum Island Muskingum Island is a long narrow bar island on the Ohio River in Wood County, West Virginia between the towns of Moore Junction, Ohio and Boaz, West Virginia. The island is mostly covered in forests and contains a number of oil wells. Since 1 ...

* Neal Island – part *

Buffington Island Buffington Island is an island in the Ohio River in Jackson County, West Virginia near the town of Ravenswood, United States, east of Racine, Ohio. During the American Civil War, the Battle of Buffington Island took place on July 19, 1863, just ...

* Letart Island * Manchester 1 Island (Kentucky) * Manchester 2 Island (Kentucky) - part ORINWF Map

References

External links