Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge is located in Aitkin County in east central

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, five miles south of the community of

McGregor McGregor may refer to: People * McGregor (surname) * Clan MacGregor, a Scottish highland clan * McGregor W. Scott (born 1962), U.S. attorney Places in Canada: * McGregor Lake, Alberta; a lake * McGregor, British Columbia * McGregor Plateau, Nec ...

. It was established in 1935 for waterfowl habitat preservation. The refuge includes Rice Lake itself, a shallow, 3,600-acre wild rice-producing lake. The refuge has been designated as a Globally Important Bird Area by the

American Bird Conservancy American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a non-profit organization, non-profit membership organization with the mission of conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. ABC is the second BirdLife International partner in the United ...

due to the importance of the lake and its wild rice as a food source to migrating waterfowl, especially

ring-necked duck The ring-necked duck (''Aythya collaris'') is a diving duck from North America commonly found in freshwater ponds and lakes. The scientific name is derived from Greek , an unidentified seabird mentioned by authors including Hesychius and Arist ...

s. Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge has also recently become known for its population of native

bigmouth buffalo The bigmouth buffalo (''Ictiobus cyprinellus'') is a fish native to North America that is in decline. It is the largest North American species in the Catostomidae or "sucker" family, and is one of the List of longest-living organisms, longest-liv ...

that migrate to Rice Lake each spring during their annual spawning migration. With an average age of about 80 years for the bigmouth buffalo in this population and approximately 100% of individuals older than 53 years as of 2024, it is one of the oldest known populations of animal in the world. It is managed by the  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  for the conservation and, where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife and plant resources and their habitats for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. The refuge contains 14 miles of scenic roads and more than 7 miles of walking trails.

References

External links

Refuge website
{{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in Minnesota Protected areas of Aitkin County, Minnesota Protected areas of Pine County, Minnesota Protected areas established in 1935 Wetlands of Minnesota Landforms of Aitkin County, Minnesota Landforms of Pine County, Minnesota