U S Fish & Wildlife Service

Wetlands occur on many landscapes across America. They form in low-lying areas along rivers, streams, lakes, and estuaries where they are periodically flooded (e.g., floodplains), on slopes in areas ofgroundwater discharge (e.g., seepage slopes), on broad flat interstream divides where soil drainage ispoor (e.g., flatwoods), in geographically isolated depressions where precipitation collects (e.g., potholes, playas, vernal pools, and ponds), in paludified landscapes in cold, wet climates where peat moss growsover the land (e.g., blanket bogs), and in other seasonally wet sites. Wetlands therefore may beconnected with waterbodies or surrounded by dry land. Although the latter appear to be separated fromsurface waters, many "isolated" wetlands are actually linked hydrologically to other wetlands or streamsby subsurface flow

Waubay National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge), comprised of 4,650 acres, islocated in Day County in northeastern South Dakota (Map 1). The Refuge'smix of lakes, wetlands, prairie, forests, and cropland is home to a diversityof wildlife. More than 100 bird species nest on this small piece of habitat, with 37 mammals also calling it home. Waubay National Wildlife Refuge(NWR) was established by President Roosevelt in 1935 as "a refuge andbreeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife.