Straddling the headwaters of the Minnesota River in extreme west-central Minnesota, Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge is within the heart of the tallgrass prairie's historic range. Today, less than one-percent of tallgrass prairie remains. Big Stone Refuge serves as the "keeper of the prairie" by working to maintain and restore native prairie habitat while providing optimum nesting cover for waterfowl and other grassland nesting birds.
Big Stone Refuge is part of the Big Stone Lake-Whetstone River Project of Minnesota and South Dakota. The Project was authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1965. The lands were purchased in fee title by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1971 and transferred to the Service in 1975. Overlaying the Minnesota River Valley, the refuge contains 11,521 acres; 1,028 acres in Big Stone County and 10,493 acres in Lac Qui Parle County.
Unique refuge features include the lichen-covered granite outcrops for which the refuge was named and the nearly 2,000 acres of native tallgrass prairie. The primary refuge purposes are flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife conservation. The refuge serves as a wintering area for white-tailed deer and has wintered as many as 1,200 animals. It is also a major migratory stopover for 21 species of waterfowl. It harbors the only population of ball cactus in Minnesota.
The refuge has been designated as a Globally Important Bird Area supporting Eastern Prairie Population Canada geese, high waterfowl numbers, and numbers of least sandpipers, pectoral sandpipers, and stilt sandpipers. The refuge is a candidate site of the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network. A new management focus has also allowed summer visitors to view bison grazing on the prairie.
Directions
The refuge office and maintenance facility are located approximately eight miles east of Ortonville, MN (South Dakota border) and one-half mile west of Odessa, MN. From Highway 7/75, take Big Stone County Road #19 south approximately three-quarters of a mile.
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