Southern Maryland Woodlands Designated as National Wildlife Refuge

The U.S. Department of the Interior has established the Southern Maryland Woodlands National Wildlife Refuge, marking it as the 573rd unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The refuge’s inaugural 31-acre parcel, located in Nanjemoy, Maryland, is the first of several planned donations aimed at conserving habitats for threatened and endangered species. This initiative also seeks to enhance outdoor recreational opportunities for the approximately 10 million residents and visitors in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area.

This designation represents the sixth addition to the Refuge System under Secretary Haaland’s leadership, following the establishment of areas in Oregon, Florida, Wyoming, Tennessee, and Montana. The Department has also announced expansions of existing national wildlife refuges, facilitating the voluntary conservation of up to 1.13 million acres of vital wildlife habitat.

The Southern Maryland Woodlands refuge addresses significant habitat loss in Maryland, where over half of the state’s forests and wetlands have been converted to other land uses, with more than 1 million acres developed since 1973. The region’s population is projected to exceed 20 million within the next decade, intensifying the need for protected natural areas.

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