Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is one of the nation's oldest Refuges, established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt as a reserve and breeding ground for native birds. Located in the famous Prairie Pothole Region of the United States, the Refuge and surrounding area provides breeding and resting habitat for more than 293 bird species. The Refuge is home to North America's largest nesting colony of American white pelicans, with 33,000 birds counted in 2002. Chase Lake NWR has been designated as one of America's Top 100 Globally Important Bird Areas (IBA) by the American Bird Conservancy. <P>The 4,385-acre Refuge includes Chase Lake, native prairie, tame grasslands, and wetlands. The majority of this land is still intact and has not been altered since settlement times. Thus, Chase Lake NWR has been designated as a Wilderness Area since 1975 and is one of two wilderness refuges in North Dakota. <P>The Refuge is just one unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System within the Chase Lake Wetland Management District (WMD). The Chase Lake WMD also manages 133 Waterfowl Production Areas covering nearly 39,000 acres of prairie wetlands and grasslands managed for waterfowl production in Stutsman and Wells Counties. The Office headquarters for the Refuge and the District is located 3 miles east of Woodworth, North Dakota. <P>