Nation’s First Wildlife Refuge Created (1870)

Oakland showing Laguna Peralta in 1857 (photo by US Geological Survey)

The entry for just a few days ago—March 14—marks the date that the first National Wildlife Refuge was created, in 1903 (see more here). But 33 years earlier, on March 18, 1870, the nation’s first wildlife refuge was created. What’s the difference? This one was enacted by the State of California, not by the federal government.

The first wildlife refuge is Lake Merritt, in the middle of downtown Oakland, California.  The Lake Merritt refuge includes a 155-acre lake and the surrounding parkland.  California declared on March 18, 1870, that “it shall be unlawful for any person to take, kill or destroy, in any manner whatever, the grouse, any species of wild duck, crane, heron, swan, pelican, snip, or any wild animal or game, of any kind of species whatever, upon, in or around Lake Merritt…and within one hundred rods from high water mark….”  Hence, a wildlife refuge!

Lake Merritt started out as a tidal lagoon, known as Laguna Peralta, that was fed by the adjacent Oakland estuary. Seven small streams emptied into the wetland from upstream. It was an important resting point for migratory waterfowl traveling the Pacific flyway.

In 1869, the mayor of Oakland, Samuel Merritt, donated the lake and surrounding area to the city for a wildlife preserve. He was interested in encouraging the development of the adjacent lands and so wanted to stop hunting that he thought discouraged investment. He also donated funds for construction of a dam across the tidal inlet, with culverts that could control how much water flowed in and out of the lagoon. Henceforth, the lagoon became a saltwater lake—the largest of its kind in an urban area in the country.

With ongoing urban development, the lake required additional management. Today the lake is surrounded by retaining walls along the entire 3+ miles of its perimeter. An island for waterfowl nesting was built in 1925 and four others followed in the 1950s. The largest have freshwater ponds. These islands are cordoned off from people during nesting times. Water flow was carefully managed to keep the lake surface at a level compatible with the surrounding urban uses.

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This Month in Conservation

March 1
Yellowstone National Park Established (1872)
March 2
Theodore Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, Born (1904)
March 3
World Wildlife Day and Creation of CITES (1973)
March 3
Isle Royale National Park Authorized (1931)
March 4
Hot Springs National Park Established (1921)
March 5
Lynn Margulis, Evolutionary Biologist, Born (1938)
March 6
Martha Burton Williamson, Pioneering Malacologist, Born (1843)
March 7
Luther Burbank Born (1849)
March 8
Everett Horton Patents the Telescoping Fishing Rod (1887)
March 9
The Turbot War Begins (1995)
March 10
Cape Lookout National Seashore Established (1966)
March 11
Save the Redwoods League Founded (1918)
March 12
Girl Scouts Founded (1912)
March 12
Charles Young, First African American National Park Superintendent, Born (1864)
March 13
National Elephant Day, Thailand
March 14
First National Wildlife Refuge Created (1903)
March 15
Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, Born (1874)
March 16
Amoco Cadiz Runs Aground (1978)
March 17
St. Patrick and Ireland’s Snakes
March 18
Nation’s First Wildlife Refuge Created (1870)
March 19
When the Swallows Return to Capistrano
March 20
“Our Common Future” Published (1987)
March 21
International Day of Forests
March 22
World Water Day
March 23
Sitka National Historical Park Created (1910)
March 24
John Wesley Powell, Western Explorer, Born (1834)
March 25
Norman Borlaug, Father of the Green Revolution, Born (1914)
March 26
Marjorie Harris Carr, Pioneering Florida Conservationist, Born (1915)
March 26
Kruger National Park Established (1898)
March 27
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Begun (1975)
March 28
Joseph Bazalgette, London’s Sewer King, Born (1819)
March 29
Niagara Falls Stops Flowing (1848)
March 30
The United States Buys Alaska (1867)
March 31
Al Gore, Environmental Activist and U.S. Vice President, Born (1948)
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