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Necedah NWR: No. 1 of 8

With nearly 44,000 acres of terrain, Wisconsin’s Necedah National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is home to all manner of unique and threatened critters.

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Necedah NWR: No. 2 of 8

“We’ve got the world’s largest population of the Karner blue butterfly, which is a federally endangered species,” says Leann Wilkins, acting manager of the Necedah NWR. “In 2015, we had just under 12,400 Karner blue butterflies. They’re localized here, and don’t migrate, because their lifecycle depends on the wild lupine.”

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Necedah NWR: No. 3 of 8

Adult Karner blue butterflies "emerge just as the lupine bloom in May," says Wilkins. "They’re alive just long enough to mate and lay eggs of another generation that emerges in late July and August, and that generation lays the eggs that will overwinter and hatch the following spring.”

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Necedah NWR: No. 4 of 8

Because of Necedah NWR’s size and variety of habitats—oak savanna, barrens, prairie, sedge meadows and wetlands—the refuge’s caretakers focus on restorations that support endangered and threatened species.

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Necedah NWR: No. 5 of 8

Necedah NWR provides a resting, nesting and feeding habitat for more than 110 species of migratory birds, and also acts as a home for three species of amphibians, 14 types of reptiles and more than 40 species of butterfly.

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Necedah NWR: No. 6 of 8

Necedah NWR has hosted reintroductions of Canada geese (1939), wild turkey (1952), mallards (1960), trumpeter swans (1994) and, currently, whooping cranes.

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Necedah NWR: No. 7 of 8

Enbridge recently made a $15,000 donation to the Friends of Necedah NWR for the replacement of a fully accessible fishing and viewing platform at Goose Pool, with improved access and more parking. The new platform is expected to be in place by June 2018

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Necedah NWR: No. 8 of 8

Wisconsin's Necedah NWR is home to Blanding’s turtles, northern long-eared bats, rusty patched bumblebees and ringed boghaunter dragonflies, among other threatened species.

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