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Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment
on the purpose(s) of the original unit, but the original unit does not take on the purpose(s) of the
newer addition. When a conflict exists between the Refuge System mission and the purpose of an
individual refuge, the refuge purpose may supersede the mission. The purposes for Ridgefield
Refuge are described below.
1.6.1 Refuge Acquisition History and Authorities
In January 1964, the Service completed a Consolidated Report of the Proposed Ridgefield National
Wildlife Refuge. The report was considered at a meeting of the Migratory Bird Commission
(MBCC) on February 17, 1964. The report proposed the purchase of 6,538.53 acres of private land
in Clark County, Washington, under the funding authority of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act
(MBCA) of 1929 (45 Stat. 1222), as amended, to create the Ridgefield Refuge.
The justification for creating the refuge was that “The Western Canada goose has an extremely
limited winter range, concentrated along the Willamette and Lower Columbia rivers. This subspecies
is limited in numbers and requires protection and habitat to insure its continued existence.” (In the
later 1965 memorandum establishing the refuge, “western Canada goose” was amended to read
“dusky Canada goose.”) The report also noted that the human population of the Portland-Vancouver
area was rapidly expanding and river bottom lands were being developed for industry and intensive
farming. “This process will continue inevitably until all waterfowl habitat is gone unless the land is
preserved in public ownership.”
Other justifications for establishment of the refuge included providing winter food for waterfowl,
providing public hunting, and reducing or insuring against crop depredation by geese and “the large
numbers of mallards, pintails, and wigeon which winter in this area.” During this time, most of the
acreage within the proposed refuge was used for cattle production, except tracts 23 and 23a on
Bachelor Island, which were used for potato farming, and tracts 14, 14a, and 24, which were hunting
clubs (see Map 3 for refuge tracts).
The Service’s proposed management included creating 1,600 acres of permanent ponds and marsh by
placing water control structures on Gee Creek, and by diking existing lakes; creating an additional
300 acres of seasonal ponds within diked areas; farming within diked areas; fall planting of alfalfa
and grain which, supplemented by native pasture, would provide winter food for geese and wigeon;
and controlling weed on overgrazed pasture land. Grazing would initially be reduced “until pastures
recover from present over-use” but presumably, would be resumed in the future.
On May 18, 1965, the MBCC under the authority of the MBCA, approved the establishment of
Ridgefield Refuge and identified a 6,130.8-acre refuge acquisition boundary. From the MBCC’s
Memorandum #1, the purpose of the new refuge was to “Provide wintering habitat for dusky Canada
goose and other waterfowl.” The memorandum also specified peak populations of migratory
waterfowl, including 3,000 geese and 125,000 ducks, and that the refuge would also provide
“breeding and migration use” for waterfowl. The importance of the refuge to dusky Canada geese
was explicitly recognized: “The dusky Canada goose has an extremely limited winter range,
concentrated along the Willamette and lower Columbia rivers. This subspecies is limited in numbers
and requires protection and habitat to insure its continued existence.” The memorandum also
specifically mentioned that the refuge would provide “substantial public shooting.” “A portion of the
area in line with management findings but not to exceed 40 percent will be considered for waterfowl
Chapter 1. Introduction and Background 1-15