Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge

c/o Rice Lake NWR
Route 2, Box 67
McGregor, MN 55760
Phone (218) 768-2402
Fax (218) 768-3040
E-mail ralph_lloyd@fws.gov

Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge is comprised of two small islands (.57 acres total) in Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota. The islands are boulder and gravel outcrops important for colonial nesting birds including common terns and ring-billed gulls.

The refuge harbors one of only five common tern breeding colonies in Minnesota. Management is limited to monitoring surveys, posting and protection, and recently, passive control of ring-billed gull numbers which threaten the common terns, a species of special concern.

Visitor Opportunities

Accessibility: The National Wildlife Refuge System is working to ensure that facilities and programs are accessible to visitors. Please contact the refuge office for information about accessibility at this unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The islands are boulder and gravel outcrops important for colonial nesting birds including common terns and ring-billed gulls. The refuge harbors one of only five common tern breeding colonies in Minnesota. In order to protect these colonies, the Refuge is closed to all public use.

Management Programs
Management is limited to monitoring surveys, posting and protection, and recently, passive control of ring-billed gull numbers, which threaten the common terns, a species of special concern.