Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

History

The designation history for this site (every law, proclamation and order, and the administration behind each) is being researched and checked by the Library’s historians.

The Roosevelt connection

Protected by T.R.

• August 18, 1908: as President, Theodore Roosevelt set aside Lake Malheur Reservation (federal bird reservation). A vast high-desert marsh where plume hunters had been killing egrets and grebes before the reservation.
  archive.org · standardebooks.org · en.wikisource.org · Roosevelt’s Public Lands

His proclamations and orders

• August 18, 1908: Executive Order 929, “Establishing Lake Malheur Reservation in Oregon as Preserve and Breeding Ground for Native Birds.” Today’s site began with this document. 187,171.20 acres as of September 30, 2025; one of the largest freshwater marsh and wetland refuges in the West.
  Executive Order 929 in Theodore Roosevelt’s Executive Orders and Proclamations

What to see and do

Browse hiking, biking and paddling routes on AllTrails

Plan your visit

Check the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for current hours, fees and access.

Whose lands these are

These lands are the ancestral and present-day homelands of Native nations. A section on whose lands these are is being prepared with tribal review. In the meantime, Native Land Digital offers a starting point.

Pair it with

• Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area BLM · 35 miles
• Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge FWS · 60 miles
• Malheur National Forest USFS · 71 miles
• Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge FWS · 97 miles
• Ochoco National Forest USFS · 102 miles
• John Day Fossil Beds National Monument NPS · 109 miles