The Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge is an important breeding area for mammals, birds, and other animals.

Habitats at Deer Flat include wetlands, riparian forests, uplands, and croplands at the Lake Lowell sector, as well as the 101 Snake River Islands.

President Theodore Roosevelt created a national bird refuge at Deer Flat Reservoir, now Lake Lowell, with his February 25, 1909, executive order.

[3] The refuge was one of 17 federal reclamation projects referenced in the order, each of which used manmade aquifers to provide safe havens for migratory birds.

The effort to include the Canyon County site was spearheaded by James H. Lowell, then-president of the Payette-Boise Water Users Association.