The system maintains the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of these natural resources and enables for associated public enjoyment of these areas where compatible with conservation efforts.

National Wildlife Refuges manage a range of habitat types, including wetlands, prairies, coastal and marine areas, and temperate, tundra, and boreal forests.

The management of each habitat is a complex process of controlling or eradicating invasive species, using fire in a prescribed manner, assuring adequate water resources, and assessing external threats such as development or contamination.

Under the act, the NWRS has created Comprehensive Conservation Plans (CCPs) for each refuge, developed through consultation with private and public stakeholders.

The NEPA requires FWS planners and refuge staff to engage the public in this planning process to assist them with identifying the most appropriate alternative.

Equally important is an intimate understanding of the social and economic drivers that impact and are affected by management decisions and can facilitate or impede implementation success.

Service strategic habitat conservation planning, design, and delivery efforts are affected by the demographic, societal, and cultural changes of population growth and urbanization, as well as people's attitudes and values toward wildlife.

Refuges attract about 65 million visitors each year who come to hunt, fish, observe, and photograph wildlife, and are a significant boon to local economies.

The report details that 47 million people who visited refuges that year: The refuge system has a professional cadre of law enforcement officers that supports a broad spectrum of service programs by enforcing conservation laws established to protect the fish, wildlife, cultural, and archaeological resources the service manages in trust for the American people.

Completion of controlled burns to reduce fuel loading, and participation in the interagency wildland fire suppression efforts, are vital for management of refuge lands.