The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge was created to safeguard and enhance the pristine wildlife habitat of Sanibel Island, FL, to provide feeding, nesting, and roosting areas for migratory birds, and to protect endangered and threatened species. Today, the refuge provides important habitat to over 250 species of birds.

“Ding’ Darling is one of more than 560 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts, including one within an hour's drive of most major metropolitan areas, all managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

More than a hundred years in the making, the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System) is a network of habitats that benefits wildlife, provides unparalleled outdoor experiences for all Americans, and protects a healthy environment.

In fact, the sun never sets on our 150-million- acre federal Refuge System; there are refuges as distant as the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific, above the Arctic Circle in Alaska, in the northeast corner of Maine, all the way down to the Virgin Islands and everywhere in between!