Into the Wilderness

On National Wildlife Refuges

Coloring Book

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
The National Wildlife Refuge System administers a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, 

management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats 

within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. 

Illustrated by Joshua Minor

Graphic Design by Katherine Whittemore
You can tell a bighorn sheep by its huge, curved 

horns. Some bighorn sheep live in rugged mountains. 

You can also find them in the desert.
Moose are in the same animal family as deer, 

but they are way bigger. A moose can weigh as 

much as a sailboat! They eat a lot of plants.
Baby alligators live with their mothers in swamps, 

rivers and ponds. Alligators eat fish, frogs, birds 

and sometimes even rabbits and deer. 
How are all these animals alike? They all find 

homes in wilderness. So do foxes, eagles, and 

hundreds of other animals and plants.

Color the fox. Circle the eagle. 
Wilderness areas are wild, natural places. 

Some wilderness has mountains and deserts. 

Wilderness areas may have trees, rivers, marshes 

or cactus. There are no buildings, shopping 

centers, cars or roads in wilderness. How many 

trees can you count in this picture of wilderness?
People in the United States love animals and plants 

so much that they passed a law to make sure that 

animals always have wilderness to find a home. The 

law is called the Wilderness Act. It became a law on 

September 3, 1964. 

When is your birthday? 
You can have great fun in wilderness. You can hike 

trails. You can use binoculars to see birds and animals. 

You can paddle a canoe. You can take photos. You can 

camp. It is a wonderful place to visit with your family.

Circle your favorite thing to do. 
National Wildlife Refuge

Wilderness

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

http://www.fws.gov

January 2014

The National Wildlife Refuge System is a perfect 

place to see wilderness. You can visit 26 states, 

and see a wildlife refuge with wilderness in each 

one. Can you find the closest wilderness area

to where you live? 

National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness
Wilderness is important to our health. The trees and 

plants help clean bad chemicals from the air.

By saving wilderness, we have clean air to

breathe and clean water to drink.
Wilderness isn’t always far away. There is wilderness 

close to some big cities. Great Swamp National Wildlife 

Refuge is close to New York City. The refuge is home to 

otters, foxes, turtles, salamanders and lots of birds. 

Draw your favorite animal in the box. 
When you visit wilderness, you should follow some rules:

• Stay on the path.

• Take your trash home to recycle. 

• Leave nature as you found it. 

• Do not feed or touch the wildlife. 
WORD SEARCH
“Earth does not belong to us;

we belong to earth.

Take only memories,

leave nothing but footprints.”

- Chief Seattle, a leader of the Suquamish

and Duwamish people in the area that

is now the State of Washington
National Wildlife Refuge System

August 2014

www.refuges.gov/refuges

www.facebook.gov/usfwsrefuges