page_title: Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Asst Secretary of the Interior Nathanial Reed accepts the donation of Salt Meadow (now part of McKinney National Wildlife Refuge) from Esther Lape, 1972
context_page_description: The Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge is a 950-acre National Wildlife Refuge in ten units across the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the Atlantic Flyway, the refuge spans 70 miles of Connecticut coastline and provides important resting, feeding, and nesting habitat for many species of wading birds, shorebirds, songbirds and terns, including the endangered roseate tern. Adjacent waters serve as wintering habitat for brant, scoters, American black duck, and other waterfowl. Overall, the refuge encompasses over 900 acres of barrier beach, intertidal wetland and fragile island habitats.
  Originally named the Salt Meadow National Wildlife Refuge, the refuge was renamed in 1987 after Stewart B. McKinney, a congressman from Connecticut.
context_section_description: Salt Meadow was the country house of Elizabeth Fisher Read and Esther Lape. In 1972, after the death of Read, Lape donated over 150 acres (60.7 ha) of land in Westbrook, Connecticut to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. This donation became Salt Meadow National Wildlife Refuge. As neighbors donated or sold adjacent property to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Salt Meadow grew to be a 274-acre (110.9 ha) refuge.
  As the state became more and more populated, coastal areas and islands were being developed at an alarming rate. Citizens began to worry that the long legged wading birds and other shorebirds that use Connecticut's Islands and Coast would soon be without important nesting and feeding habitat. With the help of non-profit groups like The Connecticut Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, and the Westbrook Land Trust, Sheffield, Chimon, and Goose Islands near Norwalk and Milford Point in Milford were acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  In 1984, these Islands were added to Salt Meadow National Wildlife Refuge and the name was changed to Connecticut's Coastal National Wildlife Refuge. In 1987, the name of the refuge was again changed to honor US Congressman Stewart B. McKinney, who had an integral role in the refuge's formation.
  In 2003, Calf Island in the town of Greenwich was added to the refuge.  In 2005, Peach Island was added to the refuge.  Through generous donations and the help of many partners the refuge now consists of ten refuge units spread across 70 miles (110 km) of Connecticut's coastline, from Westbrook to Greenwich.
caption: Assistant Secretary of the Interior Nathanial Reed accepts the donation of Salt Meadow (now part of McKinney National Wildlife Refuge) from Esther Lape, 1972
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