Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1915 and is known as the smallest refuge (o.57 acres) in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge consists of two islands, Hennepin and Spirit, in Mille Lacs Lake. The islands are covered with jumbled rock, boulders, and gravel. Hennepin Island is managed as a nesting colony for the state-listed threatened common tern. Spirit Island is used by other colonial nesting species including ring-billed gulls, herring gulls, and double-crested cormorants.

The two islands that make up Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge were given national designation in separate orders. Woodrow Wilson set aside Spirit Island with Executive Order 2199 on May 14, 1915, as Mille Lacs Reservation. On October 13, 1920, he enlarged the reservation with the addition of Hennepin Island under Executive Order 3340. The two islands were to constitute a “preserve and breeding ground for native birds.” Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge has been designated as a State Important Bird Area, as part of the larger Mille Lacs Important Bird Area, by the National Audubon Society.

It is closed to public access. If you are boating on Mille Lacs Lake, please stay at least 100 yards offshore while fishing or observing wildlife from your watercraft. Minimizing human disturbance to the waterbirds that call the refuge home is a high priority.

Mille Lacs National Wildlife Refuge is closed to public visitation. If you are boating on Mille Lacs Lake, please stay at least 100 yards offshore while fishing or observing wildlife from your watercraft. Minimizing human disturbance to the waterbirds that call the refuge home is a high priority.