Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge

The Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge is located on the Mississippi River downstream from St. Louis, Missouri. It is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex.The refuge consists of three parcels of Mississippi River bottomland, nearly all of it wetland. They are Meissner Island, near Valmeyer, Illinois; Harlow Island, near Festus, Missouri; and Wilkinson Island, near Gorham, Illinois.The Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge has a local headquarters at Rockwood, Illinois in Randolph County. In all, the refuge is located in parts of Jackson, Monroe, and Randolph counties in Illinois, and Jefferson and Perry counties in Missouri. The refuge relies for much of its staffing on the nearby Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge near Carbondale, Illinois.