Mingo National Wildlife Refuge,
located in southeast Missouri near the town of Puxico, is one of
over 500 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System. The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, an agency of the United States
Department of the Interior.
The refuge is located within the Great Lakes - Big Rivers region of the Service.
The Mingo swamp was formed about 18,000 years ago when the Mississippi River shifted to the east, leaving a dense swamp to form in its abandoned channel. In 1945, the area was established as a National Wildlife Refuge, primarily to provide resting, nesting, and feeding habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds. Today, Mingo is comprised of 21,676 acres of mostly hardwood bottomland swamp. The refuge is the only large tract of bottomland forest left in the bootheel of Missouri.
Refuge Profile page The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American People. The Service's nearly 93 million acres include 514 National Wildlife Refuges and 38 Wetland Management Districts with waterfowl production areas. The agency enforces
Federal wildlife laws, manages migratory bird
populations, restores nationally significant fisheries,
conserves and restores wildlife habitat, administers the
Endangered Species Act, and helps foreign governments
with their conservation efforts.
For comments or questions, contact
Mingo@fws.gov
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