The Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge is located in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

 and extends from the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 border to the neighboring state of Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

. The refuge manages two other refuges and two wetland management districts. The refuge also includes the Lostwood Wilderness

Lostwood Wilderness

Lostwood Wilderness is a wilderness area located in the U.S. state of North Dakota. Created by an act of Congress in 1975, the wilderness covers an area of 5,577 acres . Contained within Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, the wilderness is managed by the U.S...

 which comprises almost a quarter of all the area of the refuge. The refuge is considered a prime migratory and nesting bird sanctuary with over 250 different species identified and tens of thousands of birds using the refuge annually. In 1964, the once believed to be extinct Giant Canada Goose (Branta canadensis maxima) a subspecies of the better known and much more common Canada Goose

Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....

, was reintroduced into the refuge, and their numbers have greatly increased. Additionally, numerous mammal species reside on the refuge, the largest being the white-tailed deer

White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...

.