Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge covers 42724 acres (172.9 km²) and lies in the glacial lake country of northwestern Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 in Becker County

Becker County, Minnesota

Becker County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 32,504. Its county seat is Detroit Lakes. A portion of the White Earth Indian Reservation extends into the county.-History:...

, 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Detroit Lakes

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

-Demographics:As of the official census of 2000, there were 7,348 people, 3,319 households, and 1,845 families permanently residing in the city. The population density was 980.4 people per square mile . There were 3,782 housing units at an average density of 504.6 per square mile...

. It was established in 1938 as a refuge breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

.

Refuge topography

Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

 consists of rolling forested hills interspersed with lakes, rivers, marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

es, bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

s and shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

 swamp

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

s. The token of the refuge is the tamarac

Tamarac

Tamarac may refer to various places in the United States:Settlements* Tamarac, Florida* Tamarac Township, MinnesotaWild areas in Minnesota:* Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge** Tamarac Wilderness, within the RefugeRivers in Minnesota:...

 tree. This unusual tree is a deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 conifer, turning a brilliant gold before losing its needles each fall.

Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge lies in the heart of one of the most diverse vegetative transition zones in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, where northern hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

 forests, coniferous forests and the tallgrass prairie

Prairie

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

converge. This diversity of habitat brings with it a wealth of wildlife, both woodland and prairie species.

An attractive visitor center offers a spectacular vista of the marshes and trees that are typical of the Tamarac Refuge. A theater presentation provides orientation to the life and legends of this unique area.