Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge preserves a broad coastal ecosystem on a peninsula at the southern edge of Pamlico Sound in North Carolina. Established in 1964, it includes about 11,000 acres of irregularly flooded brackish marsh and 3,480 acres of pocosin and woodland habitat. Its vegetation reflects both saltwater influence and low coastal terrain, with marsh grasses such as black needlerush and cordgrass and higher ground supporting pine and live oak. The refuge is especially valuable for wildlife, providing winter habitat for thousands of ducks, nesting areas for waterbirds, and shelter for mammals including deer, bobcat, otter, foxes, and raccoons.