State Wildlife Refuge is a 13,000-acre uninhabited sanctuary in Vermilion Parish on Louisiana’s coast, along the southwestern shore of Vermilion Bay. Established in 1911 after conservationist Edward McIlhenny and Charles Ward donated the land to the state, it has long served as protected marsh and bay habitat. The refuge is part of a much larger network of sanctuary land in the parish, joined with neighboring protected areas that together cover about 187,569 acres. Its wetlands support waterfowl, wading birds, coastal birds, alligators, fish, shrimp, blue crabs, and mammals including raccoons, muskrats, nutria, mink, and white-tailed deer.