Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge protects 45,348 acres of inland dunes in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. Created in 1939 after Great Depression-era farming failed on the sandy, unproductive land, it shifted the area from worn-out agriculture to conservation under federal management. The refuge preserves a distinctive landscape of wind-blown sands over older Cretaceous river sediments, with little topsoil and an ecology shaped by frequent fire. Its conservation mission centers on maintaining the Carolina Sandhills ecosystem, especially longleaf pine habitat sustained by prescribed burning, which supports species including the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, wild turkey, bald eagle, white-tailed deer, bobcat, and otter.