The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge protects a 261-mile corridor of river landscape from Wabasha, Minnesota, to Rock Island, Illinois, covering about 240,000 acres across Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois. One of only two national wildlife refuges in the United States spanning parts of four states, it includes wooded islands, sloughs, hardwood forests, and backwater lakes that provide vital habitat for wildlife and migratory birds along the Mississippi Flyway. Its northern reaches lie in the unglaciated Driftless Area. The refuge also supports recreation and remains an important focus of conservation along the Upper Mississippi.