Glenn Martin National Wildlife Refuge protects marshy bay islands in the lower Chesapeake Bay on the northern half of Smith Island in Maryland and on Watts Island in Virginia, forming the largest unit of the Chesapeake Islands Refuges. Established in 1954 after Glenn L. Martin donated 2,569 acres to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it later grew to 4,548 acres through additional donations and purchases. Its tidal marshes, coves, creeks, ridges, mudflats, and sand bars provide vital wintering, stopover, and nesting habitat for thousands of migratory waterfowl and other birds, including the largest colony of brown pelicans in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay.