Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Missouri was established in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as the state's first national wildlife refuge, reversing earlier efforts to drain these river-bottom wetlands for farming. After a private hunting preserve became part of a large drainage project in 1906, repeated flooding showed the land's wet character endured. Roosevelt's order restored the area for migratory birds and other wildlife, and its water-control system still depends partly on that earlier drainage network. Along the Central Flyway, the refuge now draws huge seasonal concentrations of ducks, geese, swans, raptors, and bald eagles, making it one of Missouri's premier birding sites.