Maple River National Wildlife Refuge in central Dickey County, North Dakota, was established on June 12, 1939, as a small federal refuge within the Kulm Wetland Management District. Its 1,120-acre boundary includes much private land protected by management easements that allow flooding within the river channel and restrictions on hunting, trapping, and other disturbance. In the early 1960s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also acquired a 414-acre tract as a Waterfowl Production Area. Water control through two dams sustains the river channel and an adjacent marsh, creating important breeding and migration habitat for marsh-dependent birds and other wildlife, while public access varies by ownership.