Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Arkansas protects a rare remnant of the old Great Swamp, preserving shallow lake waters, wooded wetlands, and bottomland hardwood forest in an agricultural region. Shaped in part by the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811–12, the area later drew logging, hunting, and bitter conflict known as the Big Lake Wars, as private clubs restricted long-used local resources. Established by the federal government in 1915 as the nation’s third-oldest inland wildlife refuge, Big Lake now safeguards vital waterfowl habitat, including wilderness and nationally recognized natural areas, and supports rich birdlife, fish, and wetland wildlife.