The Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1970 along the Patuxent River in Prince George's County. It is named for Edgar Merkle, who owned a large part of the land and originated a breeding plan to re-introduce geese to this part of Maryland. In 1932 he bought his first pair of breeding geese from Arkansas and Missouri and bred them at his home near Washington, D.C. He released the young adults at his Patuxent farm in the fall. His flock increased over the next few years, and in 1948 five pairs of migratory geese arrived. During this same period, Mr. Merkle also raised prize winning Black Angus cattle, but when the geese competed with the cattle for food, he sided with the geese and sold the herd. By 1955, a flock of several thousand geese were wintering on the Merkle farm. Today from ten to fifteen thousand birds use Merkle as their wintering grounds to feed and rest.