Comprehensive wildlife and habitat management demands the integration of scientific information from several disciplines, including understanding ecological processes and monitoring status of fish, wildlife, and plants.
Equally important is an intimate understanding of the social and economic drivers that impact and are affected by management decisions and can facilitate or impede implementation success.
Service strategic habitat conservation planning, design, and delivery efforts are affected by the demographic, societal, and cultural changes of population growth and urbanization, as well as people’s attitudes and values toward wildlife.
Consideration of these factors contributes to the success of the service’s mission to protect wildlife and their habitats.

The refuge system works collaboratively internally and externally to leverage resources and achieve effective conservation.
It works with other federal agencies, state fish and wildlife agencies, tribes, nongovernmental organizations, local landowners, community volunteers, and other partners.
Meaningful engagement with stakeholders at a regional, integrated level adds to the effective conservation achievements of the FWS and allows individual refuges to respond more effectively to challenges.

Wildlife and habitat management activities include:
Monitoring plant and animal populations
Restoring wetland, forest, grassland, and marine habitats
Controlling the spread of invasive species
Reintroducing rare fish, wildlife and plants to formerly occupied habitats
Monitoring air quality
Investigating and cleaning contaminants
Preventing and controlling wildlife disease outbreaks
Assessing water quality and quantity
Understanding the complex relationship between people and wildlife through the integration of social science
Managing habitats through manipulation of water levels, prescribed burning, haying, grazing, timber harvest, and planting vegetation
During fiscal year 2015, the refuge system manipulated 3.1 million acres of habitat (technique #9 from the preceding list) and managed 147 million acres of the system without habitat manipulation (using techniques #1 through 8 from the preceding list).

Uplands managed: 1.9 million acres
Wetlands managed: 1.0 million acres
Open water managed: 0.2 million acres
Treated by prescribed burning: 0.3 million acres
Treated to control invasive plants: 0.2 million acres
Protected but not manipulated: 147 million acres
Refuges attract nearly 50 million visitors each year who come to hunt, fish, observe, and photograph wildlife, and are a significant boon to local economies.
According to the FWS's 2013 Banking on Nature Report, visitors to refuges positively impact the local economies.
The report details that 47 million people who visited refuges that year:
Generated $2.4 billion of sales in regional economies
Supported over 35,000 jobs
Generated $342.9 million in tax revenues at the local, county, state, and federal levels
Contributed a total of $4.5 billion to the nation’s economy
The refuge system has a professional cadre of law enforcement officers that supports a broad spectrum of service programs by enforcing conservation laws established to protect the fish, wildlife, cultural, and archaeological resources the service manages in trust for the American people.
They also educate the public about the FWS’s mission, contribute to environmental education and outreach, provide safety and security for the visiting public, assist local communities with law enforcement and natural disaster response and recovery through emergency management programs, and help protect native subsistence rights.
They are routinely involved with the greater law enforcement community in cooperative efforts to combat the nation's drug problems, address border security issues, and aid in other security challenges.

Prevention and control of wildland fires is also a part of refuge management.
 Completion of controlled burns to reduce fuel loading, and participation in the interagency wildland fire suppression efforts, are vital for management of refuge lands.

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Comprehensive wildlife and habitat management demands the integration of scientific information from several disciplines, including understanding ecological processes and monitoring status of fish, wildlife, and plants. Equally important is an intimate understanding of the social and economic drivers that impact and are affected by management decisions and can facilitate or impede implementation success. Service strategic habitat conservation planning, design, and delivery efforts are affected by the demographic, societal, and cultural changes of population growth and urbanization, as well as people’s attitudes and values toward wildlife. Consideration of these factors contributes to the success of the service’s mission to protect wildlife and their habitats.
The refuge system works collaboratively internally and externally to leverage resources and achieve effective conservation. It works with other federal agencies, state fish and wildlife agencies, tribes, nongovernmental organizations, local landowners, community volunteers, and other partners. Meaningful engagement with stakeholders at a regional, integrated level adds to the effective conservation achievements of the FWS and allows individual refuges to respond more effectively to challenges. 
Wildlife and habitat management activities include:
Monitoring plant and animal populations
Restoring wetland, forest, grassland, and marine habitats
Controlling the spread of invasive species
Reintroducing rare fish, wildlife and plants to formerly occupied habitats
Monitoring air quality
Investigating and cleaning contaminants
Preventing and controlling wildlife disease outbreaks
Assessing water quality and quantity
Understanding the complex relationship between people and wildlife through the integration of social science
Managing habitats through manipulation of water levels, prescribed burning, haying, grazing, timber harvest, and planting vegetation
During fiscal year 2015, the refuge system manipulated 3.1 million acres of habitat (technique #9 from the preceding list) and managed 147 million acres of the system without habitat manipulation (using techniques #1 through 8 from the preceding list).
Uplands managed: 1.9 million acres
Wetlands managed: 1.0 million acres
Open water managed: 0.2 million acres
Treated by prescribed burning: 0.3 million acres
Treated to control invasive plants: 0.2 million acres
Protected but not manipulated: 147 million acres
Refuges attract nearly 50 million visitors each year who come to hunt, fish, observe, and photograph wildlife, and are a significant boon to local economies. According to the FWS's 2013 Banking on Nature Report, visitors to refuges positively impact the local economies. The report details that 47 million people who visited refuges that year:
Generated $2.4 billion of sales in regional economies
Supported over 35,000 jobs
Generated $342.9 million in tax revenues at the local, county, state, and federal levels
Contributed a total of $4.5 billion to the nation’s economy
The refuge system has a professional cadre of law enforcement officers that supports a broad spectrum of service programs by enforcing conservation laws established to protect the fish, wildlife, cultural, and archaeological resources the service manages in trust for the American people. They also educate the public about the FWS’s mission, contribute to environmental education and outreach, provide safety and security for the visiting public, assist local communities with law enforcement and natural disaster response and recovery through emergency management programs, and help protect native subsistence rights. They are routinely involved with the greater law enforcement community in cooperative efforts to combat the nation's drug problems, address border security issues, and aid in other security challenges.
Prevention and control of wildland fires is also a part of refuge management.  Completion of controlled burns to reduce fuel loading, and participation in the interagency wildland fire suppression efforts, are vital for management of refuge lands.
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National Wildlife Refuge