Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary

Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary is a National Historic Site of Canada, located in the rural municipality of Last Mountain Valley No. 250 in Saskatchewan. The migratory bird sanctuary was the first established in North America. The 47.36-square-kilometre (18.29 sq mi) area is within the Last Mountain Lake National Wildlife Area, an International Biological Program site, and includes adjacent uplands.

The site is used as a staging or nesting area by numerous migratory and colonial bird species, including the sandhill crane and the endangered whooping crane. The lake has rich spawning grounds used by numerous fish species, including the vulnerable bigmouth buffalo.

It was recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1987, its centennial anniversary, for its undisturbed natural areas, among them the wetlands, shoreline, forest, and adjacent grasslands, and for being the first bird sanctuary in Canada.

In 1887, Lieutenant-Governor of the North-West Territories Edgar Dewdney recommended the establishment of an area to protect wild fowl. On 8 June 1887, an Order in Council established the Dominion bird reserve at Last Mountain Lake. It was the first bird sanctuary established in North America. A parcel of land of about 2,500 acres (10 km²) was reserved as a breeding ground, encompassing the northernmost 27 kilometres (17 mi) of the lake's shoreline. In 1917, it was officially named Last Mountain Lake Bird Sanctuary, and was managed and operated by the Fish and Game League. In 1921, it was protected under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act.