Summer Lake Wildlife Area

Summer Lake Wildlife Area
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Egret and ducks in Summer Lake wetlands
Location	Lake County, Oregon, United States
Nearest city	Summer Lake, Oregon
Coordinates	42°57′05″N 120°45′48″W / 42.9515°N 120.7633°W / 42.9515; -120.7633
Area	18,941 acres (76.65 km2)
Established	1944
Visitors	7,500 (in 2007)
Governing body	Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

The Summer Lake Wildlife Area (also known as Summer Lake State Game Management Area) is a 29.6-square-mile (77 km²) wildlife refuge located on the northwestern edge of the Great Basin drainage in south-central Oregon. It is administered by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. The refuge is an important stop for waterfowl traveling along the Pacific Flyway during their spring and fall migrations. The Summer Lake Wildlife Area also provides habitat for shorebirds and other bird species as well as wide variety of mammals and several fish species. The Ana River supplies the water for the refuge wetlands.

Following a decade of droughts in the 1930s, Federal and state governments joined with private interest group to saving North America’s rapidly disappearing wetlands. The result was the creation of many federal and state wildlife refuges. This was especially important along the migratory bird flyways. The Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 (also known as the Pittman–Robertson Act) helped finance land acquisition, habitat development, and refuge infrastructure at the Summer Lake Wildlife Area.

The Summer Lake Wildlife Area was established 12 April 1944 to protect and improve the area's waterfowl habitat and provide a site for public hunting. It is located in the northwest corner of the Great Basin drainage in central Lake County, Oregon. The Summer Lake refuge was the first wetland-focused wildlife area established in Oregon. It originally included only 2,500 acres (10 km²) of wetlands north of Summer Lake. Nevertheless, the Summer Lake wetlands were an important stop for migratory waterfowl and shorebirds traveling along the Pacific Flyway. The wildlife area was also home to a wide variety of indigenous bird, mammal, and fish species.