Cache River National Wildlife Refuge

Cache River National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map of the United States
Location	Arkansas, United States
Coordinates	35°03′30″N 91°19′45″W / 35.05833°N 91.32917°W / 35.05833; -91.32917
Area	68,993 acres (279.20 km2)[1]
Established	1986
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Cache River NWR
Ramsar Wetland
Official name	Cache-Lower White Rivers
Designated	21 November 1989
Reference no.	442[2]

The Cache River National Wildlife Refuge is a 68,993 acre (223 km²) (2014) wildlife refuge in the state of Arkansas managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).^[3] The refuge is one of the Ramsar wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention signed in 1971. It is one of the most important wintering area for ducks and the largest remaining tract of contiguous bottomland hardwood forest on the North American continent. In 2005, a possible sighting of the ivory-billed woodpecker, thought to be extinct, brought attention to the refuge.

In 2012, the FWS proposed the gradual expansion of the refuge up to a maximum of 287,574 acres (116,377 ha).^[4]