Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

The Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service on the Nisqually River Delta near Puget Sound in northeastern Thurston County, Washington and northwestern Pierce County, Washington. The refuge is located just off Interstate 5, between the cities of Tacoma and Olympia. The 12.6 km2 refuge was created in 1974 to provide habitat and nesting areas for waterfowl and other migratory birds. It includes a protected estuary, salt marshes and open mudflats, freshwater marshes, open grassland, and riparian woodland and brush. An additional is protected by the disjoint Black River Unit on a tributary of the Chehalis River. On December 18, 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Billy Frank Jr. Tell Your Story Act into law, redesignating the wildlife refuge in honor of Nisqually tribe leader and treaty rights activist Billy Frank, Jr., who died in 2014.