Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge lies midway between Buffalo and Rochester, NY, within the Atlantic Flyway. The relatively flat terrain encompasses 10,818 acres of habitat. Freshwater marshes and hardwood swamps border or are fed by Oak Orchard Creek which meanders east to west before leaving the refuge to empty into Lake Ontario 20 miles away. Forests, meadows and fields slope up gently from the wetland's edge. <P>

On May 19, 1958 the federal government established the Oak Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, using money from the sale of Migratory Bird Conservation Stamps, or "Duck Stamps". It is one link in a chain of over 500 National Wildlife Refuges across the United States. To avoid confusion with the neighboring Oak Orchard State Wildlife Management Area, the refuge was renamed Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in 1964, in respect of the Iroquois nation. Many areas of the refuge are namesakes for these early inhabitants.