Sullys Hill National Game Preserve

Sullys Hill National Game Preserve

Landscape at Sullys Hill National Game Preserve
Location Benson County, North Dakota, USA
Coordinates 48°0′0″N 98°56′30″W / 48.00000°N 98.94167°W / 48.00000; -98.94167Coordinates: 48°0′0″N 98°56′30″W / 48.00000°N 98.94167°W / 48.00000; -98.94167
Area 1,674 acres (677 ha)
Established 1904 as Sullys Hill National Park
Governing body U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website Sullys Hill National Game Preserve

Sullys Hill National Game Preserve is a National Wildlife Refuge and nature center located on the shore of Devil's Lake in Benson County, North Dakota, within the Spirit Lake Tribe reservation.

In 1904, Sullys Hill National Park was established by President Theodore Roosevelt. It was named after General Alfred Sully,[1] son of the painter Thomas Sully.

On March 3, 1931, during the Great Depression, the United States Congress transferred the park to be managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service as a wildlife refuge, where hunting is permitted. The Spirit Lake Tribe has fishing and hunting rights here.

It is one of only seven National Parks to have been disbanded. Of these seven parks, only Sullys Hill and Mackinac National Park in Michigan, now Mackinac Island State Park, are no longer under the control of the National Park Service.

The park's 1,674 acres (6.8 km²), a mixture of marshes and wooded hills, includes such wildlife as 20-30 American bison, 25-40 elk, 20-30 white-tailed deer, and a colony of prairie dogs. an array of birds, insects, and plants have also been identified within the refuge.

Open seasonally, the visitor center includes an exhibit hall of mounted North Dakota animals in prairie, wetland, forest, and agriculture habitats, education classrooms, and a book store. The center offer programs for school groups, public workshops, guided nature hikes, bird-watching walks, summer youth programs, and conservation programs throughout the year.

References

  1. Federal Writers' Project (1938). North Dakota, a Guide to the Northern Prairie State. WPA. p. 268. ISBN 978-1-62376-033-5.
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