San Diego National Wildlife Refuge

Overview

San Diego National Wildlife Refuge is managed by Fish and Wildlife Service and is located near Chula Vista, California.  

The San Diego National Wildlife Refuge is not just a place for wildlife, but a refuge for the city-dwelling neighbors who surround it. Established in 1996 and stretching over 12,300 acres from the city of Jamul to communities in Spring Valley and eastern Chula Vista, the refuge is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s contribution to the San Diego Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP), a landscape-wide habitat conservation plan to preserve habitat and species while allowing appropriate development. 

Guided by ongoing biological surveys and endangered species monitoring programs, the management of this refuge also relies on its non-profit partners and cooperative agencies to ensure the goals established in its Comprehensive Conservation Plan are accomplished.

Open grasslands, cool riverine corridors, and oak woodlands are some of the habitats being actively restored, once degraded by prior human uses and wildfire. Public trails that support hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding are maintained while still providing for the sensitive species it is mandated to protect.