A bureau within the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants, and their habitats. They are the only agency in the federal government whose primary responsibility is the conservation and management of these important natural resources for the American public dating to 1871 when Congress established the U.S. Fish Commission to study the decrease in the nation’s food fishes and recommend ways to reverse that decline.

Their mission, to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people, is realized within the Heritage Area within the properties they steward through the Eastern Massachusetts Complex: Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord and Sudbury, Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Hudson, Maynard, Stow and Sudbury, and Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Devens, Harvard, Lancaster, Shirley, and Ayer.