Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1989 to protect and enhance wooded wetland

Wetland

A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

s consisting of bottomland hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

s and swamp

Swamp

A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...

s with high waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

 value along the Roanoke River

Roanoke River

The Roanoke River is a river in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States, 410 mi long. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains southeast across the Piedmont...

. The extensive bottomland hardwood habitat of the Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge is part of what the Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....

 calls "one of the last great places."

Refuge lands consist of bottomland hardwood forest interspersed with cypress

Cypress

Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...

-tupelo

Tupelo

The tupelo , black gum, or pepperidge tree, genus Nyssa , is a small genus of about 9 to 11 species of trees with alternate, simple leaves...

 slough

Slough

Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...

s that includes forested wetlands in the lower 130 miles of the Roanoke River from the fall line

Fall line

A fall line is a geomorphologic unconformity between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...

 at Weldon, North Carolina

Weldon, North Carolina

Weldon is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,374 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Weldon is located at ....

 downstream to the Albemarle Sound

Albemarle Sound

Albemarle Sound is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a long barrier peninsula upon which the town of Kitty Hawk is located,...

 near Plymouth, North Carolina

Plymouth, North Carolina

Plymouth is the largest town in Washington County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,107 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Washington County...

. The refuge includes part of an extensive wetland ecosystem

Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....

 that contains excellent examples of several southeastern plant communities and habitat types. These include levee

Levee

A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...

 forest, cypress-gum swamp, bottomland hardwoods, oxbow

Oxbow

An oxbow is a U-shaped wooden or metal frame that fits under and around the neck of an ox or bullock, with its upper ends passing through the bar of the yoke and held in place with a metal key, called a bow pin. The wood most often used is hardwood steamed into shape, like elm or hickory and...

s, beaver ponds and blackwater streams. These communities add to the rich mosaic of habitat types in the river's floodplain

Floodplain

A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...

.

The refuge includes valuable wetlands for fish and wildlife; especially waterfowl, neotropical migrants, and anadromous fish. The refuge hosts 214 species of birds, including 88 breeding resident species and the largest inland heron

Heron

The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae. There are 64 recognised species in this family. Some are called "egrets" or "bitterns" instead of "heron"....

 rookery

Rookery

A rookery is a colony of breeding animals, generally birds. A rook is a Northern European and Central Asian member of the crow family, which nest in prominent colonies at the tops of trees. The term is applied to the nesting place of birds, such as crows and rooks, the source of the term...

 in the state; white-tailed deer

White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...

; one of the largest natural wild turkey

Wild Turkey

The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...

 populations in North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

; and a remnant population of black bear

American black bear

The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...

along with numerous small game and a diversity of fish species including anadromous fish.