Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge (NWR or Refuge) is located at the southern end of Puget Sound, Washington in the Nisqually River delta (Figure 1.1-1). The 2,925-acre Refuge, located in Thurston and Pierce counties, is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and protects one of the few relatively undeveloped large estuaries remaining in Puget Sound. The Refuge has international significance as a staging area, sanctuary, and migration stopover for migratory birds of the Pacific Flyway. The Refuge also has regional importance as migration and rearing habitat for salmon, particularly the Federally listed fall chinook salmon.