Mingo National Wildlife Refuge

Morning light at Mingo NWR. Image courtesy Nomadsland.

At A Glance

“Thanks to the Go Zero project, we were able to restore forest habitat that benefits migratory birds, the endangered Indiana bat and many other species." — Mingo NWR manager Ben Mense.

When settlers first came to Missouri’s Bootheel region, lush bottomland hardwood forests, including giant cypress and tupelo trees, blanketed the southeastern corner of the state. Over the past century, the forests were cut for lumber, and by the 1930s, most of the land was cleared and the swamplands were drained.

Mingo National Wildlife Refuge protects the largest remaining bottomland hardwood forest in southeastern Missouri.

Go Zero^®Plants Its Millionth Tree And Gets Gold Validation

The Fund’s Go Zero program works with companies and individuals to help reduce and then offset the carbon footprint of everyday activities. Customer donations help plant native trees in protected parks and wildlife refuges like Mingo NWR that will capture and store carbon over time, while also creating forest habitats that are critical to birds, fish, bears and other wildlife. At Mingo, the restored forests will be open to the public for wildlife-dependent recreational uses.

Mingo NWR is the site of Go Zero program’s millionth tree, which was planted in 2010. Mingo received gold validation in May of 2010 and with this we became the first group in the nation to receive gold validation under the CCB Standards Second Edition. This rating was certified by SCS Global Services.