05/13/2015 11:34 AM EDT
Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge in Washington is one of the earliest refuges. The refuge was set aside by Teddy Roosevelt in 1907 to protect habitat for struggling seabird populations. Quillayute Needles Refuge consists of 870 islands, rocks and reefs extending for more than 100 miles along Washington’s coast from Cape Flattery to Copalis Beach. Today the islands swell with raucous flocks of migrating seabirds in excess of a million during fall and spring migrations. In summer the vast majority of Washington’s breeding seabirds jostle for space on these remote rocks. Sunset photo by Melissa Hahn (www.sharetheexperience.org).