Audubon Guide to the National Wildlife Refuges: New England: Connecticut, Mane, Massachussetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

It would no doubt give the late conservationist and writer Rachel Carson great pleasure to know that a 7,435-acre parcel of coastal Maine, sheltering more than 250 species of shorebirds and waterfowl (and the raptors that feed on them), honors her memory as a national wildlife refuge. There are 22 other such refuges in the New England states, 18 of them open to visitors. Most are on or near bodies of water and were established to protect resident or migratory bird populations; given rapid development in much of the region, many of these critical habitats are now altogether too rare. One refuge, New Hampshire's Wapack, comprises a mountain summit and several little-seen but once-common denizens, including the black bear. Massachusetts Audubon Society director René Laubach provides a thorough guide to enjoying these refuges and the animals and plants they safeguard. --Gregory McNamee