Nomans Land Island National Wildlife Refuge

Nomans Land Island is located in Dukes County, Massachusetts, three miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard. This island has a unique history. Historically, the Cape and Islands were home to the Wampanoag Tribe. Ancestors of the federally recognized Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) used the island perhaps as early as the Late Archaic Period (5,000 years before present). The island also had sheep grazing when the island was privately owned in the 1800’s, to then being used as a bombing range by the U.S. Navy starting during World War II. Portions of the island have been managed by the Service since 1970, while the island was still owned by the U.S. Navy. The Navy transferred ownership of the island to the Service in 1998. therefore, establishing the refuge. This refuge is closed to all public uses.

Nomans Land Island provides diverse habitats including intertidal, freshwater wetland, grassland, and shrubland habitats. It serves an important role for nesting colonial waterbirds, and as a stopover for migratory birds. Species that inhabit the 628-acre island include, seabirds such as double crested cormorants and common terns, waterfowl, marsh bird,  shorebirds, songbirds, raptors, reptiles such as the spotted turtle, mammals, including the New England cottontail and insects, such as the monarch butterfly.