The Cache River National Wildlife Refuge is a 68,993 acre (223 km2) (2014) wildlife refuge in the state of Arkansas managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). The refuge is one of the Ramsar wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention signed in 1971. It is one of the most important wintering area for ducks and the largest remaining tract of contiguous bottomland hardwood forest on the North American continent. In 2005, a possible sighting of the ivory-billed woodpecker, thought to be extinct, brought attention to the refuge. In 2012, the FWS proposed the gradual expansion of the refuge up to a maximum of . History and description In the 1970s, duck hunters prevented the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from dredging and straightening the Cache River. The conservation movement led to the establishment of the National Wildlife Refuge in 1986. The nearby town of Stuttgart, Arkansas calls itself the "Rice and Duck Capital of the World." The National Wildlife Refuge runs along the flood-plain of the Cache River for 70 miles (100 km) from the Cache River's mouth at Clarendon, Arkansas to the town of Grubbs, Arkansas. The refuge encompasses land in the Arkansas counties of Jackson, Woodruff, Prairie, and Monroe. The Cache River NWR has gradually expanded to its present size through acquisition from private owners of land. Most of the land in the refuge, and that planned for acquisition, had been drained and used for agriculture. The long-term goal is to re-forest former farming areas with native vegetation along the meandering sloughs, oxbow lakes, swamps, and bald cypress forests of the Cache River and Bayou De View. The Cache River NWR already preserves the largest tract of contiguous bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the United States. The refuge currently includes 47,000 acres (134 km2) of bottomland forest and sloughs. It also includes several oxbow lakes and 17,000 acres (30 km2) of formerly agricultural land now in the process of reforestation. The refuge is home to over 50 species of mammals including deer, raccoon, bobcat, and river otter. It also is home for nearly 240 species of birds including ducks, geese, wading birds, and other assorted migratory birds. The swampy bottomlands are also home to 48 species of reptiles and amphibians. The Cache River refuge is the most important wintering area for mallard ducks in North America and also important for other duck and