 In the early years , the facility was only open to the public for a songbird festival in May and National Wildlife Refuge Week in October . A program to restore the habitat to its original state began in 1997 . During that year , twenty water flow systems and dikes were added at the refuge to allow managers to flood parts of the land . The refuge grew from what was once a former dairy farm that spanned 400 acres ( 160 ha ) to more than 800 acres ( 320 ha ) by September 1998 . In the spring of 1999 , the $ 1 @.@ 1 million system for flooding parts of the refuge was completed . In total , the refuge grew to 1 @,@ 066 acres ( 431 ha ) in 1999 , and increased the number of bird species from 18 to 146 . The facility was further enlarged to 1 @,@ 268 acres ( 513 ha ) in 2003 , and received nearly $ 750 @,@ 000 to build a new safe entrance to the planned visitor 's area . 
