The 1970s brought additional changes to the protected area. Both the Russell Game Refuge and the UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge were transferred on April 25, 1975, to the Bureau of Land Management by Public Land Order 5498. A year later, Congress amended the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate the Missouri River and its banks within Russell National Wildlife Range as part of the Upper Missouri River National Wild and Scenic River system. On October 19, 1976, Congress established the UL Bend Wilderness as a wilderness area within the UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge. Over time, the wilderness area would expand to . Finally, on April 25, 1978, the United States Secretary of the Interior issued Public Land Order 5635. This order revoked Public Land Order 5498, changed the name of the protected area to the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, and turned the area over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for management.