Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 08:10:11 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: rick Subject: Blackwater NWR to Expand Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This note comes from a government press release. I have included the intro and the references to two refuges in our area, Blackwater, and Great Dismal Swamp. Nice to have a little good news. RELEASE: The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission approved acquisition of more than 6,500 acres of important habitat, and the protection of nearly 1,000 additional acres at its March 22 meeting in Washington, D.C. The acreage will be included in eight separate National Wildlife Refuges in nine states, improving the refuges' ability to support migratory bird populations. The Cabinet-level commission, chaired by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, approved the expenditure of more than $6.3 million to acquire the land. Many of the land acquisitions were approved for refuges along one of the migratory waterfowl "flyways," four major travel corridors that migratory birds follow on spring and fall migrations. "The land acquisitions approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission are the latest chapter in a unique success story that has built the National Wildlife Refuge System and protected millions of acres of nesting, breeding and wintering habitat for migratory birds," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge system. The Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929 established the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission to approve land acquisitions considered from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Since its inception, the commission has approved more than 4.5 million acres of land acquisitions for the 93-million- acre National Wildlife Refuge System. The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission meets three times each year to approve proposals for funding. Members of the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission are Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, who serves as chairman; Senators John Breaux and Thad Cochran; Congressmen John Dingell and Curt Weldon; Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman; and the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner. The Migratory Bird Conservation Fund is supported by revenue collected from Federal Duck Stamp sales, import duties collected on arms and ammunition, right-of-way payments to the refuge system and receipts from national wildlife refuge entrance fees. New National Wildlife Refuge System acquisitions: [SNIP] o Maryland - Purchase of 389 acres within and adjacent to Blackwater NWR in Dorchester County on Maryland's Eastern Shore. The acquisition and boundary expansion will protect important waterfowl and migratory bird wetland habitat from saltwater intrusion caused by adjacent timber harvesting and land clearing for agricultural production. o Virginia/North Carolina - Purchase of 2,251 acres within and adjacent to the Great Dismal Swamp NWR in southern Virginia and northern North Carolina. Acquisition of the tract will protect large areas of wetland forest that provide nesting, feeding and resting habitat for waterfowl and neotropical migratory birds. Never take a solemn oath. People think you mean it. -- Norman Douglas Rick Blom rblom@blazie.com 4318 Cowan Place Belcamp, Maryland 21017 (410)575-6086 Editor: BWD Skimmer (www.birdwatchersdigest.com) ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================