THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410130189
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 09 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Congress has approved another $500,000 to expand Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which will push the refuge beyond the halfway mark in its plans to purchase 6,300 acres and protect it from development.
Already, 3,100 acres have been bought in the rural southern end of the city and placed in preservation.
``Every year the amount of money is getting smaller and smaller,'' said Molly P. Brown, president of Friends of Back Bay, who lobbied for the appropriation. ``We are fortunate to be in the pot.''
Only 33 projects were funded nationwide. The only other Virginia refuge to receive money was Chincoteague, which also was awarded $500,000.
Joe McCauley, acting refuge manager at Back Bay, said the money will be used to purchase small parcels that will help fill in around acreage already acquired.
``What we have now is kind of like a checkerboard,'' McCauley said. ``We need to fill in the gaps now to make more manageable units.''
Back Bay's expansion has received federal funding every year since 1990, although the amount dropped from about $2 million annually to $500,000 last year.
``It keeps us alive,'' Brown said. ``It keeps the project from stalling. Willing sellers know that the money is still coming in.''
About 70 percent of the landowners in the refuge's proposed expansion area have expressed interest in selling their land.
Brown credits a pair of nesting American bald eagles and their two eaglets for helping convince lawmakers to continue to fund Back Bay. It was the first successful eagle's nest recorded on Back Bay in more than 30 years.
The eagles nested in a stand of trees that had been slated for development, but was purchased about a year ago as part of the expansion effort.
``That was nature's gift to us this year,'' she said.
Since 1990, the 4,600-acre refuge has spent $10 million to purchase 3,100 acres of swamp, forests and farmland.
Congress has contributed $7 million. The money comes from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, financed primarily by royalties from the sale of oil and gas leases.
The other $3 million came from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which is revenue from the sale of duck stamps and admission fees to refuges.
The refuge expansion area stretches west from Sandbridge to Hell's Point Creek, then extends south parallel to the west shoreline of Back Bay. The area is mostly wetlands and low-lying farmlands. It does not include the uplands known as Pungo Ridge.
Once considered among the country's richest freshwater fishing areas and a home for a huge winter flock of migrating waterfowl, Back Bay has suffered a dramatic decline in the past decade as sediment and pollution have smothered underwater grasses.
According to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Back Bay is home to at least 13 species of rare plants and animals.
The funding is included in the budget of the U.S. Department of the Interior. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge is said to be home to at least 13
species of rare plants and animals.
KEYWORDS: BACK BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE FUNDING BUDGET by CNB