THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 20, 1996 TAG: 9603200467
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
It looked as though Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge's expansion project had come to a standstill until Tuesday when the refuge was awarded $480,000 to buy more land.
The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission's contribution will allow the refuge to buy 286 acres of prime wildlife habitat.
``For us, that tract is coveted,'' refuge manager John P. Stasko said. ``It has the highest-ranking priority of our remaining tracts. . . . It's biologically and ecologically significant.''
With this purchase, the refuge will have bought 3,626 acres, more than half of the 6,340 acres targeted for expansion. The goal is to protect fragile wildlife habitat and wetlands and to prevent further degradation of the water quality in Back Bay.
Back Bay's expansion is ranked 12th on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Land Acquisition Priority System. Several years ago, Back Bay ranked about 150th.
Still, the refuge was not expecting any new acquisition money, because Congress is slashing funding for land purchases for national parks, forests and refuges for at least the next five years. Back Bay has paid for most of its expansion with $7 million received from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund since 1990.
But this latest allocation is from the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, a government agency that distributes revenue from the sale of duck stamps and admission fees to refuges. The commission previously had given the refuge a total of $3 million to buy land.
Refuge officials were not expecting money from the commission either, because none of the remaining parcels that had willing sellers met the strict eligibility standards.
The migratory bird fund has a cap on what it will pay per acre, and most of the property left to buy is more expensive upland. Parcels with price tags under that cap have not been available for sale.
But the owners of this 286-acre tract, known as Atlantic Lakes, decided to sell in the last several months.
``This is huge, because it looked like we would go a few years without any additional acquisitions,'' Stasko said.
The land is the northern boundary of an area known as Black Gut, which has been designated a state natural area because it is home to 13 species of rare plants and animals.
``It will be the northernmost point of the refuge,'' Stasko said. ``It gives us ownership of property right up to the southern border of Dam Neck Navy base.''
The property is in a block of continuous forest significant to migratory birds. It also boasts an old quarry known to locals as Crystal Lake. And it's a quarter-mile from Back Bay's only pair of nesting bald eagles.
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1938 on 4,589 acres in the southeast corner of Virginia Beach for the protection of migratory waterfowl and birds.
Although Tuesday's award is smaller than what Back Bay is accustomed to getting, it doesn't diminish its importance.
``A little funding will keep the momentum going and keep the willing sellers interested,'' said Molly P. Brown, who lobbied the commission for money as president of Friends of Back Bay.
Brown was joined in her lobbying by Virginia's Congressional delegation.
``It is important to maintain the momentum at the refuge before prices increase beyond our ability to purchase them or before the lands are developed,'' Sen. John Warner wrote to the commission.
With the building of a city sewer line nearby in 1997 and the uncertainty of federal wetland regulations, some considered this parcel to be ripe for development.
``We thought '96 would be a year of zero land acquisition, and we've picked up 300 acres,'' Brown said. ``That's exciting.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Map
Graphic
VP
BACK BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE EXPANSION
SOURCE: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB