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Ken Burton 202-208-5657
Find A Special Event Near Your Community During National Wildlife Refuge Week
10/10/2005 -- Scores of national wildlife refuges are planning special guided interpretive tours, festivals, open houses, fishing clinics and other events to engage the public and introduce people to the National Wildlife Refuge System during National Wildlife Refuge Week, October 9-15.
National Wildlife Refuge Week was established to introduce people to the nation's 545 national wildlife refuges, which cover nearly 100 million acres. There is a national wildlife refuge within an hour's drive of most major metropolitan areas, and at least one national wildlife refuge in every state.
"National wildlife refuges have become travel destinations, giving people the chance to see and participate in America's outdoor heritage, including hunting and fishing," said Matt Hogan, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Refuge Week is right in the middle of the bird migration season, so people have a great chance to see thousands of birds at many of our refuges. You don't have to be a birdwatcher with a 'life list' to be fascinated by the diversity you can see on a national wildlife refuge."
Nearly 40 million people each year visit national wildlife refuges, yet they remain remarkably free of crowds. People can photograph and observe wildlife on America's national wildlife refuges. Many refuges have photography blinds. The Refuge System also has more than 2,500 miles of land, water and auto trails that make wildlife observation easy for the whole family.
In addition, hundreds of national wildlife refuges are open for hunting and fishing for those with the appropriate state licenses. Many refuges have outstanding visitor centers that have garnered awards not only for their interpretive displays, but also for their environmentally sensitive construction.
The variety of events at national wildlife refuges during National Wildlife Refuge Week is equally diverse. For a listing of events during Refuge Week and throughout October, go to http://www.fws.gov/refuges/ and click on "Special Events" on the toolbar. Some examples of upcoming events:
October 8: Travel to the third annual White River Wildlife Festival in St. Charles, AR, to build a birdhouse or bird feeder, take free boat tours and guided wildlife walks, or learn about archery safety from the Arkansas Bow Hunters Association.
October 9-15: Thousands of people each year journey to J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge in Sanibel, FL, for "Ding Darling Days," when activities include dolphin and sealife cruises, kids' fishing days, wildlife photography workshops and refuge birding tours.
October 7-9: The three-day Wildlife and Birding Festival on the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge gives visitors a chance to explore the fall bird migration and wildlife resources.
October 8-9: Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge in Marble Falls, TX, will celebrate at Doeskin Ranch as hundreds of hawks and Monarch butterflies migrate overhead.
October 8: Spend the day at the Chesser Island Homestead on the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, GA, to discover how people lived in Southeast Georgia at the turn of the 20th Century, when the Refuge System was established.
October 15: Celebrate "Prairie Days and Prairie Nights" at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado with hayrides, catch-and-release fishing or campfire stories by living historian "Teddy Roosevelt." Bike on the refuge, or just take a nature walk.
October 15: Take a twilight marsh walk at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in California to experience the salt marsh as the sun goes down and the first of nature's night shift takes over. Reservations are required.
October 15: Go on a backcountry tour at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro, New Mexico, focusing on geology and native plants.
October 15: Learn about western folk legend Jack Longstreet at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Amargosa Valley, Nevada, where a grant from the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act was use to revitalize the stone cabin built in 1896. The cabin is a great example of pioneer resourcefulness and is located beside one of the refuge's warm water springs, teeming with endangered pupfish.
October 15: Join the grand opening of the new observation tower at Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, 40 miles north of Yuma, AZ. That?s just one facet of a day that will include designation of the Painted Desert Trail as a National Recreation Trail.
October 16: Explore the beach ecology of Bulls Island and the lighthouses of Lighthouse Island at Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, SC.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the nearly 100-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
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