OTTAWA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE COMPLEX (Ottawa, Cedar Point, West Sister Island) Oak Harbor, Ohio
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
OTTAWA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE COMPLEX (Ottawa, Cedar Point, West Sister Island) Oak Harbor, Ohio ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1984 U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM .ht OTTAWA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE COMPLEX (OTTAWA, CEDAR POINT, WEST SISTER ISLAND NWR's) Oak Harbor, Ohio ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1984 Regional Office Approval Date INTRODUCTION The Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Complex is comprised of five units: the Ottawa, Darby and Navarre Divisions, Cedar Point, and West Sister Island. The Ottawa Division was established in July, 1961 with land acquired under the authority of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act to preserve a portion of the remaining Lake Erie marshes. West Sister Island was established as a refuge in August, 1938 by Presidential Order. Cedar Point was donated to the Service and accepted by the Secretary of the Interior in December 1964. Darby was acquired in 1966 in exchange for Navarre, with the agreement that most of Navarre would remain under management for wildlife under conditions of a 25- and 50-year lease. Today, these five separate parcels of land are the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge Complex. The'cities of Toledo, Detroit, and Ann Arbor are within an hour's drive of Ottawa NWR. At between 2 to 3 hours driving distance are Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, and Dayton. The refuge is within the bounds of an 8 million person megalopolis. Currently, it is receiving about 70,000 visitors per year who primarily visit the refuge for bird watching and wildlife observation. The total refuge acreage is 8,316 acres of which 5,350 acres are either open pools, marsh, and moist soil units. Water levels in 3,306 acres can be controlled by gravity drainage and filling, in 1,250 acres water is uncontrolled and in 794 acres of moist soil units water levels are controlled by pumping. The remaining acreage of 2,966 is a mixture of grassland, forest and cropland. Wildlife use of the refuge is high and is approximately as follows: (Use days) ducks, 1 to 5 million; Canada geese 1 to 2 million; marsh and water birds, 1 million; shorebirds gulls and terns over 1 million. Production is: ducks and ,geese 500 to 2,000 each; marsh and water birds, 4,000 to 6,000; shorebirds, gulls and terns, up to 500; bald eagles, 2 to 5; and wetland mammals 6,000 to 10,000. West Sister Island, located 9 miles out in Lake Erie, is a wilderness area and is the site of the largest colonial nesting bird colony in the Great Lakes Chain (over 2,100 nests of Great Blue Herons and Black Crowned Night-Herons). INTRODUCTION TABLE OF CONTENTS Page A. HIGHLIGHTS 1 B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 2 C. LAND ACQUISITION 1. Fee Title "Nothing to report" 2. Easements "Nothing to report" 3. Other 3 D. PLANNING Master Plan "Nothing to report" Management Plan 3 Public Participation 3 Compliance with Environmental and Cultural Resource Mandates 3 Research and Investigations 4 Other "Nothing to report" E. ADMINISTRATION Personnel 4 Youth Programs 5 Other Manpower Programs "Nothing to report" Volunteer Program 6 Funding 8 Safety 8 Technical Assistance 9 Other "Nothing to report" F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT 1. General 2. Wetlands 3. Forests 4. Croplands 5. Grasslands 6. Other Habitats 7. Grazing 8. Haying HABITAT MANAGEMENT (Cont.) "Page 9. Fire Management 13 10. Pest Control 13 11. Water Rights "Nothing to report'1 14 12. Wilderness and Special Areas 14 13. WPA Easement Monitoring "Nothing to report" G. WILDLIFE 1. Wildlife Diversity "Nothing to report" 2. Endangered and/or Threatened Species,.. 15 3. Waterfowl 15 4. Marsh and Water Birds 16 5. Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns and Allied Species 16 6. Raptors 16 7. Other Migratory Birds 17 8. 'Game Mammals ,.v, 17 9. Marine Mammals 17 10. Other Resident Wildlife ."Nothing to report" 11. Fisheries Resources 17 12. Wildlife Propagation and Stocking "Nothing to report" 13. Surplus Animal Disposal "Nothing to report" 14. Scientific Collections 17 15. Animal ControL "Nothing to report" 16. Marking and Banding 17 17. Disease Prevention and Control 18 H. PUBLIC USE 1. General 18 2. Outdoor Classrooms -^Students 18 3. Outdoor Classrooms - Teachers 18 4. Interpretive Foot Trails 19 5. Interpretive Tour Routes "Nothing to report" 6. Interpretive Exhibits/Demonstrations 19 7. Other Interpretive Programs 20 8. Hunting 21 9. Fishing "Nothing to report" 10. Trapping 23 11. Wildlife Observation 24 12. Other Wildlife Oriented Recreation ....."Nothing to report" 13. Camping "Nothing to report" 14. Picnicking "Nothing to report" 15. Off-Road Vehicling ; "Nothing to report" 16. Other Non-Wildlife Oriented Recreation "Nothing to report" H. PUBLIC USE (Cont.) Page 17. Law Enforcement 24 18. Cooperating Associations "Nothing to report" 19. Concessions "Nothing to report" I. EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES 1. New Construction 25 2. Rehabilitation 29 3. Major Maintenance 30 4. Equipment Utilization and Replacement 30 5. Communications Systems 31 6. Computer Systems 31 7. Energy Conservation 31 - 8. ,Other "Nothing to report" J. OTHER ITEMS 1. Cooperative Programs 32 2. Other Economic Uses "Nothing to report" 3. Items of Interest .' 33 4. Credits 33 K. FEEDBACK 34 L. INFORMATION PACKET - - - (inside back cover) Left to right - Kono, Behnke, Day, Nehls, Tansy, Botsford, Cornelius Refuge Staff 1. Michael G. Tansy - GS-12, PFT (EOD 2/19/84) Refuge Manager 2. Stanley Cornelius - GS-11, (EOD 6/11/84) Ass't. Refuge Manager 3. Linda Hagen - GS-11, PFT (Transferred 1/23/84) Ass't. Refuge Manager 4. Immanuel Johnson - GS-7, PFT (Transferred 8/18/84).Ass't. Refuge Manager Trainee 5. W. R. Botsford - GS-9, (EOD 9/6/81) Outdoor Recreation Planner 6. Virginia L. Behnke - GS-5, PFT (EOD 6/17/74) Administrative Technician 7. Alson Radsick - WG-8, PFT (EOD 10/15/60) Maintenance Worker 8. David L. Day - WG-7, PFT (EOD 4/11/83) Equipment Operator 9. Henry Kono - GS-4, (EOD 9/2/84, LDOD 10/26/84) Coop. Student Temporary Personnel 1. Jeff Nehls - WG-5, (6/10/84 - 12/7/84) Tractor Operator 2. Kelvin Sal the - WG-5, (7/22/84 - 10/26/84) Tractor Operator 3. Rebecca Lachey - GS-4, (7/22/84 - 10/12/84) Biological Aid 4. Valarie Szymanski - GS-4, (6/10/84 - 8/10/84) YCC Social Service Aid YCC Personnel Trent El wing (seated) Amy Hemminger (seated) Daniel Berger (standing) Jennifer Thompson (standing) Volunteers 1984 Hours Worked Brad Baaske 142 Jeff North 96 Tim Oliver 19 Joe Kiss 65 Rich Kiss 311 Wendy Hitchner 300 Jim Wonacott 291 Ken Gray 102 Daryl Apple"' 97 Keith Swindle 30 Jenny Shalala 8 Diane Tansy 2 Ann Botsford 3 Laurie Blakeslee 13 Art Weber 84 ' Mark Shieldcastle 102 Joe Komorowski 72 Ed Pierce 72 Laurel VanCamp 72 Paula Jack 42 Ward Jenkins 44 Boy Scout Troop 131 150 Boy Scout Troop 268 162 Boy Scout Troop 195 138 Northern Kentucky State University 105 Boy Scout Post 47 144 Boy Scout Troop 316 54 Boy Scout Troop 305 162 Ohio Audubon Council 72 Clark County Audubon 114 Girl Scout Troop 195 144 Total Hours 3,209 1 A. HIGHLIGHTS ) -The $810,000 Pool 4 dike construction project that was suppose to be completed in 1983 passed the one-half complete mark at the end of 1984.1.1. -A $156,000 bridge project over Crane Creek was completed on schedule. 1.1. -Several ARMM's projects totaling $74,000 were completed. 1.1. -A nearby off refuge botulism outbreak was cleaned up and controlled. G.17. -The Ottawa Bald eagle nest produced two eaglets to fledging. G.2. -The purple loosestrife menace continued its spread. F.10. -Major changes occurred in the staff due to transfers. E.l. ) -SCA and YCC program both recorded zero accidents. E.G. ) 2 B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS Table 1. Annual Precipitation and Temperatures, CY 1984 Precipitation Temperature Month CY-84 Normal Snowfal1 Max. Mim. January .78 2.33 13.17 40 -19 February 1.84 1.88 " 7. 64 0 March 2r€7 2.26 9.3 49 3 April 3.63 2.77 84 30 May 5.98 3.04 85 35 June 1.34 3.79 96 51 July 3.13 2.59 95 44 August 2.49 3.33 91 50 September 2.3 2.13 89 41 October 1.18 2.39 74 36 November 1.52 2.04 69 17 December 2.54 1.95 5.35 63 7 Annual Totals 29.6 30.5 34.8 Extremes 96 -19 An Official National Weather Service station is located at the refuge and is maintained by the refuge staff. A new automatic temperature recorder was installed in 1984. Precipitation must still be recorded manually but it is a relief not to spend time each weekend day reading the high and low temperature. A rather unusually severe storm struck the last two days of February with 5" of snowfall and 25 to 40 mph winds. The staff was given two snowdays and travel was impossible. During spring breakup a storm drove ice into the dikes at Cedar Point causing damage to the rock armor protection. Storms drove large rock armor onto the dike tops at several locations at Cedar Point (AW) 3 Overall 1984 was a normal year for both temperatures and precipitation^with the exception of cool wet conditions persisting into May. Many corn fields in the area had to be replanted in June due to poor germination. C. LAND ACQUISITION 1. Fee Title - "Nothing to report" 2. Easements - "Nothing to report" 3. Other - A decision was made not to pursue a land exchange proposed in 1983 by an adjacent landowner.