U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuge System Inside RefugeUpdate March/April 2007 Vol 4, No 2 What’s Melting: Togiak Refuge Sizes Up Its Glaciers, page 3 The refuge is measuring changes Where the Buffalo Roam in the size of several dozen glaciers that are especially sensitive to warming trends.

Focus on Fish Conservation, pages 10-15 The spoiling of habitat is still the greatest of privations to fish and wildlife, a nexus point for Fisheries and the Refuge System.

Whatever happened to…, pages 16-17 An update on Update stories, taking you to the conclusion.

Wildlife Cooperatives, page 20 Wildlife cooperatives have evolved as one more way to operate in the greater geographic and political landscape.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is using a new genetics-based approach to manage herds of bison. As part of the new approach, more than 100 animals are being moved around National Wildlife Refuge System lands in five states. (USFWS)

he U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Early in December 2006, 39 bison from Tis changing the way it manages an the Sullys Hill herd were moved to Fort icon of the American west – the bison. Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge in First Lady Tours Midway “Instead of managing individual herds, Nebraska. A week later, seven animals we are moving to manage the Service’s were moved from the National Bison Atoll Refuge herds as one resource,” says Paul Halko, Range in Montana to Sullys Hill. Thirty- refuge manager at Sullys Hill National nine bison were also moved from the First Lady Laura Bush, pictured Game Preserve in North Dakota. National Bison Range to Neal Smith with Wildlife Biologist John Klavitter, National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa. planted native bunchgrass during a More than 100 bison are being moved March 1 tour of Midway Atoll National around five states to mark the beginning The small but genetically important Sullys Wildlife Refuge. Mrs. Bush announced of a genetics-based approach to bison Hill herd was moved to Fort Niobrara Papahanaumokuakea as the name for the herd management. The goal is to Refuge, where there is more room for Northwest Hawaiian Islands National maintain and create herds in the Refuge the herd to expand to a population of 500. Monument, which overlays Midway System that have no detectable cattle Sullys Hill National Game Preserve will Atoll and Hawaiian Islands Refuges. hybridization whenever possible. now nurture a smaller herd from the new The name suggests “the abundance and The transfers also insure against a animals. The herds coming to Sullys Hill timelessness of life in the Islands,” said catastrophic loss of key genetic material. continued pg 22 Mrs. Bush. (Shealah Craighead) From the Director Celebrating a Legacy

reatness Much of that already takes place on National wildlife refuges are ideal Gendures. So national wildlife refuges, whose staffs, “classrooms” for the kind of learning as we celebrate Friends groups and volunteers last year Rachel Carson exemplified and H. Dale Hall the centennial of worked with more than 50,000 teachers promoted. Of the Refuge System’s Rachel Carson’s and 774,000 students in environmental Blue Goose symbol, she wrote, birth this year, we not only remember education programs. “Whenever you meet this sign, respect her pivotal role in showing us what toxins it. It means that the land behind can do to our wildlife and our way of life Carson’s environmental conscience began the sign has been dedicated by the but also reflect on her genuine respect long before she launched her career. American people to preserving, for for and love of nature. Born in rural Pennsylvania, her youngest themselves and their children, as much years were spent exploring the forests of our native wildlife as can be retained We are certainly proud Carson began her and streams around her farm home. along with modern civilization.” legacy of environmental education and Even in grade school, she was fascinated research within the ranks of the Service. and passionate about nature and writing. I remember those words every time She served as editor-in-chief of all She was first “published” at age 10. I visit a national wildlife refuge, and Service publications; is widely heralded every time I see a child overjoyed by for creating the Conservation in Action How much did her early childhood the wonder of nature. We all should series; and was devoted to helping connection to the outdoors influence her? remember every youngster we welcome Americans understand the diversity of A great deal, I would suggest. We are the at a national wildlife refuge could become wildlife and species found on national beneficiaries of her years spent finding the Rachel Carson of tomorrow. ◆ wildlife refuges. miracles in nature. So while we celebrate her lifetime as a scientist and her major During this Rachel Carson centennial influence on our nation’s conservation ethic year, the Service will use her legacy as an through the book Silent Spring and her example to help Americans understand other writings, we must also acknowledge how they can make a real difference in what we teach our children will be passed the conservation of our natural resources. on to their children, and so on. Chief’s Corner RefugeUpdate Important People in Our Corner Dirk Kempthorne Address editorial National wildlife Right from the start, the Caucus Secretary inquiries to: refuges have a identified five major goals: Department of the Refuge Update Interior USFWS-NWRS new group of O Increase awareness of the National 4401 North Fairfax Dr., Geoff Haskett friends in the H. Dale Hall Wildlife Refuge System; Room 634C nation’s capital: Director – U.S. Fish and Arlington, VA Wildlife Service the bipartisan Congressional O Create a voice for refuges in 22203-1610 Phone: 703-358-1858 Wildlife Refuge Caucus. So far, Geoffrey L. Haskett Congress; Fax: 703-358-2517 Assistant Director about 120 members of the House E-mail: Support adequate budgets for the – National Wildlife of Representatives have joined the O [email protected] Caucus, representing 36 states and 168 Refuge System; Refuge System This newsletter is refuges. Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Ron Martha Nudel O Encourage the growth of the published on recycled Editor in Chief Kind of Wisconsin and Jim Saxton of System; and paper using soy-based New Jersey have long been friends of Karen Leggett ink . the Refuge System, as have Caucus O Support wildlife-dependent Managing Editor Vice Chairs Reps. Michael Castle recreation that takes place on C of Delaware and Mike Thompson of national wildlife refuges. California. — continued on pg 23

Pg 2 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 What’s Melting: Togiak Refuge Sizes Up Its Glaciers by Michael Wright lmost everywhere on Planet AEarth, it seems, glaciers are melting. Togiak National Wildlife Refuge — whose 4.3 million acres include many of Southwestern Alaska’s only remaining glaciers — has now joined the international search for explanations. The refuge has launched a long-term effort to measure changes in the size of several dozen glaciers. These particular glaciers are especially sensitive to warming trends, scientists say, because of their relatively compact structure. Refuge Manager Paul Liedberg and Supervisory Biologist Pat Walsh are compiling a detailed photographic record Togiak National Wildlife Refuge has launched a study of several dozen glaciers especially sensitive of the glaciers. Patches of the ancient ice to warming trends because of their relatively compact structure. The study includes the first detailed are scattered around 200 square miles photographic record since 1979 of the glaciers, scattered around 200 square miles of the Ahklun of the Ahklun Mountains, which sprawl Mountains. (USFWS) over nearly 80 percent of the refuge and extend well into neighboring Wood- glaciers special attention. Kaufman, who Before cold weather and dense clouds set Tikchik State Park. makes frequent visits to Togiak Refuge, in, they found 97 of the original 116 glaciers is in charge of a far-flung research team dentified i by the USGS, which is not Togiak Refuge has a high-powered — sponsored by the Arctic System involved in the re-survey, and determined partner — Northern Arizona University Science Program of the National Science that 12 had disappeared. Several glaciers (NAU), one of five campus-based regional Foundation — that is looking for clues to appeared to be fragments of once far- centers affiliated with the National the causes and consequences of climate larger ice masses. “It’s clear that many Institute for Climatic Change Research. changes in the geological records of glaciers are much smaller than they once The research is sponsored by a unit of Alaska, Canada, Iceland and Greenland. were,” Walsh said. “And we saw several the Department of Energy. The state exposed depressions in the mountains park, where many of the glaciers are First Count Since 1979 that were once filled with ice.” They also located, is also a partner. At the research’s onset, no one was discovered two glaciers that apparently exactly sure of how many glaciers were had been previously overlooked. At various times in recent years, NAU out there; the Ahkluns had not been scientists have, in addition to other charted in any detail since 1979. That This year, after the return of warm earth science projects, drilled into dry year, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), weather, Liedberg and Walsh plan to lakebeds, whose sediment can provide consulting six-year-old aerial photographs, search for the seven other glaciers evidence of the temperature swings drew topographical maps of the region. previously mapped by USGS. A state of long-ago climates. Global warming Scanning their handiwork, the USGC park air crew will join the hunt and researchers from other universities map-makers identified 116 glaciers. provide other support, Liedberg said. — among them the University of Illinois and Mount Holyoke College — have also To help Liedberg and Walsh find their He and Walsh said their 2007 goals roamed through the mountains. way, the USGC maps were digitized and also include more sharply defining a copy downloaded into Walsh’s laptop. the existing boundaries of the Togiak “For some time, we’ve suspected that Finally, late last summer, the two men glaciers. Ground crews will establish the glaciers were receding,” Walsh said. climbed into a two-seater Piper Super photo monitoring stations, that will be “And now we can confirm this.” NAU Cub, and the glacier-count was under periodically revisited in the future. Geology Professor Darrell Kaufman, a way. Liedberg, an experienced pilot, did prominent figure in the global warming the flying; Walsh took highly detailed continued pg 14 research community, was among those low-level pictures and, with his laptop up who pressed the need for giving the and running, navigated.

March/April 2007 | Pg 3 Refuge Update Friends Academy: Advanced Capacity-Building

he first-ever Friends Academy, O A thorough understanding of members to move from concentrating on Tdesigned to build the capability the programs, policies and legal such critical but traditional basic issues of Refuge Friends organizations to mandates that form the foundation of as managing a nonprofit organization advance the Refuge System’s mission of the Refuge System. to addressing conservation challenges. wildlife conservation, will debut July 22­ “Those who attended the regional 27. Thirty Friends from 30 organizations O A chance not only to meet career workshops will have a broad context in will be invited to the advanced training, refuge employees who are attending which to strategize solutions to national which will be held on the NCTC campus the Advanced Refuge Academy, conservation challenges,” said Haskett. during the same week as the Advanced but also to learn about the Refuge “We know that Friends grow from the Refuge Academy. Participants at both System’s multitude of issues and opportunity to share intellectual, creative academies can meet at meals, breaks and challenges. and practical resources, and that they in the evenings. O A forum to develop and foster a are seeking workshops and courses professional communication network where learning is the focus and strategic The concept of a Friends Academy won planning is the path to results.” special support in the wake of regional of Friends. Friends workshops that brought During the week-long Academy, Under the tutelage of seasoned refuge together hundreds of Refuge Friends. participants will gain a better managers and expert scientists, The workshops enabled participants understanding of the implications of Friends at the Academy will explore to explore ways to plan projects over pending national conservation challenges, strategies that local communities can several years, using the Refuge System’s including climate change and large- use to address conservation threats. The 12 strategic goals. During the regional scale decimation by invasive plants. National Wildlife Refuge Association workshops, many individuals expressed “Ultimately, we will further fortify the will join the Refuge System in a strong desire to learn more about strength of the Friends movement,” said developing courses and activities. how they can contribute nationally to Refuge System Chief Geoff Haskett. conserving natural resources. “The big bonus is that refuge managers Addressing Conservation Challenges in the Advanced Refuge Academy will The Friends Academy will give Refuge The regional workshops, held last year, be on campus, too,” said Liz Bellatoni, Friends the basic tools for leadership: were the first chance for many Friends U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service planning coordinator. “As future leaders of the Refuge System have the chance to exchange ideas with the leaders of the Friends movement, they set a course for the conservation initiatives of tomorrow.” For more information, contact National Friends Coordinator Trevor Needham at 703-358-2392. ◆

The doors of a new capacity-building seminar will open in July, when the first-ever Friends Academy debuts on the campus of the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia. Participants will learn about ways they can contribute locally to advancing the Refuge System’s conservation mission and goals. (USFWS)

Pg 4 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 And the Winners Are…

Don Hultman, refuge manager for the Upper At Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Bill Giese, fire control officer at Blackwater Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Mississippi, Marion Sansing has been named National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland, has spent Refuge, has been named Paul Kroegel Refuge Volunteer of the Year. Serving as the refuge’s 34 years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Manager of the Year. The refuge’s Comprehensive outdoor recreation planner, she partnered with working as a biologist, law enforcement officer and Conservation Plan, the result of 46 public Mississippi State University to develop a native equipment operator. He was named Employee meetings attended by 4,500 people, was an award plant garden and hosted “Women in the Outdoors” of the Year for, among other accomplishments, winner in its own right. (USFWS) with the National Wild Turkey Federation to helping to protect the Little Blackwater River from give women a chance to learn outdoor skills from major development proposals. (USFWS) expert instructors. (Hiroko Clay)

diverse group of exceptional and he wrote the recently published contest and partnered with the National A volunteers and employees has been Service Manual Policy Chapter on Wild Turkey Federation to host “Women honored by the National Wildlife Refuge Refuge Mission, Goals and Purposes. in the Outdoors,” an opportunity for Association and the National Fish and women to learn outdoor skills from Wildlife Foundation. The annual awards The Employee of the Year is William expert instructors. recognize exceptional contributions Giese, fire control officer at Blackwater toward protecting the National Wildlife National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. At San Luis Valley National Wildlife Refuge System. Giese used his considerable knowledge, Refuge Complex in Colorado, Refuge expertise and 34 years of experience to Manager Michael Blenden nominated Don Hultman, refuge manager for help protect the Little Blackwater River the winner of this year’s Friends Group the Upper Mississippi River National and the refuge from major development Award, the Friends of San Luis Valley Wildlife and Fish Refuge, has been proposals. Giese works as a biologist, Refuge. Blenden believes their work named Paul Kroegel Refuge Manager law enforcement officer and equipment is particularly noteworthy because the of the Year. Hultman manages 11 operator. He developed partnerships group is small and operates a in a rural, refuges along 261 miles of the Upper with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and “not particularly wealthy” community. Mississippi River. Described as a Maryland Nutria Project, both of which Back in 2000, the group raised funds to passionate communicator and talented were instrumental in eliminating the build an observation trail at Monte Vista leader, Hultman led a Comprehensive invasive nutria from Blackwater Refuge. National Wildlife Refuge, giving the Conservation Plan process that public its first chance to observe wildlife included 46 public meetings attended At Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge from outside their cars. The Friends by 4,500 people. in Mississippi, Marion Sansing has developed the annual Kids Crane Festival been named Volunteer of the Year. She for National Wildlife Refuge Week, and A local newspaper article at the time serves as spokesperson for the Friends hold monthly work days in the summer wrote that “the quiet, thoughtful of Noxubee and also outdoor recreation to paint, remove fences or noxious Hultman has earned the respect of an planner at the refuge, where her husband weeds, or do other tasks refugee staff anxious public, even among many who is the manager. She partnered with doesn’t have time to complete. Blenden don’t support the proposed changes.” Mississippi State University to develop says the group has also played a strong The resulting plan approved in August a native plant garden, used print, radio advocacy role for refuges with the Texas 2006 ultimately won its own award. and even billboard advertising to attract congressional delegation. ◆ Hultman has also been involved in the volunteers and visitors to Noxubee Environmental Management program Refuge, started an annual photography

March/April 2007 | Pg 5 Refuge Update Addressing Local Concerns through Science: Mapping Beaver Activity by Susan Georgette ramatic shifts in animal Dpopulations are nothing new to the Iñupiaq Eskimos of northwest Alaska. Moose and beaver are now commonplace in areas where they were unheard of 50 years ago. But now, beaver have spread so widely that local residents worry about the impact on fish and water quality. So, in cooperation with the tribal council, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge staff is monitoring beaver activity to help the subsistence fishing community whose source of food could be affected by the beavers. “There were no beaver when we were growing up,” one elderly Iñupiaq woman told me, “only way upriver.” Now, beaver dams block many small streams and sloughs. Areas long used by the Staff at the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska worked with the Native Village of Selawik Tribal Council to plan how to monitor beaver activity. An aerial survey allowed refuge staff to see the Iñupiat to set their nets for whitefish and number of beaver dams, especially on the smaller streams. The beaver survey was an excellent way to northern pike have become inaccessible. work with the community. (USFWS)

People have adapted — reluctantly of Selawik. They surveyed areas that beavers. In addition, we plan to repeat — by changing the areas where they contained critical feeding and spawning the survey every few years, which will fish. One Selawik resident wryly habitats for whitefish as well as key allow the refuge to monitor trends in observed, “It’s a good thing we have lots fishing sites for local residents whose beaver activity and distribution. This of rivers here.” Subsistence fishermen diets depend heavily on whitefish, pike information will provide a shared basis nonetheless continue to feel displaced by and sheefish. for discussions with the community about the abundance of beaver. In northwest beaver management. Alaska, concern about beavers has been To get the best visibility, the aerial survey greatest around the 2.1-million-acre was flown after the willow and alder “Animals come and go,” one of my elderly Selawik Refuge. leaves had dropped but before the rivers Iñupiaq friends has often told me. She and streams had frozen. None of the should know, having lived off the land for Established in 1980, the refuge is beaver structures appeared to impede 80 years, moving with the seasons and the homeland of the indigenous whitefish spawning in the main rivers never attending a day of school in her life. Iñupiat. Two of their communities lie and streams. “We were surprised at the Beavers may eventually retreat again within the refuge’s boundaries. The number of beaver dams on some of the from this corner of their range. In the refuge straddles the Arctic Circle and smaller streams,” said Refuge Biologist meantime, we are happy to be working encompasses a huge maze of waterways Nate Olson. “Some were old, while others closely with our Iñupiaq neighbors. ◆ and wetlands, producing rich habitat for were quite active. We now have a much fish, birds and other northern creatures. better idea of the beaver activity on the Susan Georgette is outreach specialist lower river.” at Selawik National Wildlife Refuge in Counting Beaver Dams Alaska. As part of the refuge’s beaver monitoring The community was pleased that strategy, biologists last fall completed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took an aerial survey of beaver dams, lodges its concerns seriously and began to and caches in high-use subsistence document beaver activity. The results fishing areas adjacent to the community will be useful in future research on

Pg 6 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 Is that a Puffin on My Screen?

f it’s spring, it must be time to The cameras are turned on from May resource that is not accessible even Ireturn to Seal Island. If you’re a through the fall; the greatest bird by local people,” says Brian Benedict, puffin, that is. It’s also time to turn on the population can be seen on the island deputy refuge manager at Maine Coastal video cameras for the second season of from late May to early August. The best Islands National Wildlife Refuge. showing the world what puffins do. time to see the puffins is from early in the morning until early afternoon, when The Web cam images are transmitted Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge, they go fishing. They begin returning in right to the mainland and can be closed to the public, has partnered the evening and generally sleep under experienced without disturbing the with the National Audubon Society to boulders at night. puffins or other seabirds. In July 2006, manage the island for seabirds, including the National Audubon Society opened a terns, eiders, guillemots and Atlantic The Web cam images may be viewed live Project Puffin Visitor Center in nearby puffins. Seal Island was once the site of on the Project Puffin Web site during Rockland. The Web cam images from the largest Atlantic puffin colony in the nesting season with “Best of the Puffin Seal Island are displayed on a storefront Gulf of Maine. By the late 19th century, Cam” available at other times of the year screen visible to passersby as well as on a harvesting for meat, eggs and feathers (http://puffin.bird.audubon.org/puffin­ full wall screen inside. eventually wiped out the colony entirely. cam.html). You can watch a puffin chick National Audubon Society successfully about to fledge, grown puffins grooming U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff created a reintroduced puffins to Seal Island, which themselves, and whole groups of puffins large map of the Maine coast that depicts also supports the largest tern colony in interacting, growling and showing off the nesting islands. Refuge Manager the Gulf of Maine. their colorful beaks (which become larger Charles Blair is on the advisory board for and more colorful as the birds age). the Puffin Center. “You come away with In 2006, the Audubon Society placed an appreciation for just how spectacular three cameras around Seal Island, two New way to appreciate an these birds really are,” says Benedict. positioned above ground in puffin and outstanding resource tern nesting habitat. The third camera, The refuge works with conservation Expanding Tern and Puffin placed in an underground burrow, agencies and private landowners along Populations followed the development of a puffin the coast of Maine to alert visitors to stay The refuge is working to expand tern, chick. Refuge staff helped transport the off the islands during nesting season. razorbill and puffin populations on other gear and the satellite tower to the island. The refuge’s islands are closed during islands, including Eastern Brothers this time, so “we have this outstanding Island. Plans call for placing tern, puffin and razorbill decoys on Eastern Brothers Island this spring. Two refuge The National Audubon Society has cooperated researchers are scheduled to collect with Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge information and monitor nesting activity. in Maine to erect three video cameras on the “We hope to have terns or razorbills island. The Web cams offer live footage of puffins during nesting season which begins in nesting this spring,” says Blair. May. More information and live action puffins Although Seal Island is closed year- at http://puffin.bird.audubon.org/puffin-cam. html. (USFWS) round, eager birders can hop on tour boats that stop near Petit Manan Island, part of the refuge complex. Two-way radios allow tourists to communicate with researchers on the island. Last year, the refuge also took ownership of the Petit Manan Lighthouse, which had been maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Blair says the refuge will not allow any lighthouse visits during the spring and summer nesting season, but he is interested in working in partnership with a lighthouse preservation group or similar nonprofit organization to preserve this important structure. ◆

March/April 2007 | Pg 7 Refuge Update A DAY FOR THE BIRDS

Ray Conrad is a cowboy poet and painter in Utah who enjoyed his first birding adventure in the middle of winter. He signed on for the Christmas Bird Count, actually held New Year’s Eve, at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge in Utah. The adventure was sheer poetry.

Birds of a feather flock together. That’s Or else it was one bunch a-leadin’ us on, So he booed ‘em out with a mighty shout, how the old bromide reads. so we’d count them over again. and the sky was a black cloud of wings And it’s true. I seen ‘em last weekend, There were swans and geese and marsh They claimed there was thirty-eight out in the West Utah weeds. hawks and sparrows and rails and herons amongst. Thousands and thousands of waterfowl, a barn owls, too, All I seen was hundreds of ‘things’. startling amount, And coyotes patrolled the phragmites, to Anyways, it was a glorious time on a When a bunch of us stayed out by find something good they could chew. chilly cold New Year’s Eve day, Fish Springs, for the Audubon There’s birds they call the yellowlegs, a And we all went shivering back to the Christmas count. lesser and also a greater, house for hot chili and boxed Cabernet. I’m sure I could have remained at home, And a harrier killed one in front of my Next time I’ll be ready. I’m studying a for all the input I made. eyes, but I’ll feel better later. bird, ‘though my focus might be a I ain’t no pro. I wouldn’t know a grebe A prairie falcon was making a meal of a tad narrow. from a hand-grenade. dead coot out on the ice. But I’ll be right on top of my game if I But I took notes, and sat and wrote how That falcon is a handsome guy, but he see a savannah sparrow. many birds, and which, didn’t behave too nice. You ought to come out for the CBC*, and And I also correctly identified some signs Birds of prey are birds of prey, they a big taste of nature’s bounty, there along the ditch. survive by inflicting death. To the Fish Springs National Wildlife But we saw teals and pintail ducks, and It’s nature’s law, but it’s tough to watch, Refuge, in foggy, dark Juab County. mallards and coot and all. and I hope they get bad breath. And once, amongst a bunch of coot was a The bird boss took us down to the *Christmas Bird Count little old black gadwall. spring where the black-crowned The horned lark, he was out there in night herons nest. By Ray Conrad, Scribe and author force, in bunches of six, eight or ten. He said to count only the herons, right? Forget about all the rest.

Pg 8 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 This BAER Doesn’t Bite by Eugene Marino Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuges greatly assisted Alaska’s booming gold to identify and prescribe treatments to industry. Cabins were built about every hirty-two new archaeological protect land and cultural resources. 10 miles along the trail that ran from the Tsites and several historic cabins Yukon River to the Chandalar gold fields, have been discovered on Alaska Ancient Gwich’in Athabascan allowing travelers to find shelter within refuges during work funded by the Artifact Found a day’s journey. The Caro Trail, known Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation On Yukon Flats Refuge, teams examined locally as the Government Road, was Program (BAER). The first material four large burn areas, totaling some abandoned during the Depression of the remains of a prehistoric culture at 612,000 acres. The examinations used 1930s. Site information recovered from Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge archaeological data gathered in the Yukon Flats Refuge can now be used for have been discovered and the first- 1950s and focused on areas favorable refuge management planning. ever archaeological survey has been to archaeological sites — mostly the completed within Kanuti National confluences of streams with larger rivers First archaeological investigation at Wildlife Refuge. or on bluffs over looking rivers. Kanuti Refuge Investigation at Kanuti Refuge, the first Both refuges are so remote that they In addition to 30 previously recorded archaeological survey within the refuge, have not previously benefited from sites, 12 new archaeological sites were documented location of 20 sites. Most are the work of BAER teams. BAER’s discovered and recorded at Yukon Flats remains of early 20th century trapping application to cultural resources Refuge, a significant increase for such and hunting camps, but one is the only is invaluable, not only by allowing a remote refuge that covers nearly known prehistoric site on the 2.5-million­ examination of cultural resources 9 million acres. One site contained acre refuge. affected by fire, but by recognizing the a notched stone net sinker, dating to importance of these resources to the between 4000 and 2000 B.C. when the The habitat we manage today owes larger sphere of land management before area was inhabited by ancestors of the its character to how it was managed and stabilization after a fire. The cabins Gwich’in Athabascan residents of the historically. BAER enables us to monitor, and other historic materials will now refuge. This is the first material evidence evaluate and verify the existence of benefit from planning to minimize the of this ancient culture, and it could spark archaeological and cultural treasures, future impact of fire. interest in further research by the state even on two refuges rarely visited by or universities. archaeologists. ◆ The BAER program includes the Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau Investigators also located the foundations Eugene Marino is the U.S. Fish and of Land Management and Bureau of of several historic cabins along portions Wildlife Service archaeologist. Reclamation in addition to the U.S. Fish of the Caro Trail, a horse trail that and Wildlife Service. BAER teams address a variety of issues on public lands where prescribed burns are used as a management tool. A BAER team typically includes hydrologists, soil scientists, engineers, biologists, silviculturists and range conservationists, among others. Archaeologists have come to be integral members of the teams as cultural resource information is critical when refuge fire management plans are being written. Archaeologists can identify sites that might be affected by a prescribed burn. Depending on a site’s vulnerability to fire damage, a fire management plan might call for using a different management tool. During summer 2006, BAER teams Last year, BAER teams evaluated burn areas at Kanuti and Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuges to evaluated burn areas at Kanuti and identify and prescribe treatments to protect land and cultural resources. (USFWS)

March/April 2007 | Pg 9 Refuge Update FOCUS . . .On Fish Conservation For the Future of Fish Resources by Dr. Mamie Parker at the center of both the Refuge System and the Fisheries Program. n the 136th birthday of the OFisheries Program on February That conservation effort is carried “There is no shortage 9, I looked over the original charge out in our division of Fish and Wildlife of prime examples of given to the U.S. Commission of Fish Management Assistance, where I and Fisheries by the Congress in 1871 liken our capable scientists to medical national fish hatcheries and saw parallels to contemporary practitioners prescribing remedies to circumstances and most certainly fix habitat problems or augmenting fish and national wildlife commonalities between the Fisheries populations from stocks produced by refuges working together Program and the National Wildlife our National Fish Hatchery System. Refuge System. There is no shortage of prime examples for conservation.” of national fish hatcheries and national The ancestral agency of Fisheries was wildlife refuges working together for charged with investigating essentially conservation. two things: populations of wild animals, and their habitats. Congress demanded In Wisconsin, the Genoa National Fish the Fish Commission be guided by Hatchery and the LaCrosse Fishery someone of “proved scientific and Resources Office rely on Upper practical acquaintance with the fishes.” Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge to help promote fisheries Then, as now, the spoiling of habitat was conservation. The hatchery, located on the greatest of privations to fish and the refuge, works with refuge personnel wildlife, and so habitat conservation is

Fishing for Adventure and Diversity on National Wildlife Refuges

local fishing column in Palm are more likely to develop a personal A Beach, Florida, referred to Arthur conservation ethic. R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge as a “hidden gem” Sixteen percent of Americans fish where anglers can find “plenty of regularly; 88 percent have tried it at least bass, speckled perch, bluegill, Mayan once. A Memorandum of Understanding cichlids and other rod-bending fish.” among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife That refuge is hardly the only fishing Service, the Sport Fishing and Boating “gem”. Sport fishing is available at Partnership Council, the Association more than 270 national wildlife refuges, of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the which host about 7 million angling Recreational Boating and Fishing visits every year. Foundation, effective until 2009, seeks to increase the number of people who fish Recreational fishing is just one of the as well as public awareness of the need to six wildlife-dependent recreational conserve aquatic resources. pursuits considered a public priority in The Recreational Boating and Fishing the National Wildlife Refuge System National Fishing and Boating Week Foundation provides marketing and Many refuges promote fishing during educational resources at www.rbff.org. The Improvement Act. Little wonder. National Fishing and Boating Week Foundation’s new Anglers’ Legacy campaign Citizens who participate in recreational is built on the premise that the overwhelming fishing tend to place a higher value on (June 2-10, 2007). Necedah National majority of people who are taught to fish by a conservation of aquatic resources and Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin, for veteran angler continue to fish. (USFWS)

Pg 10 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 . . .Science in The Refuge System

. . .On Fish Conservation

to collect up to 40 million eggs from cool In Oklahoma, Tishomingo NFH and water fishes, like walleye and northern Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge work pike. Those resulting fish are used to conserve alligator snapping turtles, in endangered mussel propagation or bred in captivity at the hatchery, raised stocked for important sport fisheries and placed at the refuge, and followed by on the refuge, tribal waters and state- researchers with radio transmitters. The managed fisheries. fish hatchery and Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge share a nonprofit Friends Genoa NFH stocks predatory northern group as well as TREES, Tishomingo pike and walleye on Horicon National Refuge Ecology and Education Society, Wildlife Refuge in advance of the carp which in September 2006 helped organize spawn. When young carp hatch, there National Hunting and Fishing Day at are hundreds of thousands of hungry both facilities. mouths waiting to eat unwanted invasive fish. We can’t possibly name all of the outstanding cooperative programs that are In Mississippi, St. Catherine Creek conducted by Fisheries and the Refuge National Wildlife Refuge provides a System, but together we work to ensure reliable brood stock of the alligator gar, that healthy fish populations will be the nation’s second largest freshwater passed on to a new generation of outdoor The original charge given to the U.S. fish, for Pvt John Allen NFH. Each enthusiasts and conservationists. ◆ Commission of Fish and Fisheries by the spring, when alligator gar are getting Congress in 1871 was to investigate essentially gravid, refuge staff watch for spawners Dr. Mamie Parker is Assistant Director, two things: populations of wild animals and and then help hatchery biologists catch Fisheries and Habitat Conservation their habitats. Then, as now, the spoiling of habitat was the greatest of privations to fish and brood stock. wildlife. (USFWS)

example, hosts a day of games, boat rides Wilderness. Local youth learn fly-fishing created posters, event signs and banners and derbies to promote fishing among on a river that hosts sport anglers from to encourage avid anglers to sign an young people. Pea Island National around the world. “The opportunity online pledge to introduce someone new Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina holds that we provide for young people to to fishing. RBFF has found that most an annual Crabbing and Fishing Derby. explore the outdoors and understand people who learn to fish from a veteran Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge the different values that subsistence, angler continue to fish. In a survey of in Montana holds a kids’ fishing clinic, commercial, and sport users place on more than 700 anglers, more than a third where youngsters also learn about fish the fishery resource is one of the most who had seen campaign advertising last biology and the role of the refuge in important things we do,” says Refuge year had taken a new person fishing and conserving fisheries resources. Manager Paul Liedberg. 76 percent said they would do it again within the next year. With 1,500 miles of streams and rivers, The nonprofit Recreational Boating and and more than 500 lakes larger than Fishing Foundation (RBFF), funded According to RBFF President and 25 acres, Togiak National Wildlife by federal taxes collected on the sale CEO Frank Peterson, “Conservation Refuge in Alaska offers some of the or manufacture of motorboat fuel and is based on valuing natural resources, finest sportfishing in the world. Togiak fishing tackle, was established in 1998 and avid boaters and anglers are often Refuge partners with local Scout troops to increase participation in recreational among those who most value the aquatic to provide fishing clinics that offer fishing and boating. The RBFF creates environment. Through fishing license instruction in everything from fish marketing, educational and event sales, equipment sales taxes and taxes on biology to tackle, knot tying, casting, planning materials, available to refuges boat fuels, anglers and boaters directly hooking, and releasing fish. and others. contribute hundreds of millions of dollars annually to fund aquatic conservation Togiak Refuge also cooperates with many Anglers’ Legacy efforts. That’s why introducing people to state, regional and local educational In addition to its longstanding “Take fishing and boating is critical to keeping groups to teach about area fish at two Me Fishing” program, RBFF launched conservation funds flowing.” science camps, including a week-long “Anglers’ Legacy” in 2006 to reach avid float trip through the heart of the ogiakT and veteran anglers. The foundation has continued pg 15

March/April 2007 | Pg 11 Refuge Update FOCUS . . .On Fish Conservation Protect, Restore and Enhance Aquatic Habitats

catch in the country, yet between 1992 and 1997, more than 32,600 acres of wetlands disappeared every year. With these statistics in mind, the National Fish Habitat Action Plan was set in motion in March 2006 by state fish and wildlife agencies and 19 federal agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to more effectively use new and existing resources to protect, restore and enhance fish habitats across North America. Organize or Join a Fish Habitat Partnership The plan calls for regional Fish Habitat Partnerships to be organized around important aquatic habitats, distinct geographic areas or keystone fish species. Five partnerships are already Coles Creek is a native brook trout stream on ince 1900, 123 aquatic freshwater underway and 12 are expected to be in private land in Wisconsin. After a complex species have become extinct in place by 2010. mix of construction, erosion control and S habitat restoration by a variety of partners North America. Of the 822 native These partnerships are expected including Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, freshwater fish species in the United to identify specific projects and the Coles Creek is now a Class 1 trout stream. States, 39 percent are at risk of resources to fund them. Tom Busiahn, The National Fish Habitat Action Plan extinction. Estuaries provide habitat the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was set in motion in March 2006 to protect, for 80-90 percent of the recreational fish restore and enhance similar fish habitats coordinator for the Action Plan, says across North America. (USFWS) Taking Care of the Trout

ake care of the fish, then the one of the first pilot projects under the “Tfishing will take care of itself.” National Fish Habitat Initiative. A Joint That was the guiding principle of Trout Venture Assessment Team learned that Unlimited when it was formed in 1909; populations of brook trout were intact in today, it applies to the work of several only 5 percent of the streams, lakes and national wildlife refuges, often working ponds from Maine to Georgia and west to in partnership with Trout Unlimited, Ohio, where they had thrived historically. other government agencies and nonprofit Native trout had vanished entirely from organizations. a fifth of the streams and rivers in these areas and the population is reduced in Invasive bass threaten trout Lake Umbagog itself. Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in Maine and New Hampshire is a partner Lake Umbagog Refuge Manager Paul in the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, Casey says the biggest threat to trout

Pg 12 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 . . .Science in The Refuge System

. . .On Fish Conservation

there could be $1 million to $3 million for Valley National Wildlife Refuge in West and will be eligible for funding sources plan projects in fiscal 2007. The Service Virginia. This partnership is restoring that are to be created specifically for is working with the National Fish Habitat aquatic habitat for the Eastern brook the National Fish Habitat Action Plan Board on a system for distributing those trout, as described more fully in the story projects. To be eligible for funding, these funds. Busiahn says the real value of on page 12. partnerships must include diverse groups the Initiative is that it calls for a more – including refuges where appropriate - strategic investment of resources as well Bear Lake and Kootenai National focused on conserving fish habitat across as measurement of results. By 2010, the Wildlife Refuges in Idaho have both boundaries of ownership and jurisdiction. Initiative is scheduled to provide a first- submitted habitat restoration proposals Each partnership must identify fish ever report on the state of aquatic habitat as part of the Western Native Trout and aquatic habitat priorities within nationwide. Initiative. This partnership will be its geographic area and then develop developing a West-wide strategic plan a strategic plan that addresses causes Refuge involvement in Fish to stop and reverse declines of western of system decline rather than simply Habitat Partnerships native trout. The Matanuska-Susitna treating symptoms. National wildlife refuges are participating Salmon Conservation Partnership in several of the existing partnerships. The supports fish habitat conservation for “The need to protect, restore and enhance Driftless Area, Trempeauleau and Upper Chinook, coho, sockeye, pink and chum aquatic habitats has never been greater,” Mississippi River refuges are partners in salmon in southcentral Alaska. says an early report from the Initiative. the Midwest Driftless Area Restoration “The ultimate goal of the Initiative Effort, which is completing its draft The Southeast Aquatic Resources is to work closely with partners and strategic plan. The partners will work Partnership is developing an aquatic stakeholders to build a future that ensures together to enhance populations of native habitat plan that will cover 13 states and healthy fish, healthy habitats, healthy fish, including brook trout and smallmouth numerous major rivers and watersheds. economies and healthy people.” ◆ bass, reduce sediment, improve water This region includes 34 percent of the quality and increase opportunities North American fish species considered For more information on refuge for recreational fishing in portions of endangered, threatened or of special opportunities with the National Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois. concern. The partnership is considering Fish Habitat Action Plan, contact aquatic habitat restoration projects from Tom Busiahn at 703-358-2056 or Three refuges are expected to be active Hatchie, Noxubee and Merritt Island [email protected], or visit www. partners in the Eastern Brook Trout National Wildlife Refuges. fishhabitat.org. Joint Venture – Lake Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge in Maine, Silvio O. What’s in a Partnership? Conte National Wildlife Refuge in the New Fish Habitat Partnerships will be Connecticut River watershed and Canaan recognized according to certain criteria

is small-mouthed bass, a popular but healthy, fishable brook trout populations non-native species that was illegally throughout their eastern United States introduced to the lake 20 years ago range. and now feeds on trout fry. The refuge partnered with the Save the Rapid River 535 LUNKERS Coalition to tag trout and bass as well Trout have already returned to streams as salmon to determine exactly where near Necedah National Wildlife Refuge the fish are competing and how this in Wisconsin. With $74,000 from competition can be controlled, both in the Partners for Fish and Wildlife and lake and in the Rapid River, which flows several Challenge Cost Share grants, the into the lake. refuge paid for materials and provided technical expertise to restore The long term goal is to manage 5.8 miles of Coles Creek between the various fish populations in order 1999 and 2006. Coles Creek is a native Biologists at the Ashland Fisheries Resource to maintain the native brook trout brook trout stream on private land. Office are stocking coaster brook trout eggs, fry and population of the lake and rivers. The restoration involved a complex mix yearlings in Whittlesey Creek National Wildlife Ultimately, the Eastern Brook Trout of construction, erosion control and Refuge in Wisconsin. They hope the fish in the creek Joint Venture wants to bring back habitat restoration. will swim into Lake Superior and return to the continued pg 23 creek to spawn and repeat the cycle. (USFWS)

March/April 2007 | Pg 13 Refuge Update FOCUS . . .On Fish Conservation Carping at Carp Depending on your point of view, Asian ponds. Now these three carps plus silver carps can be dinner on the table, a carp have all made their way into the management tool, bait to catch larger environment. fish or invasive nuisance fish that need to be eliminated. For the National Wildlife Carps jeopardize native species Refuge System, they are most often Natural resources managers are the latter. A national management plan concerned that Asian carps have has been drafted to help federal land the potential to cause extensive and managers and others who must confront irreversible changes to the aquatic the carp challenge (available at www. environment, jeopardizing the long- ANStaskforce.gov). term sustainability of native aquatic species. They are a particular problem Several carp species native to Asia, for threatened and endangered species, including the common carp, have been according to the Draft Asian Carp introduced into the United States. The Management and Control Plan. management plan specifically addresses the four species that were legally brought Greg Conover, who chairs the Asian Carp to the United States in the 1960s and Working Group of the Aquatic Nuisance 1970s for their potential as management Species Task Force for the Service, tools and in aquaculture production. acknowledges this is an aquatic nuisance species with its own constituency of Bighead carps are used in catfish individual and commercial consumers. production to improve water quality and That makes the management and control Natural resources managers are concerned catfish growth rates. Grass carps have of these fish especially challenging. that Asian carps have the potential to cause been stocked in most states to control extensive and irreversible changes to the The draft plan calls for the extirpation aquatic environment, jeopardizing the long- nuisance vegetation. Bighead and grass of Asian carps in the wild, but “what’s term sustainability of native aquatic species. carps are also transported and sold as They are a particular problem for threatened food fish (usually live) in Asian markets more realistic,” says Conover, “is to and endangered species, according to the Draft in the United States and Canada. Black contain the Asian carps within existing Asian Carp Management and Control Plan. boundaries and then reduce some of (USFWS) carps control snails in aquaculture

What’s Melting: Togiak Refuge Sizes Up Its Glaciers — continued from pg 3

Global warming researchers will be “They come and go with changes in the closely watching the Togiak study, whose climate. Sooner or later, the glaciers that findings will be included in reports are melting away will begin expanding.” ◆ circulated by the regional office and made available to other government Michael Wright is a contract writer- agencies and independent researchers. editor in the Refuge System Branch The Togiak Refuge study does not have of Communications. a specific end date. Professional journals that address global climate change might be another outlet for the information. “The Ahklun glaciers are relatively small,” Walsh said. “They are better indicators of change than massive ice fields.” Are the glaciers that have disappeared gone for good? Probably not, Walsh said.

Pg 14 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 . . .Science in The Refuge System

. . .On Fish Conservation

these populations so they have minimal limited to the Mississippi River Basin. Conover’s office (Carterville Fishery impact on the environment.” It has Even if there are no carps now, warns Resources Office) has also worked with proven extremely difficult to completely Conover, “be aware that three or four Middle Mississippi River National eradicate an aquatic nuisance species carp species are still in commercial use Wildlife Refuge evaluating the fishery in after it has become established in a and any watershed those fish cross is at backwaters on Harlow Island. “We found new system. risk. Anytime you are transporting live that Asian carps are the predominant fish, there is a potential for fish to be fish in these backwaters,” said Conover, Prevent, contain, reduce and introduced to different bodies of water.” “which confirms the need for large scale minimize habitat restoration to create habitats The plan includes 129 recommendations. In 2006, Conover worked with wildlife more favorable for native fishes.” While none is specific to the Refuge biologist Mike Brown at Crab Orchard System, many are relevant to individual National Wildlife Refuge in Illinois to The draft plan identifies eight potential refuges which may foresee or already investigate a fishkill in a basin below tools to reduce populations of Asian have a problem with invasive carps. The Crab Orchard Lake. Crab Orchard carps, but Conover says harvesting the recommendations fall into four arenas: Refuge has no major tributary to the culprit fish is really the only readily Mississippi or Ohio River, yet silver and available tool. Strategies such as O prevent the introduction of bighead carps were found on the refuge stocking sterile or genetically modified Asian carps; in a small tributary stream. fish to reduce reproductive success and survivability of wild carps are very O contain feral populations by “We looked at where the fish are and preventing their dispersal; technical and require considerably more tried to determine whether the fish could research before they can be integrated O reduce their abundance in the move from below the spillway up into into a comprehensive management wild; and Crab Orchard Lake and disperse further approach. Another promising area of on the refuge,” said Conover. Brown research is the use of pheromones to O minimize the negative impact of and Conover concluded that the fish Asian carps. repel or attract carps. Conover believes would not be able to move up to the lake refuges, especially those along the The plan recommends that land on their own, but they could be brought Mississippi River, are likely to provide managers evaluate if and where carps there accidentally by fishermen collecting some of the initial field evaluations of are already established and prepare a the small carps as bait to use in the lake. these various control mechanisms. ◆ rapid, pre-planned response if carps are They agreed an information campaign found. Asian carps are a national issue was needed to inform the public not to and concerns about these fish are not move fish from the spillway into the lake.

Fishing for Adventure and Diversity on National Wildlife Refuges — continued from pg 11

RBFF has also created tip sheets that an RBFF booth. Information about can be downloaded and given to refuge upcoming RBFF events is available at visitors. Topics range from freshwater www.rbff.org , where you can sign up for fishing to fishing terminology, how to tie an electronic newsletter. basic fishing knots and hook bait, finding bait in your backyard and basic boat care. After more than a decade of decline, the The Foundation’s Passport Program number of paid fishing licenses in the provides teaching tools and activities to United States increased by more than introduce families to fishing and boating. 500,000 in 2004, according to the National Fishing License Report. ◆ In 2008, RBFF will have exhibits at a variety of fishing and boating shows around the country, often including a casting pond. Interested refuges may offer short seminars or simply make printed information available at

March/April 2007 | Pg 15 Refuge Update Whatever Happened To…

Desert bighorn sheep population to supplement or establish other herds Research was initiated in 2006 to plummets in the southwest. But Cornes says the investigate the interaction between The population of desert bighorn sheep transplants are “on indefinite hold until mountain lions and the refuge’s bighorn at Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in we can figure out what’s going on with sheep. Cornes says that state and Arizona has dropped from 623 in 2003 the refuge’s bighorn sheep population.” refuge biologists are also working on a to 390 in 2006, and that followed a drop One of those transfers, from Kofa Refuge white paper that will address all possible of almost 200 sheep during the 2000 to San Andres National Wildlife Refuge factors in the declining number of sheep, survey. “The downward trend in two in New Mexico, was described in Refuge including human disturbance, disease, consecutive surveys has me worried,” Update July-August 2006. predation, hunting and water availability. said Kofa Refuge Manager Paul Cornes. He expects to have preliminary findings Cornes believes that the long and “Normally the population goes up and and recommendations within the extraordinarily severe drought over down, but not this far down.” The goal next month. the last decade is a significant factor has been to have a herd of 800 sheep on in the population declines. There is Float Plane Removed from Kenai Kofa Refuge. also concern locally that mountain After a single engine float plane made In light of the population trends, Cornes lion predation may be contributing an emergency landing in the midst says the translocation of Kofa sheep to the decline, as there is evidence of of Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in to other refuges has been indefinitely more mountain lions on the Kofa and Alaska in August 2006, refuge staff, cancelled. This year would have been adjoining lands. mechanics and the plane’s operator the 50th anniversary of Kofa’s efforts spent months figuring out how to get the plane off the refuge. The goal had been to remove the plane with as little damage as possible to the plane or the fragile terrain. However, because the plane had both engine problems and additional damage caused by high winds, the decision was made to disassemble the de Havilland Otter DHC-3. The refuge granted permits for a helicopter to make multiple flights to remove all the pieces. It took five trips with a Bell 204 Super Huey helicopter to remove it all. The floats were frozen to the tundra and had to be heated before they could be moved. By nightfall on December 12, 2006, all was tranquil again on the refuge and Deputy Refuge Manager Jim Hall said there was no lasting impact to wildlife or terrain. Cow Pasture to Salt Marsh A “welcoming the tides” ceremony late last year marked the restoration of 130 acres of former pasture to salt marsh. Braget Marsh, named for the Norwegian immigrant family that farmed the land The population of desert bighorn sheep at Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona has dropped for more than a century, is now owned by precipitously for two population surveys in a row. While state and refuge biologists try to figure out why, the transfer of sheep from Kofa Refuge to other refuges has been indefinitely cancelled. (USFWS) the Nisqually Tribe, but managed by the refuge under a cooperative agreement. The land is within Nisqually Refuge. The

Pg 16 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 Sonoran Pronghorn Released The first-ever captive-bred endangered Sonoran pronghorn were released into their historic Arizona habitat in November of last year. Two yearling males born in an enclosure on the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona last spring have now joined other wild pronghorn on the refuge. Both were seen during the December 2006 population survey flights with a group of 10 pronghorn on the refuge. The first release back to the wild “is a highly significant action toward the continuing welfare of the species,” says Michael Coffeen, Sonoran pronghorn recovery team coordinator. “The fact that they have joined up very quickly with a wild group of pronghorn is very gratifying.” Two more yearling males The first-ever captive-bred endangered Sonoran pronghorn were released into their historic Arizona born in the enclosure were released in habitat in November 2006. Two yearling males born in an enclosure on the Cabeza Prieta National January. There are plans to release Wildlife Refuge in Arizona last spring have now joined other wild pronghorn on the refuge. Two more seven more yearling males and females were released in January. (USFWS) on the refuge next winter. restoration was completed by the tribe, 2005, Nisqually Refuge Manager Jean As described in Refuge Update with Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge Takekawa explained that estuarine November-December 2006, the Sonoran as a partner. habitat is increasingly beleaguered on pronghorn population had dipped to an the West Coast. This restoration will all-time low of 21 in 2002. A 640-acre, The refuge’s Comprehensive increase tidal salt marsh habitat by 46 semi-captive breeding facility was built Conservation Plan calls for restoring an percent in south Puget Sound. Estuary on the refuge in 2003 and stocked with additional 700 acres of estuary, making restoration was identified as the highest pronghorn from the refuge and Mexico. this the largest estuarine restoration priority to recover threatened chinook Nine fawns were born in spring 2006. ◆ project in the Pacific Northwest. In salmon in the Nisqually watershed. Refuge Update November-December

A New Land Bridge Forms Naturally on Cape Cod — continued from pg 24 potential for breeding. As part of the The refuge learned from the Avian Although wildlife needs are the greatest vigilant predator control program, more Diversity Program that ongoing issue, the refuge also has to deal with volunteers will be working near the land communications with the public is essential. the needs of the U.S. Coast Guard and bridge during holidays and weekends to Town of Chatham, which ask for access help educate the public about the plight “With the new bridge, we also have to to refuge lands for their emergency of piping plover, common terns and the anticipate the impact of more beachgoers vehicles. Refuge staff is now putting other birds that find the water they need and dogs crossing onto the refuge,” protocols in place to protect the public at Monomoy Refuge. says Law Enforcement Officer Chad as well as the integrity of the designated Roderick. Visitors are welcome to Wilderness Area and to be in compliance Indeed, the refuge’s experience with the explore most of the refuge, although with the Endangered Species Act. ◆ Avian Diversity Program, which keeps portions are closed in the spring and down the number of black-backed gulls summer to protect nesting and staging Michael Brady is refuge manager and and herring gulls that prey on or harass birds. Closures will include the newly Monica Williams is wildlife biologist at the birds, has also shown the refuge the attached site. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in importance of public communications. Massachusetts.

March/April 2007 | Pg 17 Refuge Update Around the Refuge System

responsible parties” to determine the extent of contamination and clean it up. These parties include the Delaware County Solid Waste Authority and a number of corporations. A 1980 report says the landfill contains oil wastes, solvents, pesticides, heavy metals, radioactive and hospital waste. The cleanup could take years and refuge manager Kate McManus says the area may never open to the public but could become home to raptors and grassland-nesting birds. FLORIDA The number of loggerhead sea turtle nests counted statewide in Florida is Two greater flamingos came a long way before finding each other at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in south Texas. The pale pink bird – a species from Africa - escaped the Sedgwick County down almost 40 percent since 1998, Zoo in Wichita, Kansas, while the more brightly colored flamingo flew in from Mexico. By the end according to a survey by the Florida of January, the two were still together but had flown out of the refuge and on up the Texas coast. Fish and Wildlife Conservation (Ken Rice/USFWS) Commission, yet the number of nests at Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge biologist Chad Stinson, “but if you are TEXAS is going up – from 7,599 nests in 2004 two pink birds on a green landscape, I A record number of migrating to 9,000 in 2006. Archie Carr Refuge is guess it’s not hard.” whooping cranes landed in Aransas considered one of the most important National Wildlife Refuge in south Texas The pair stayed together on the refuge nesting areas for loggerheads in the this past winter, indicating that the for several months before disappearing western hemisphere. The sea turtles national icon that nearly went extinct in January. A Texas birding blogger are threatened by commercial fishing, six decades ago is making a comeback. said the two had been photographed coastal development and ocean Among the 234 cranes wintering on on a shallow tidal lake in the lower pollution. the refuge were 45 chicks, including Guadalupe Delta area of Texas, about seven sets of twins. Loss of habitat and The storms that unexpectedly ripped 75 miles away. “We’re hoping they come hunting drove the numbers down to through central Florida at the start back next year,” says Stinson. just 15 cranes in the 1940s. of February spared just one of the PENNSYLVANIA 18 juvenile whooping cranes that had Aransas Refuge also hosted an unusual The Folcroft landfill has been polluting arrived at Chassahowitzka National pair of flamingos earlier this year, Darby Creek and Tinicum Marsh Wildlife Refuge on January 12 after including one that escaped from the outside Philadelphia for decades. The following an ultralight plane from Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, former landfill became part of the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas, 600 miles away. This pale bird John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge Wisconsin as part of their migration was then joined by a wild Caribbean at Tinicum in 1980 but it was not until training. All were part of the flamingo that had been banded in 2006 that the U.S. Environmental Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership’s Mexico. Both birds were identified by Protection Agency finally signed “Class of 2006,” the sixth group of their leg bands. “We don’t know how an agreement with 14 “potentially whooping cranes, which are annually they found each other,” says Aransas

Pg 18 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 bred at Patuxent Research Refuge in http://www.operationmigration.org/ fresh tracks. He concluded that Bill Maryland, flown to Necedah Refuge rememberingclass06.html. saw his shadow and predicted six more to spend the summer, and then led weeks of winter. “We’re getting people on their first migration south. All 17 MONTANA to realize that wildlife isn’t some dry juveniles died in the enclosure that Who says Punxsutawney Phil can’t be history,” said Danley. protects new arrivals from predators. beat in the weather predicting game? The storms struck with no warning For a couple of years now Bitterroot CONGRATULATIONS! and no time to plan ahead. The Bill, a yellow-bellied marmot living Kenai National Wildlife Refuge surviving juvenile joined the flock under a barn at Lee Metcalf National has been recognized by the Alaska from earlier classes. Wildlife Refuge in Montana, has been Department of Fish and Game for its weighing in on the end of winter and support of hunter education programs. “While we are still recovering from his record is 100 percent. This year he Seven refuge staff members volunteer the initial shock of the loss of so is predicting six more weeks of winter. as instructors of basic hunter and many young birds, the survival of bowhunter education courses. Refuge one bird demonstrates the resilience On Groundhog Day, February 2, Visitor Manager Robin West was honored as of this particular crane, and our Services Professional Bob Danley led the local volunteer instructor of the partnership will bounce back as a troop of kids, parents and local media year for leading the most courses in well,” said John Christian, co-chair to Bill’s barn. Mayor Bill Meisner of 2006. The refuge saw a 300 percent of the Whooping Crane Eastern Stevensville came dressed in a costume increase in the number of students who Partnership, of which the U.S. Fish from the Lewis and Clark era, ready completed a hunter education program and Wildlife Service is a founding to send youngsters on an expedition in 2006 as compared with a year earlier. member. A “Remembering the Class to find Bill. After a bit of training in of 2006” fund has been established at how to identify a marmot’s burrow and Diane Borden-Billiot, outreach tracks, a 10-year-old reported finding coordinator for the Southwest Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex, was named one of six outstanding women by the Southwest Louisiana Times for her dedicated work in wildlife conservation. Borden- Billiot has spent 16 years in Louisiana, beginning as a wildlife biologist at Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. She has taken on a wide array of public information responsibilities for the refuge complex. The National Bison Range received a first place award from the National Association of Interpretation for the publication Buffalo Country: America’s National Bison Range. The book recounts the history of the American bison, the creation of the National Bison Range and the life of Big Medicine, a white buffalo born on the range. Buffalo Country is illustrated with the photography of refuge volunteer Donald M. Jones.

Bitterroot Bill is a yellow-bellied marmot living under a barn at Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in Montana. He chirps his predictions about winter’s end – and so far his predictions have been right on target. (USFWS)

March/April 2007 | Pg 19 Refuge Update Wildlife Cooperatives – A New Tool for Conservation Beyond the Boundaries

by Larry Williams They are simply collections of gather harvest data collectively and neighboring landowners who formally deliver them to biologists at one time. Of he State of Texas learned early and voluntarily agree to cooperate course, if the biologist needs to prescribe Tthe value of wildlife cooperatives, in managing local wildlife. In Texas, a revised management strategy for local and it has facilitated development of some landowners joined for enhanced wildlife, that strategy can be implemented about 100 such organizations since hunting, birdwatching or fishing; across a broad group of landowners, the first one formed in 1972. Texas is others just wanted to improve their increasing its chance of success. now reaping the benefits of broader local environments. Whatever their implementation of wildlife management reason, they learn to approach wildlife Finally, TPWD has encouraged actions. So far, only a few national management across a larger landscape. cooperatives as a tool to deal with habitat wildlife refuges are realizing the Participating landowners in Texas often fragmentation. The cooperatives not benefits of such cooperatives. agree to comply with recommendations only help wildlife managers implement in a management plan developed with management across fragmented Wildlife cooperatives, also known as ownership, but they also encourage wildlife management associations, have the help of a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologist. community pride in local wildlife evolved as one more way to operate in resources, sometimes to the point of the greater geographic and political Cooperatives typically focus on conserving deterring further fragmentation. One landscapes. From the U.S. Fish and and managing game animals. However, cooperative, for example, supported Wildlife Service’s Partners Program as the Refuge System has proven so many legislation to provide tax breaks to in the 1980s and the implementation times, when you conserve one species, landowners who keep land in healthy of ecosystem management teams in you inevitably conserve many species and wildlife habitats. With the cooperative’s the 1990s, to the Department of the habitats. The rare plants and beautiful support, the legislation passed. Interior’s support for cooperative landscapes Americans see today on conservation and the incredible rise of national wildlife refuges are ready proof Refuges Try Wildlife Cooperatives Friends organizations, those concerned of that. A few refuges already function within about landscape level conservation have cooperatives. For example, ACE recognized the importance of reaching Cooperatively Managing the Basin National Wildlife Refuge in out to partners and stakeholders. White-Tailed Deer South Carolina is part of a successful Wildlife cooperatives are a next, TPWD encourages the establishment deer management cooperative. The logical step. of wildlife cooperatives, many of Grasslands Wildlife Management Area which are focused on white-tailed in California’s San Joaquin Valley is deer. First, by facilitating coordination part of the Grasslands Water District, among landowners engaged in wildlife formed by landowners who want to management, cooperatives, for example, conserve waterfowl. have made it unnecessary for landowners to build high fences to restrict wildlife Perhaps the best example is the movements. Before becoming a Butte Sink National Wildlife Refuge cooperative, landowners would build in California’s Sacramento Valley. tall fences to retain deer herds that Although the refuge is only 770 acres, were precisely managed. Through it is surrounded by dozens of waterfowl cooperatives, neighboring landowners hunting clubs that formed the Butte now often agree to a similar herd Sink Waterfowl Association in 1986. The structure, negating the need for fences. refuge is a member of the association, which has found collaborative solutions to Secondly, cooperatives facilitate such problems as water delivery systems, Butte Sink National Wildlife Refuge in communication between agency biologists water quality, waterfowl disturbance, California participates in a wildlife cooperative and landowners. By attending regular waterfowl disease control and mosquito known as the Butte Sink Waterfowl Association. meetings of the cooperatives, TPWD control. Moreover, the association The association includes many waterfowl hunting clubs and addresses such problems as biologists can communicate with facilitates wildlife research projects that water quality and delivery, waterfowl disturbance numerous landowners at once, and vice and mosquito control. (USFWS) versa. Likewise, the cooperatives often continued pg 22

Pg 20 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 Counting Hawks above the Canopy by Joe D’Arrigo this tower allows a commanding ne morning last fall, I witnessed 360° view of the Oan amazing concentration of surrounding migrating hawks, some of them actually countryside. flying below my position on our new Coupled with observation tower. South Texas Refuge the height of Complex Park Ranger Mike Carlo, who the tower, this lives on Santa Ana National Wildlife provides an Refuge, had seen a lot of hawks landing exceptional on the refuge the night before. “Could opportunity for be a huge lift-off this morning,” he said. biologists. As “I’m going up the tower to count how Santa Ana hosts many take off. You should come.” over 150,000 From the top deck of Santa Ana Refuge’s visitors a year, we newest attraction – a 43-foot-tall treetop thought sharing observation tower – I saw more than the uniqueness 10,000 broad-winged hawks rise on the of our refuge morning thermals on all sides of the with this tower tower. Several flew so close that I felt I would provide could reach out and touch them. Most an unparalleled were on their way to spend the winter in experience for South America, where they would arrive all.” Park rangers in 45-50 days. After about an hour of and refuge watching this spectacle and with no end volunteers will in sight, I felt sure that the tower would also use the tower become a favorite staff and visitor spot to teach students for many years. and visitors how different bird Seeing it All the Way Up species use distinct Opened to the public in December layers of the forest 2006, the tower has a unique design. to build nests, rest Constructed entirely of industrial A new 43-foot-tall open-air observation tower on Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Texas enables staff and visitors to peer into the or look for food. aluminum, the open-air structure lets surrounding subtropical, riparian woodland at all levels, from the ground to staff and visitors see the surrounding the top of the canopy. (USFWS) Although refuge subtropical, riparian woodland at all biologists for years levels, from the ground to the top of the and Wildlife Department provided funds have offered a canopy. Wildlife observers can peer into for the entrance trail and the Friends spring hawk watch at Santa Ana Refuge, the canopy as they ascend the 70 steps to of Santa Ana Refuge paid for signs, the tower will now help people get a more the top. Additional design criteria allow benches, a patio and landscaping of the accurate picture of the way migrating for the future addition of an elevator tower base with native plants. raptors utilize the refuge to roost and to meet accessibility criteria of the feed. The topography of the Lower Rio Americans with Disabilities Act. “While the primary purpose of the tower Grande Valley of south Texas is quite flat is to aid in surveying plant and wildlife and with the tower rising 43 feet, visitors Many discussions were held among communities, we thought it might be and staff can have a great vantage point refuge managers, visitor services possible to make it into a unique wildlife to survey the variety of habitats on the staff, biologists, maintenance staff and observation facility as well,” said Project refuge and, on a clear day, enjoy vistas up engineers to ensure that maximum safety Leader Ken Merritt. to 20 miles away. ◆ criteria were met while providing the optimum viewing experience for birders, Commanding 360° View Joe D’Arrigo is maintenance supervisor butterfly enthusiasts, photographers Santa Ana Refuge Manager Jodi for Santa Ana and Lower Rio Grande and school children. The Texas Parks Stroklund explained, “The design of Valley National Wildlife Refuges.

March/April 2007 | Pg 21 Refuge Update Where the Buffalo Roam — continued from pg 1

and Neal Smith Refuge have the highest historical and cultural connections to bison – will be moved this spring to Rocky genetic uniqueness of all Service herds, which can now be revived. Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife according to Halko. Refuge in Colorado. Bison were part of Gilbertson also informed the local media the historical landscape in the American An existing herd at Neal Smith Refuge, that Neal Smith Refuge would be losing plains where their migration and whose genetic makeup was not quite one bison herd and gaining another, grazing habits stimulated key ecological unique, was given to the Meskwaki and which prompted an immediate increase processes on the prairie. Bringing them Spirit Lake tribes in Iowa and North in visitation – triple what it normally is back will enable the refuge to study the Dakota. Two bison from the original during the month of December. effects of the herd on native short-grass Neal Smith Refuge herd will be used by prairie ecology. an Iowa park for public education. One visitor expressed appreciation to the refuge for replacing the herd. In a letter The Service is working with its military “No Detectable Cattle Hybridization” to the Des Moines Register, the visitor partners to ensure that reintroduction What seems like musical chairs with said she was “so happy to see the buffalo of bison comply with regulations and very large animals is more like a return to the Neal Smith Refuge. We policies related to the ongoing clean-up of giant puzzle in which advances in make a weekly visit to the refuge. This the Arsenal and the full transformation biotechnology have made it possible visit is a stress reliever for both of us. We of the site to a national wildlife refuge. to move around the puzzle pieces in have taken grandkids there and the rest increasingly intricate patterns. of the family.” “These refuges were established in the early 1900s when President Teddy There is a popular desire to talk Using Science to Manage for Roosevelt wanted to preserve the bison about “purebred” bison. The more Diversity and Purity and other big game,” says Halko. “Here accurate term is “no detectable cattle Halko says genetic testing enables the we are 100 years later continuing that hybridization,” and “detectable” is the Service to manage herds more closely preservation on a genetic level. It’s truly key word. The entire bison DNA genome for diversity or purity and provide more historic.” has not been mapped, so there is the effectively for the overall fitness of the possibility that cattle genes are lurking in species. As the technology continues to Has there been progress in that century an animal or a herd. advance, even more sophisticated testing of conservation? can be completed on individual animals. Neal Smith Refuge needed to make room Most of the genetic research has been “Absolutely,” concludes Halko. “At the turn for its new herd by finding a home for its done at Texas A&M University and the of the century bison numbers were very existing bison. Refuge Manager Nancy University of California at Davis. low in the United States, but now public Gilbertson had long been in discussions herds of bison are commonplace.” ◆ about ways to help the Meskwaki Tribe As part of the overall management start its own herd. This was an opportunity plan for bison, a pilot bison herd – 15 to give them 23 animals. The tribe has animals from the National Bison Range

Wildlife Cooperatives – A New Tool for Conservation Beyond the Boundaries — continued from pg 20 require access and communication with further into the fabric of local booklet, go to http://www.tpwd.state. multiple landowners. communities and help bring about tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_ long-term conservation goals. Ducks bk_w7000_0336.pdf. ◆ Wildlife cooperatives are effective, but Unlimited and the Quality Deer they only work in the right setting. Management Association are interested Larry Williams, a wildlife biologist, Many rural refuges, where neighboring in helping develop new cooperatives is Chief of the Office of Budget for the landowners manage wildlife to varying in the vicinity of refuges. Interested National Wildlife Refuge System. degrees, could be ripe for a cooperative. refuges should call Larry Williams at Over his career thus far, he has helped However, like Friends organizations, 703-358-2174. For more information manage 10 wildlife refuges and was the there must be a nucleus of community about the Texas program and to obtain Fulfilling the Promise coordinator for interest from the start. their booklet, “A Guide for Wildlife the Refuge System. Also like Friends organizations, Management Association and Co-ops,” cooperatives can help knit refuges call 1-800-792-1112. To download the

Pg 22 Refuge Update | March/April 2007 Taking Care of the Trout — continued from pg 13

Necedah Refuge Private Lands Biologist Bill Peterson explains that in 1983, local fisheries staff developed LUNKERS - Little Underwater Neighborhood Keepers Encompassing Rheotaxic Salmonids. These small overhangs with the big name are usually constructed Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin partnered with the Ho-Chunk Nation to restore part over deep pools and protect trout from of Billings Creek on Ho-Chunk land in the Driftless Area. The photo on the left shows the creek before wading birds. Private contractors restoration; the photo on the right shows the post-restoration creek, ready to host a growing trout and state fisheries crews installed 535 population. (USFWS) LUNKERS along Coles Creek as well as determine whether fish that were too 147 log/rock weirs and a variety of ramps, Habitat Restoration in small to mark with a fin clip or tag when silt traps and short rapids. Coles Creek Whittlesey Creek they were stocked are the result of the is now a Class 1 trout stream with a fully Way up on the northern tip of Wisconsin, stocking project. self-sustaining brook trout population restoration of the coaster brook trout native to Lake Superior is one of the goals that requires no supplemental stocking. “The ultimate goal,” says Quinlan, “is too of Whittlesey Creek National Wildlife have fish return, spawn and survive and Necedah Refuge also partnered with Refuge. The refuge itself is primarily then repeat the cycle.” State regulations the Ho-Chunk Nation, Vernon County working on habitat restoration, according currently allow the coaster brook trout Land Conservation Department and the to Refuge Manager Pam Dryer – replacing to be caught and released in the creek, Natural Resources Conservation Service culverts for fish passage, acquiring and there is a 20-inch minimum on brook to restore part of Billings Creek on Ho- easements to protect groundwater flow and trout caught in Lake Superior. Chunk land about 35 miles southwest reducing sediment flowing into streams. of the refuge. A variety of fish habitat “It would be special if we could restore Henry Quinlan, fisheries biologist at the structures was installed and eroding to the refuge a fish that has such lore, a Ashland Fisheries Resource Office, leads streambanks were shaped and stabilized. legacy in Lake Superior,” says Quinlan, a project that is stocking two strains of Two drainage ditches were plugged, “because there is long-term stewardship brook trout eggs, fry, and yearlings in restoring six acres of floodplain wetland. of the river system when it’s part of the Whittlesey Creek. Biologists want to see Peterson says the Billings Creek trout refuge.” ◆ population is expected to increase with if either or both strains will move into bald eagles feeding on spawning trout Lake Superior and return to the creek to in the fall. Sandhill cranes should also spawn. Quinlan says the first trout could benefit from this wetland restoration. return to the creek this fall. Geneticists with USGS analyze tissue samples to

Chief’s Corner — continued from pg 2

They’ve already taken action. One of the The Congressional Caucus is focusing Jim Kurth and I took about 40 minutes to Caucus’ first acts was to introduce the on future budgets for the Refuge present what we called “Refuges 101.” We Refuge Ecology Protection, Assistance, System. Members of Refuge Friends gave them highlights about the Refuge and Immediate Response (REPAIR) organizations and others interested System, its history, the National Wildlife Act, which promotes greater cooperation in the Refuge System can see if their Refuge System Improvement Act, our among federal, state and private interests House members are also members of the successes and our challenges. to control non-native species. REPAIR Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus would make permanent the Cooperative by going to http://refugenet.e-actionmax. Most importantly, we told them that Voluntary Invasive Species Monitoring and com/showalert.asp?aaid=2110. national wildlife refuges are cornerstones Control Program, which has for the past in their communities, places that give three years enabled hundreds of Refuge Caucus member and their staffers got their communities a sense of themselves. I Friends organizations to detect invading first full introduction to the Refuge System could see heads nodding in agreement plants and control established invasives. on March 9 when Deputy Refuge Chief across the room.

March/April 2007 | Pg 23 Refuge Update A New Land Bridge Forms Naturally on Cape Cod by Michael Brady and Monica Williams You can now walk from Chatham Lighthouse to Monomoy Lighthouse on Cape Cod in Massachusetts without getting your feet wet, an impossible task for almost half a century. So can the predators of migratory birds. That poses new challenges for Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge staff, who have worked for more than a decade on an Avian Diversity Program to assure protection of such endangered and threatened Wind, water and weather finally caused the southern end of South Beach to attach itself to the northeast tip species as piping plover, common terns of South Monomoy Island at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts. The new land bridge and roseate terns. has created a host of challenges for the migratory birds that are the refuge’s wildlife focus. (USFWS) Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, to swim across to the refuge. Now, the just 300 pairs in 1996. Monomoy Refuge established in 1944 to provide habitat for birds no longer have the watery barrier hosts the largest common tern colony on migratory birds, was once on Monomoy that has kept other predators -- skunk, the Atlantic Seaboard. About 20 pairs of Peninsula. But the peninsula broke off weasel, opossum and raccoon – off South federally-endangered roseate terns also from the mainland in 1958; the resulting Monomoy since the 1960s. nest at Monomoy. island split again during the blizzard of The refuge has been forced to gear up Mammalian Predator Control 1978. A landmass called South Beach for a mammalian predator invasion that The refuge will have to use such predator formed off the refuge in the north and could wipe out the colony of 10,000 pairs control techniques as box traps to control began creeping slowly southward. Wind, of common terns the Avian Diversity mature predators and decrease the water and weather finally caused the Program has built up from a colony of southern end of South Beach to attach continued pg 17 itself to the northeast tip of South Monomoy Island on Thanksgiving Send Us Your Comments Day 2006. Letters to the Editor or suggestions about Refuge Update can be e-mailed to Before the natural bridge was built, only [email protected] or mailed to Refuge Update, USFWS-NWRS, the eastern coyote was strong enough 4401 North Fairfax Dr., Room 634C, Arlington, VA 22203-1610.

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