U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge

Refuge Facts ■ Endangered and threatened ■ Established: April 12, 1938. species include loggerhead sea turtles and piping plovers. Both ■ Size: Originally: 5,915 acres species nest on the refuge. (land), 25,700 acres (Proclamation Boundary Waters). Currently: Financial Impacts 4,655 acres. ■ Administered by Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Pea ■ Administered by Alligator River Island has no assigned staff or National Wildlife Refuge. budget. photo: USFWS photo: ■ Located on the north end of ■ One employee reports for duty , a coastal barrier to Pea Island National Wildlife island and part of a chain of islands Refuge on a daily basis. known as the . ■ Numerous volunteers devote ■ Approximately 13 miles long (north approximately 25,000 hours each to south) and ranges from a quarter year to Pea Island. mile to one mile wide (from east to west). ■ 2.7 million visitors annually. ■ Location: 10 miles south of Nags ■ Known as a “Birder’s Paradise”; Head, NC on NC Highway 12. birders are among the most

photo: USFWS photo: affluent eco-tourists. Other visitors ■ The Comprehensive Conservation include paddlers, fishermen, and Plan for Pea Island National photographers. Wildlife Refuge was completed July 17, 2006. Refuge Goals ■ Protect, maintain, and enhance Natural History healthy and viable populations ■ Area was historically used for of indigenous migratory birds, market waterfowl hunting, hunt wildlife, fish, and plants including clubs, commercial fishing, farming, federal and state threatened and and livestock operations.

photo: USFWS photo: endangered species. ■ Refuge is comprised of ocean ■ Restore, maintain, and enhance the beach, dunes, upland, fresh and health and biodiversity of barrier brackish water ponds, salt flats, and island upland and wetland habitats salt marsh. to ensure optimum ecological ■ Bird list boasts more than 365 productivity. species; wildlife list has 25 species ■ Provide the public with safe, quality of mammals, 24 species of reptiles, wildlife-dependent recreational and 5 species (low number due to and educational opportunities that salt environment) of amphibians. focus on barrier island wildlife and ■ Concentrations of ducks, geese, habitats of the refuge. Continue to swans, wading birds, shore birds, participate in local efforts to sustain photo: USFWS photo: raptors, and neotropical migrants economic health through nature- based tourism. Mike Bryant, Refuge Manager are seasonally abundant on the Alligator River NWR refuge. ■ Protect refuge resources by P. O. Box 1969 ■ Refuge has 790 acres of limiting the adverse impacts of 708 North Highway 64 manageable waterfowl and human activities and development. Manteo, NC 27954 waterbird impoundments. Phone: 252/473 1131 ■ Acquire and manage adequate Fax: 252/473 1668 ■ Several colonial waterbird nesting funding, human resources, E-mail: [email protected] areas are located on the refuge. facilities, equipment, and infrastructure to accomplish all refuge goals. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Management Tools Questions and Answers can be found on the beach or in the ■ Water level manipulation What can I do to help Pea Island surf. in three brackish/freshwater National Wildlife Refuge? impoundments. You can help this refuge by Why is the refuge called Pea Island? volunteering your time as a volunteer, At one time, a majority of the greater ■ Prescribed fire. donating your money to the Coastal snow goose population in North Wildlife Refuge Society (the refuge America wintered on what is now ■ Mechanical/chemical control of Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. noxious and invasive plants. non-profit support group), and by being a good steward for natural Historically, these birds foraged in the ■ Wildlife and habitat surveys. resources. Contact the Society dunes and along the sound shore. In (http://www.fws.gov/alligatorriver/ the dunes, they found a small plant ■ Environmental education. cwrs.html)! They’ll tell you all kinds of whose tiny pink/lavender flowers ways you can help! matured to form beans that were ■ Wildlife Interpretation. packed with energy. These “dune ■ Law enforcement. Pea Island Refuge uses volunteers peas” provided a predictable food in a variety of program areas. Local source for the wintering geese: the ■ Outreach. volunteers work regularly staffing refuge was literally the “pea island” the Visitor Center, maintaining for snow geese. ■ Partnerships. interpretive trails, putting up signs, Why is there constant work on the Public Use Opportunities conducting interpretive tours, and assisting with biological and highway and adjacent land through ■ Half-mile, universally-accessible Pea Island (sand bags, moving foot trail. maintainance work. We also have programs for interns and resident sections, bulldozing, plantings, etc.)? ■ Refuge Visitor Center with volunteers. The ocean and sound, with associated interpretive wildlife exhibits and winds and tides, can be an sales area operated by the Refuge’s Why do some rangers wear green overwhelming force with which to non-profit support group, the uniforms and some wear brown? contend. Spring tides, sustained Coastal Wildlife Refuge Society. The Fish and Wildlife Service winds, and storms frequently cause (FWS) uniform is primarily brown. dune blowouts, tidal surges, and ■ Surf and sound fishing. Pea Island Refuge lies within Cape blowing sand. These make sections Hatteras National Seashore. While of the road impassable due to ■ Observation tower and platforms. Pea Island is administered by FWS, flooding and shifting of the dunes. ■ Nature photography, including National Seashore NC Highway 12 is the only road public photo-blind. falls under National Park Service connecting the seven villages that (NPS) administration. NPS uniforms lie south of the refuge on Hatteras ■ Environmental education. are green and gray. Island with each other and mainland . The powerlines, ■ Interpretive programs. Both FWS and NPS are Interior paralleling NC 12, provide electricity Department agencies; however, they Calendar of Events to the villages. The NC Department of have different primary missions. Year-round: Weekly Bird Walks. Transportation currently moves sand, Stated simply, parks are for people; drains water, and tries to stabilize May: International Migratory Bird refuges are for wildlife. Both dunes in an attempt to keep NC 12 Day, weekly bird walks. agencies manage wildlife; both offer open and is planning to replace the many public use opportunities. The Bonner Bridge soon. May-October: guided canoe tours (fee difference is in priorities. On refuges, program). wildlife are top priority. The refuge What is Wings Over Water? was established to provide habitat WOW is a community-sponsored June: Crabbing/Fishing Rodeo. for wildlife and to provide compatible festival that celebrates wildlife and June-August: children’s wildlife wildlife-dependent public use wildlands, history, and culture of programs, summer bird walks, opportunities that don’t conflict with eastern North Carolina. It usually turtle talks, guided canoe tours (fee providing that wildlife habitat. occurs the first week in November. program). When and where can we see a sea The purpose of WOW is to work October: National Wildlife Refuge turtle on the refuge? together with partners to highlight Week. Healthy sea turtles only come ashore the trust resources of the area and to lay eggs during the summer promote eco-tourism relating to those November: Wings Over Water. months. Laying usually occurs at resources. night, and the refuge is open to the public only during daylight hours. Refuge beaches average 10 nests each year. Therefore, it is unlikely that visitors will see a healthy sea turtle on refuge beaches. Occasionally, dead or injured sea turtles wash ashore and