MASON NECK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Woodbridge, Virginia
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f)f Hojccii^ve flepvC'fNc'Son '-/ecr .''.'.'6 MASON NECK NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Woodbridge, Virginia ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1976 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service Mason Neck . Personnel Richard Antonette - Refuge Manager. Debra S. Green - Clerk/typist, EOD April 25* 1976. Patricia Nickerson - Clerk/typist^ transferred March 28^ 1976. Review and Approvals -ML V-. Am Submitted by Office Date Mason Neck NWR Regional Office Date TABLE OF CONTENTS I. GENERAL • Page A. Introduction 1 B. Climatic and Habitat Conditions 1 C. Land Acquisition 2 D. System Status 3 II. CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE A. Construction h B. Maintenance U C. Wildfire. 5 III. HABITAT MANAGEMENT A. Croplands 5 B. Grasslands ^ C. Wetlands 5 D. Forestlands ^ E. Other Habitat 6 F. Wilderness and Special Areas ^ G. Easements for Waterfowl Management ^ IV, WILDLIFE A. Endangered and Threatened Species B. Migratory Birds C. Mammals and Non-Migratory Birds and Others. V. INTERPRETATION AND RECREATION A. Information and Interpretation 8 B. Recreation .11 C. Enforcement . .11 VI. OTHER ITEMS A. Field Investigations 13 B. Cooperative Programs 1lj- C. Items of Interest 1U D. Safety 1^ I. GENERAL A, Introduction Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge headquarters is located in Woodbridge^ Virginia; the refuge is located in Fairfax County three miles east of U.S. Route 1 (off Virginia Route 600). This beautiful area of forest and marsh was established in 1969 to pro vide habitat and protection for the endangered southern bald eagle. The refuge is a locally important wintering area for mallards and black ducks, an evening roost of the bald eagle is protected, and white-tailed deer and small mammals are easily seen. Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge was the first unit of the sys tem acquired specifically for the endangered southern bald eagle and under the authority of the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1966.1 B. Climatic and Habitat Conditions Below normal temperatures prevailed during January, 1976, with only two mild periods—the 12th-17th and 26th-29th. February was the warmest ever on record. Average temperatures in the 5-day period from the 16th through the 21st averaged over 20° above normal, with a new record temperature (at Davison Airfield) of 76° on the 17th. There were 15 days with temperatures above 60°. March continued the extreme warmth of February with mostly above normal temperatures. A short-lived chill on the 17th-l8th saw minimum temperatures of 20°. Nature turned on the oven in April. During the I8th-19th, the maxi mum temperatures reached 90°. The most noteworthy thing about this month's precipitation was the lack of it (no rain was recorded dur ing a 20-day period—the 5th-2Uth). By one day, in fact, we missed having the driest April on record. By April 13, the drought had resulted in a critical fire danger and a surface fire occured on the refuge (see Section II. C. below). During May, two soaking rains, one at the beginning and one at the end of the month, were bookends for three weeks of relatively dry weather. However, these caused May to be second in total monthly precipitation for the year (6.05"). June was uneventful. In July, an unusually vivid, intense lightning cloud-to-cloud and ground-to-ground occurred on the lOth-llth, 15th, and 29th. This type of celestrial fireworks display is more char acteristic of Midwestern storms. For all three storms, morning storms were followed by stronger evening storms which is quite unusual for this area. August was cooler than normal for the area with tempera ture readings near 50° on the 30th and 31st. This was the driest August experienced since 1972. On September 15th and 16th, total precipitation for a li8-hour period was li.07". In October, tempera tures ranged from 7h0 on the 7th to 26° on the 29th. Precipitation this month was the most recorded for the year at 7.95". November was the coldest November since 1917. On the 30th, temperatures dropped to a low of 16°. Precipitation was lower than normal—totaling 0.96". ^ Office of the Secretary's News Release l5h1ii-69, dated May 7, 1969, titled "Stiffer law urged by Interior to protect alligator, other wildlife." Mason Neck - Page December, 1976, had a temperature range from 13° on the 1st to 52° on the 17th. The first snowfall this fall was recorded on the 28th with 0.5" of snow. Climatological data is listed in Table 1. Table 1 Month Precip. Snowfall Temperatures (inches) (inches) (Fahrenheit) 1976 Norm 1976 Norm 1976 1976 Extremes Averages Max. Min. Max. Min. Jan, 3.59 2.8 0.1 9.0 60 8 ao.o 2a.7 Feb. 1.75 3.2 0.1 10.0 76 13 56.a 32.3 March 3.hh 3.5 3.0 9.0 81 20 59.1 36.7 April 1.35 3.2 0 0 90 26 69.7 ai.6 May 6.05 2.5 0 0 85 37 72.9 50.8 June 1.59 2.7 0 0 92 a6 83.9 63.a July 3.77 3.2 0 0 9a 5a 86.1 6a. a Aug. 2.92 3.6 0 0 93 a? 83.a 62.8 Sept. 5.82 3.1i 0 0 90 a2 75.6 53.a Oct. 7.95 2.U 0 0 7a 26 60.25 a2.a Nov. 0.96 2.6 1.0 1.0 66 16 50.3 29.1 Dec. 2.17 2.9 2.2 8.0 52 13 a2.o 2a.0 Totals 1x1.36 36.0 6.U 37.0 1976 Climatological data recorded at Davison Airfield (U miles from the refuge) for Table 1. The Great Marsh froze (except the open water tidal guts) during early February, 1976. In the past winter the marsh froze by mid-December, 1976, and the marsh tidal guts and the Potomac River froze (skim ice) across to Maryland by January 2, 1977. About liO black ducks were using an open water area on Raccoon Creek at the end of the year. Neabsco Creek was ice-covered by mid-November, 1976, being the first embayment to fx-eeze in the local area. Land Acquisition 1. Fee Title Case closure on The Nature Conservancy tract (I0d) comprising 5.01 acres was effective on May 20, 1975 (final payment) and on May 7, 1976, for The Nature Conservancy tract (lOe) comprising 63.9 acres. The refuge then totaled 1088.73 acres. An option has been obtained on the Newton Tract (17). Acquisition is planned for Tracts 10f (TNC), 15 (Nancy Davy), and 16 (Myron Davy). Mason Neck - Page As a round-out acquisition, it would be desirable to purchase Virginia State Park lands northwest of the refuge and including the Sycamore Point refuge access road to its northern terminus with High Point Road. This may total about ItO acres and cost $200,000. It would provide control of access from paved Virginia Route 600. System Status 1. Objectives Individual Refuge Objectives were submitted during FY 1973, with revisions submitted January 15, 197iu The Program Scheduling pre pared November 15, 1976 lists Resource Management funds totaling $37,000 in FY 1978 (NFIO) which is the current budget for FY 1977. Manpower for both years comprises one full-time permanent and one part-time permanent position. Total Annual Benefits during the NFIO (FY 1983) will be about 12 million RBU's, a decrease from the current year (FY 1977) of about 28 million RBU's. All refuge activ ities are out of phase with or insufficiently staffed and budgeted for approved objectives and require an additional $10,000 in 0 & M funds. The lack of a Refuge Office and Refuge Manager's residence on the refuge has continued to be a very apparent problem resulting in inefficient and difficult operations, especially when involving visiting individuals and groups. 2. Funding Following is a listing of funds for historical purposes. During Fiscal Years 1969 and 1970, the refuge operation was funded through Blackwater NWR: Funds Fiscal Year Appropriated Spent Man Power FY 1971 $111,000 (20,000 0 & M) (21,000 Constr) FY 1972 30,000 FY 1973 26,000 FY 197ii 25,000 $22,000 2 Permanent FY 1975 30,200 33,200 2 Permanent 2 Temporary (summer) FY 1976 36,000 38,350 2 Permanent 2 Temporary (summer) Mason Neck - Page Any attempts to hire summer temporaries have now been ibrestalled until the budget increases to alleviate the budget crunches felt the last ten months of Fiscal Years 1975 and 1976 when hiring was accomplished. Both years our budget was overspent two months after the beginning of the fiscal year and we curtailed spending and operations for the remaining ten months. The FY 1977 budget ($37,000) decreased $1,350 below FY 1976 (actual spending $38,350). This does not cover salary increases of $2,500. This recession in station funds will curtail much program information, extension services, and technical assistance as requests are received at the refuge office. With no temporary positions anticipated for the year, posting of Tracts lOe, Davy Tracts, etc. cannot be accom plished—nor posting of the Featherstone Tract, if acquired. The refuge will forego management activities such as Environmental Ed ucation programs, nesting structure program, banding program, etc. Lack of planning information early in the year prevented using the transition quarter funds as they well could have been used to hire summer employees for the Endangered Species Management Program dur ing July to September, 1976. II. CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE Construction Nothing to report.