N1N1GRET NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE COMPLEX NIN1GRET NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE BLOCK ISLAND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SACHUEST POINT NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SALT MEADOW NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE TRUSTOM POND NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE CHARLESTOWN, RHODE ISLAND ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT CALENDAR YEAR 1984 I U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM REVIEW AND APPROVALS NINIGRET NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE COMPLEX Charlestown, Rhode Island ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1984 SUaJL^-' Refuge Supervisor Date 3/au — t . ^ ; • Regional Offic^Approval Date ! 5 f: r NINIGRET NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Charlestown, Rhode Island ANNUAL NARRATIVE REPORT Calendar Year 1984 U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE SYSTEM 1 INTRODUCTION Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1971, is located in Charlestown, Rhode Island, approximately 30 miles south of Providence. The refuge contains 407 acres and borders Ninigret Pond, a salt pond located behind a barrier beach and open to Block Island Sound via a breachway. The refuge comprises a diversity of habitat types. Grassland, forest, shrubland, wooded swamp and barrier beach combine to create an interspersion and diversity of resources for many wildlife species. The refuge contains approximately 3 miles of shoreline on Ninigret Pond and provides habitat for numerous waterfowl species. Black ducks, mallards, Canada geese, and diving ducks winter in large numbers on the pond. Bald and golden eagles, ospreys, and many other raptors can be observed on the refuge. Common terns breed on a refuge island in the pond. Visitor use is greatest during the summer months from tourists seeking the cool shore breezes and ocean water. Environmental education programs are conducted jointly with the Frosty Drew Nature Center. TABLE OE CONTENTS Page A. HIGHLIGHTS 4 B. CLI MAT IC CON D I TIONS 5 C. LAND._ ACQUISITION 6 1. Fee T i tie Northing tom Report 2 *. Easements! " " ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ " " ! " ^ »'^pprt 3. Other 6 D. PLANNING 6 1. Master Plan ^ 2: Management Plans 3. Public Participation Not_hing_ to^ Report^ 4. Compliance with Environmental and Cultural Resource Mandates 5. Research and Investigations ® 6 Other Nothing to Report E. ADMIN[STRATION 1. Personnel 9 2. Youth Programs _ H 3. Other Manpower Programs Npthing^ to^ Repprt^ 4. Volunteer Programs .t.0. 5. Funding 5. Safety 7. Te chn i ca1 Assistance P.0. PPP.rP.. 8. Other 12, 13 F. HABITAT MANAGEMENT 13 1. General 33 2. Wetlands PPP^PP. Pp. PPPPPJQ 3. Forests PPPPiPP. PP. P.ePP.rP. 4. Croplands !. PPPPiPp! PP. PPPPPP. 5. Grasslands 33 6. Other Habitats Nothing, to. Repgrt. 7. Grazing Nothing, to. Report. 8.* Haying. ^ ^ ! Nothing; to*. Report". 9. Fire Management Npthing^ to. Report. 10. Pest Control Ngp^ipp. PP. PpPPfP, 11. Water Rights Nothing. tg. Repgrt. 12. Wilderness and Special Areas Ngthing.tg.Repgrt. 13. WPA Easement Monitoring Nohting. to. Repgrt. G. WI LDLIFE 14 1. Wildlife Diversity Nothing to Report 2. Endangered and/or Threatened Species 3. Water low! 3 4. Marsh and Water Birds Nothing ,to .ReBQrt 5. Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns and Allied Species.Nothing.to Report 6. Raptors 16 7. Other Migratory Birds 16 8. Game Mammals Nothing .to .Report 9. Marine Mammals .NQhhtngatQ .Ropott 10. Other Resident Wildlife Nothing .to .Report 11. Fisheries Resources Nothing .to .Report 12. Wildlife Propagation and Stocking..Nothing .to .Report 13. Surplus Animal Disposal Nothing .to .Report 34. Scientific Collections Nothing .to .Report 15. Animal Control Nothing .to .Report 16. Marking and Banding .Nothing .to .Report 17. Disease Prevention and Control No.thing .to .Report H. PUBLIC USF 16 1. General 16 2. Outdoor Classrooms - Students Noth.in.g .to. Jlep.o.r.t 3. Outdoor Classrooms - Teachers Not hi n.g. to. Report. 4. Interpretive Foot Trails 18 5. Interpretive Tour Routes Nothing, to. Report. 6. Interpretive Exhibits/Demonstrations.Nothing, to. Report 7. Other Interpretive Programs Nothing, to. Jfeppr.t. 8. Hunting Nothing, to. Report. 9. Fishing Nothing, to. Repppt. 10. Trapping Nothing, .tp. Report. 11. Wildlife Observation Nothing, to. Report. 12. Other Wildlife Oriented Recreation Nothing, to. Report. 13. camping Nothing, to. Report. 14. Picnicking Nothing, to. Report. 15. Off-Road Vehicling Nothing, to. Report. 16. Other Non-Wildlife Oriented RecreationNothing. to. Report 17. Law Enforcement 18 18. Cooperating Associations Nothing, to. Report. Concessions Nothinggto. Report. Other Programs 18 I - EQUI PMENT,. AND FAC 1 L 1T1 E5S 19 1. New Construction '.19 2. Rehabilitation 20 3. Major Maintenance Nothing.to. Report. 4. Equipment Utilization and Replacement 20 5. Communications Systems Nothing. to . Report. 6. Computer Systems Nothing .to . Report. 7. Energy Conservation Nothing. to .Report . 8. other Nothing .to .Report. J • QTHER ITEMS 20 1. Cooperative Programs 20 2. Other Economic Uses Nothing .to .Report . 3. Items of Interest Nothing .to .Report . 4. Credi ts 20 K. FEEDBACK 20 4 A. HIGHLIGHTS The Hunter's Island land exchange was completed in July with the Service Receiving a 4.69 acre inholding for 1.62 acres of commercially zoned property bordering U.S. Route 1. The Service also obtained a wetland easement on 0.68 acres of the 1.62 acres exchanged. Assistant Refuge Manager James Wood, who had spent 7 years at this station, transferred to Erie National Wildlife Refuge in August. Charles Blair transferred from the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge in Galena, Alaska in May to fill the Manager's position left vacant since December 1983. The first maintenance position, a temporary full time WG-7, was filled in August by Charles Smith. Construction of an access road to the refuge from U.S. Route 1 began in November. A program evaluation on Ninigret and all satellite units was conducted in August. In September, Congress authorized the creation of the Connecticut Coastal National Wildlife Refuge to be administered by this office. 5 B. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS The nearest weather station is located approximately 11 miles northeast of the refuge headquarters in Kingston, at the University of Rhode Island. Weather information recorded there is used in this report. Temperatures and precipitation were both above normal for the year. The average temperature was 50.7oF, which was the same as the 1983 average. This is well above the normal; in part due to an unusually warm February and December. The low temperature of -210F was recorded on January 21. A cool spring was followed by a warmer than usual summer with the year's high temperature of 93 F being recorded on June 8. Warm weather continued the rest of the year except for a cool spell in late September/early October. In December a record-breaking temperature of 680F was recorded on the 29th. After above normal precipitation during the first half of the year, the last half was relatively dry. Overall precipitation was 5.85 inches above normal with a total of 54.3 inches for the year. Only 22 inches of snow were recorded due to a rainy February and an almost snowless December. The planting of crops was delayed by a wet and cool spring. Adequate rainfall during the early part of the growing season favored cool season crops such as hayfields and pastures. High humidity in August contributed to an increase in disease. Moisture stress was apparent in some crops on light sandy soil, but for the most part it was a good year for farm crops, gardens, and recreation. SOUTHERN RHODE ISLAND PRECIPITATION DATA. 1984 MONTH TOTAL DAYS OVER DAYS OVER SNOWFALL 1NCHES 10 INCHES 50 INCHES 1 INCHES) JAN 2 . 94 6 3 11.4 T"1 FEB 6 . 77 9 4 MAR 5.50 8 3 8 . 5 APR 4.32 5 4 - MAY 8 . 42 1 3 2 - JUN 6.52 7 4 - JUL 7.03 1 2 5 - AUG 1.09 2 1 - SEP 2.02 6 1 - , OCT 3 . 77 7 3 - NOV , 2.02 4 1 - DEC 3.94 8 2 , , 2- 0 TABLE 1 6 SOUTHERN RHODE ISLAND TEMPERATURE DATA FOR 1984 f 0F) MONTH AVG DEP MEAN MEAN EXTREMES MAX MIN MAX MIN JAN 26 . 3 -1.9 36.1 16.5 53 - 2 1 FEB 37,6 8 . 2 47.0 28.1 58 1 MAR 32.6 -4.2 41.2 24.0 53 - 1 APR 46.3 -0.2 56.5 36.0 73 24 MAY 55.8 0 66.9 44.6 74 32 JUN 67.8 3 . 1 79.1 56.5 93 42 JUL 70 . 6 0 . 5 80.9 60 . 3 88 49 AUG 72 . 0 2 . 8 81.9 62.1 88 46 SEP 60.1 -2.1 72.5 47.6 83 34 OCT 55.6 3 . 3 66.6 44.5 78 23 NOV 44.7 1 . 9 55.1 34.4 68 1 7 DEC 38.7 6 . 4 49.7 27.6 68 1 3 TABLE 2 C. LAND ACQUISITION 3. Other A land exchange between the Service and the Arnold Trust transferred 1.62 acres of Refuge land for 4.59 acres of land owned by the Trust. In addition, the Service obtained a wetland easement on 0.58 acres of the 1.62 acres transferred. The exchange eliminated an inholding on the refuge known as "Hunter's Island" and resolved the issue of a right-of-way through the refuge. The 1.62 acres that the refuge exchanged is located on U.S. Route 1 and is in a commercially zoned area. D. PLANNING 1. Master Plan Master Planning of the Southern New England Refuges, earmarked for fiscal year 1984, was initiated late in the year for the Ninigret NWR Complex. The effort will result in the estab­ lishment of long-range management strategies to meet present and planned refuge objectives and goals.