Blackwater wildlife refuge expanding
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, this region's premier preserve of woods, wetlands, bald eagles and other critters, is growing by another 825 acres, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin announced today.
For $1.4 million, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has bought a tract of land along the Nanticoke River owned by Tideland Ltd. The service said the land is prime habitat for eagles and migratory waterfowl, including black ducks, blue winged-teal and wood ducks, and possibly habitat for the recovering Delmarva fox squirrel. A southern portion along the Nanticoke helps preserve views for the Capt. John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
The refuge, south of Cambridge in Dorchester County, covers more than 27,000 acres, including a third of Maryland’s tidal wetlands and some of the most ecologically important areas of our state, Cardin noted.
(Osprey nesting at Blackwater, 2009 Baltimore Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron)
Comments
Tim ---
Was this tract purchased to offset the tracts at Blackwater NWR that FWS anticipates to appropriate for cultivation of GMO/GE crops following a NEPA analysis?
Thanks for the reporting
TW: I thought USFWS had stopped allowing GE crops to be grown at Blackwater and other wildlife refuges in these parts. http://ow.ly/7eBpD
Posted by: david | October 31, 2011 12:42 PM
To my understanding, it is only temporary pending a NEPA impact analysis...
Posted by: david | October 31, 2011 4:33 PM