Alligator River/Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge P. O. Box 1969 Manteo, North Carolina 27954 Contact: Bonnie Strawser - 252-473-1131 Back to News Home Page

News Release

Refuge Seeks Public Comment on Plans for Red Wolf Veterinary Facility

The Draft Environmental Assessment for a proposed veterinary facility at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is available for public review and comment through October 20, 2006. The document and its appendices may be obtained via the internet at http://www.fws.gov/alligatorriver/redwolf.html or by contacting the Red Wolf Recovery Program office at 252-473-1131 ext 246.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Red Wolf Recovery Program Team Leader, Bud Fazio, has announced the availability of the Public Review Draft of the Red Wolf Veterinary Center Environmental Assessment. Public review and comment are encouraged during the official fourteen-day comment period, which ends on October 20, 2006. Copies of the plan are available for viewing Monday through Friday at the Alligator River National Wildlife Service office located at 708 N. Hwy. 64 in Manteo, North Carolina, at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters on US Highway 64 in Columbia, NC, and at the Fish and Wildlife Ecological Services Officet, 203 Wolverine Road, Cary, North Carolina.

“The proposed facility would provide veterinary and medical support for services to red wolves and as storage for equipment and supplies used by the Red Wolf Recovery Program wildlife biologists,” said Bud Fazio. The offices and medical facilities currently being used are not conveniently located within the red wolf recovery area and are substandard and inadequate for basic veterinary procedures.

The Environmental Assessment compares possible alternatives and includes appendices with informational documents related to the resource area. This project is being funded primarily by a federal grant awarded to the Red Wolf Recovery Program. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the lead agency for the proposed action.

Please send written comments by October 20, 2006, to the following address: Diane Hendry, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 1969, Manteo, NC 27954 or e-mail comments to diane_hendry@fws.gov by the closing date of the comment period.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.