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Prime Hook National Wildlife
Refuge
was established in 1963
under the authority of the Migratory Bird Conservation
Act for use as an inviolate sanctuary, or any other management purpose,
expressly for migratory birds.
It is located on the
west shore of Delaware Bay, approximately 22 miles southeast of Dover,
the State capital, and 64 miles southeast of Wilmington, Delaware.
The refuge is considered to have
one of the best existing wetland habitat areas along the Atlantic
Coast. The intensively managed freshwater impoundments have
become important stop-over sites for spring and fall migrating
shorebirds and wading birds. Endangered and threatened species
management activities provide habitat for the Delmarva fox squirrel,
nesting bald eagles and migrating peregrine falcons. Neotropical
land birds passing through utilize the refuge's upland forested habitat
during the fall and spring. The refuge's 10,000 acres are a
diverse landscape featuring freshwater and salt marshes, woodlands,
grasslands, scrub-brush habitats, ponds, bottomland forested areas, a 7-mile long creeek, and agricultural lands. These cover types
provide habitat for approximately 267 species of birds, 35 species of
reptiles and amphibians and 36 different mammals.
Public use at Prime
Hook provides compatible wildlife-oriented recreational
opportunities. Since the signing of the National
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, appropriate public uses
of the Refuge System include six major wildlife-dependent recreational
uses and are: hunting, fishing, wildlife observation,
photography,
environmental education, and environmental interpretation.
The Refuge is open 1/2 hour before
sunrise to
1/2 hour after sunset.
Contact
Us
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