News Release

January 7, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Howard Phillips, Refuge Manager (252) 796-3004 x226

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Reopens Scuppernong River Interpretive Boardwalk

Refuge Manager Howard Phillips announced today that the Scuppernong River Interpretive Boardwalk located behind the Walter B. Jones Center for the Sounds in Columbia, NC has been partially reopened after severe hurricane damage in September 2003. Fallen trees have been removed from the walkway, but some uneven surfaces remain where wind-thrown root mats raised a side of the boardwalk. Caution should also be used during high wind events, since there are many leaning trees along the walkway. The portion of the boardwalk that jets out into the Scuppernong River is still closed due to structural damage.

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 almost 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 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 Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

- FWS -