U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service -- Press Releases

Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge to Dedicate New $2 million Visitor Center

MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 1, 2003

Contact:
Andrea Dunstan, 662/323-5548

Who:

Congressman "Chip" Pickering,
Southeast Regional Director of the Fish & Wildlife Service Sam Hamilton, and other local VIPs will speak at the dedication and ribbon cutting for new Office and Visitor Center complex.

What:

Dedication of the new Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge Office & Visitor Center and the 100th Anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

When:

Friday, December 5, 2003, 11:00 a.m.

Where:

Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge Office & Visitor Center Brooksville, MS, (see http://noxubee.fws.gov/noxmap.htm for map)
Note: Oktoc Road entrance is closed due to bridge construction.
From Hwy 25: Turn east onto Loakfoma Rd. Road ends, turn left. Office/Visitor Center is 6.7 miles on the left.
From Hwy 45: Turn west onto Lynn Creek Rd. Go through Brooksville, ontinue 11 miles (rd. becomes dirt). Turn right at 4-way dirt intersection (sign points oward Noxubee Refuge). Continue 3 miles. Turn left at paved intersection, office/Visitor Center on the right .2 miles.

This event wraps up the year-long National Wildlife Refuge System Centennial Celebration. Media can get a sneak peak at the visitor center, which will open to the public in Spring, 2004. The facility will feature an auditorium, a book store operated by Friends of Noxubee Refuge, and exhibits on Noxubee Refuge and its diverse wildlife and habitats.

Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1940 to protect migratory birds. Noxubee NWR is one of more than 540 national wildlife refuge across America celebrating a century since President Theodore Roosevelt established the National Wildlife Refuge System in 1903. The Refuge System is the only system of federal lands whose primary purpose is wildlife protection.

Noxubee NWR protects more than 48,000 acres, including Bluff Lake. The public is invited year- round to visit the refuge to hike, bird watch, photograph wildlife, fish, boat and hunt. Hike through pine forest home to the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, or bring your binoculars to view American bald eagles.

For more information about Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, visit http://noxubee.fws.gov or call 662/323-5548.

For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at http://southeast.fws.gov/ or http://www.fws.gov/.

NOTE: You can view our releases or subscribe to receive them -- via e-mail -- at the Service's Southeast Regional home page at http://southeast.fws.gov. Our national home page is at: http://news.fws.gov/newsreleases/.

Atlanta, GA 30345
Phone: 404/679-7289 Fax: 404/679-7286

2002 News Releases