Plans to restore native grasses and tallgrass prairie habitat to parts of Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge in northern Iowa are highlighted in the refuge’s Grassland Management Plan made available today by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 36-page plan includes maps showing specific areas of the 3,300 acre refuge that will be affected by the plan.
The Grassland Management Plan is now available on the Union Slough NWR website at: http://midwest.fws.gov/unionslough . The plan will also be mailed soon to about 180 local residents who attended a public meeting on refuge management plans February 4, 2003 in Algona, Iowa.
Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge is located about 50 miles west of Mason City near Titonka, Iowa. Approximately 20,000 people visit the refuge each year. “Local residents are very involved in this refuge and we want to continue that positive relationship by keeping them informed of our management plans,” said Refuge Manager George Maze. Members of the public interested in touring areas affected by the plan should contact the refuge office at 515-928-2523, Maze said.
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 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource 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 Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
