Photos: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/images/dixon2.jpg
Aerial photo: Available on request; e-mail Terri_Edwards@fws.gov
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week acquired 30 acres of coastal habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife on the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula in Northampton County, Va. The Service will manage the land as part of the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge, according to Marvin Moriarty, Northeast Regional Director of the Service.
This transaction represents the first phase in the overall protection of the 82-acre Dixon Farm tract. The Service purchased the 30 acres from The Nature Conservancy of Virginia with $2.25 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which supports land acquisition for national wildlife refuges. The Service intends to purchase the remainder of the property in two future phases, said Moriarty.
"Land acquisition is critical to fulfilling the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge's mission of protecting forest and shrub habitat for birds that rely on these areas to rest and feed during their migration," said refuge manager Susan Rice.
Protecting the Dixon Farm tract is part of a broader partnership among the Service, the Conservancy, and the Commonwealth of Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, and Department of Conservation and Recreation to protect and manage conservation lands throughout the southern tip of the peninsula. Following approval of the refuge's Comprehensive Conservation Plan in May 2004, the Conservancy supported this collaborative effort by purchasing the Dixon Farm tract and the nearby 496-acre Bull Farm tract to keep these undeveloped areas secure until the Service and the Commonwealth of Virginia had funding available to ensure their permanent protection and stewardship.
"In nature, everything's connected ? water, lands and people. In the same fashion, conservation depends on the collaboration of a wide range of groups," said Steve Parker, who directs The Nature Conservancy's Virginia Coast Reserve program. "This is a truly collaborative effort, involving groups from private landowners to the federal government. We are especially grateful to the Dixon family for their willingness to work with the Conservancy. I also want to commend Senator John Warner for his support of this project.?
"The opportunity would probably have been lost to ensure the preservation of the critical habitat, and restoration opportunities, on these key properties if the Conservancy had not intervened," said Rick Jorgensen, senior realty specialist with the Service's Northeast Region. "The organization stepped into the breech to conserve these lands for wildlife, and for future generations.?
The Service anticipates closing on its 210-acre portion of the Bull Farm tract with the Conservancy this fall. The combination of LWCF, Migratory Bird Conservation Fund (Waterfowl Hunting Stamp monies), and a recently awarded $1 million North American Wetlands Conservation Act grant will fund the $2 million acquisition.
-.8in 1. 1 2. 2 3 4. 315. 5. 5 6 These two important properties lie just north of the Eastern Shore of Virginia refuge's existing holdings and south of, and abutting, the Commonwealth's Mockhorn Wildlife Management Area. Combined with existing protected lands at the southern tip, these additions will be a part of a nearly contiguous 4,535-acre block of conserved land providing critical stopover, resting and feeding opportunities for migratory birds en route between their breeding and wintering habitats.
To further this unprecedented partnership effort, the Conservancy hopes to continue to protect additional priority habitats within the approved acquisition boundary of the refuge from willing sellers. Eventually, there is the potential to secure the permanent protection of the most critically important habitats at the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula.
Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most important havens for birds migrating along the eastern coast of North America. At this time of year, millions of migrating birds and butterflies gather in the area until favorable weather permits their crossing of the Bay.
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 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources 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 and Native American tribal 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. Visit us on the Web at www.fws.gov.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading, international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its approximately one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States ? including more than 230,000 acres in Virginia ? and have helped preserve more than 117 million acres around the world. Visit us on the Web at nature.org/Virginia.
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