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Do something wild — visit a national wildlife refuge
National Wildlife Refuges offer something for everyone
Rappahannock River Valley refuge's habitats as diverse as its stewards
Scarlet Tanager Drive, the main entrance into the Patuxent Research Refuge, winds through the woods not as a two-way street, but as a pair of single, narrow lanes going in each direction.
Why?
Because two, narrow, separated lanes have less of an impact on the surrounding forest than a wider road. They offer less opportunity for edge-dwelling predators to take up residence and prey upon interior forest dwelling birds.
In a sense, that application of science is what the refuge is all about. “Our overall theme is research, not just here, but all over the country, and how science is trying to solve environmental problems,” said Nell Baldacchino, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist at the refuge, which recently joined the National Park Service’s Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network.
It’s a fitting message. The Bay and other areas have restored populations of bald eagles and osprey largely thanks to work done at Patuxent. Its research helped to link the pesticide DDT to the eggshell thinning that led to the downward population spiral for large birds of prey. That research helped to bring about the ban on the pesticide, as well as the resulting the recovery of eagles, osprey, falcons and other wildlife.
Patuxent, established in 1936 to support wildlife research, is also where the whooping crane was saved from the brink of extinction. In the 1940s, only 16 birds remained in the wild. A captive breeding program at Patuxent has helped to re-establish new populations.
Bird studies by Patuxent scientists helped to raise concern about the declines of some migratory songbirds. And their work helped to link the decline of bird populations to the fragmentation of forests and other habitats.
Despite such high-profile work, the refuge — nestled in a forest midway between Washington and Baltimore — was largely unknown, and its land was closed to visitors.
The off-limits policy changed dramatically in 1991, when the Army was getting rid of the weapons testing grounds at Fort Meade just north of the refuge as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Act.
The land was to be sold, but Congress stepped in and arranged to have 8,100 acres transferred to the refuge. It also gained another 1,500 acres to the south from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
As a result, the refuge today controls a forested tract of roughly 12,750 acres. With thousands of additional forested acres on adjacent federal lands, the refuge is at the core of one of the largest chunks of intact Coastal Plain forest that remains between Richmond and New York. One senator has called it “the lungs of the Baltimore-Washington corridor.”
As the size of the refuge has changed, so has its mission. While part of the original 2,700 acres that make up the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center remain off limits (Under a reorganization, it’s now operated by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Biological Resources Division.), the surrounding 10,000 acres are open to the public. Activities on the refuge include hunting, fishing, wildlife photography and environmental education.
And, far from discouraging visitors, people are actively encouraged to look around. In fact, the refuge is home to the National Wildlife Visitor Center, one of the largest science and educational visitor centers operated by the U.S. Department of Interior. “We want to help people get a greater appreciation and understanding of the importance of wildlife and natural resource conservation, both locally and globally,” said Brad Knudsen, the refuge manager.
In the center, visitors walk through displays that expose them to global challenges affecting the environment, from population and climate change to deforestation and ocean pollution. Counters tick off the growing population and worldwide forest loss as people review the issues.
Interactive exhibits focus on specific habitats, such as the Mississippi Valley, prairie potholes, and the Chesapeake Bay. Echoing the refuges’ roots in science, displays illustrate the role of research in showing how changes in the environment have had consequences that can cascade through ecosystems. In the Bay, for example, excess nutrients have resulted in poor water quality and the loss of grass beds. That in turn, has meant less food for canvasback ducks which — instead of grasses — are now eating less-nutritious clams.
Other exhibits feature endangered species. Their display cases are slightly clouded, symbolizing both the uncertain fate of the species, and the sometimes difficult task of finding the creatures in the wild. The displays of the Delmarva fox squirrel, black-footed ferret, piping plover and others tell of each species’ status, threats to its survival and factors that may help with its recovery.
More detailed dioramas follow a year in the life of a half dozen species, showing not only the life cycle of California sea otters, whooping cranes, gray wolves and others, but also how researchers have gained insights about each.
A spectacular kaleidoscopic movie at the end of the exhibits is not to be missed. It leaves visitors with a message: “Now it’s up to each of us to choose a future for our planet.”
It’s a reminder that science can go only so far in protecting wildlife and the environment. Much of the future rests in the hands of individuals. Come back in a few hundred years and the refuge may be filled with old growth forest. But what will the surrounding area look like?
In the present, visitors to the center can use spotting scopes and binoculars to look for birds and other wildlife around a small lake and the surrounding landscape.
On the far side of the water is a tall “hacking tower” where researchers are releasing young osprey, hoping to establish a population. Ironically, although DDT research at the center helped to save the osprey in the region (The Chesapeake now has the world’s largest osprey population.) none have yet to return to nest at the refuge.
Electric-powered trams carry visitors into the woods for narrated tours along narrow, winding, sometimes bumpy gravel roads. Along the tour, they learn about ongoing research at the refuge that deals with everything from habitats to restoration efforts for the American chestnut, to impacts of deer browsing.
The tour also passes the wastewater treatment plant system for the center, where the water goes through a series of wetlands and ponds which remove virtually all of the nutrients. “You can see the difference in nutrients just visually,” Baldacchino pointed out. Indeed, the first ponds are nearly covered with algae; later ones have almost none.
Visitors can also hike the center’s trails, which offer more opportunities to observe waterfowl and other wildlife around the lakes. On the day of our walk, the trail was filled with scores of tiny toads — many just a quarter-inch in diameter — which had recently hatched. This is perhaps a fitting observation, as some of the most recent research at the refuge has focused on amphibian populations and their role as indicators of ecosystem health.
For longer hikes, visit the refuge’s North Tract — the land acquired from Fort Meade — which contains about 20 miles of trails.
Years of military ownership helped to save the land from development. But it had its drawbacks, too. “This was a munitions testing area for many years,” Baldacchino said.
Before the area was opened to the public, a “surface sweep” was conducted to make sure no exposed shells remain on the land, although it’s possible some could be buried on the site.
In some cases, the old military facilities have been capitalized upon by the refuge: In the midst of the vast forest, a former artillery testing range has been surrounded by wildlife viewing sites from which visitors may see waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors and songbirds in the area’s wetlands. It’s just another of the many surprises that await visitors to the refuge.
29 Sites Added to Gateways Network
The National Park Service, recently added 29 sites to the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, which now includes almost 100 members. The network strives to create a broader commitment to Bay restoration and conservation efforts by highlighting various aspects of the Chesapeake’s natural, cultural and historical heritage. The new sites are:
- Annapolis & Anne Arundel County Information Center, Annapolis, MD
- Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, Prince Frederick, MD
- Captain Salem Avery House Museum, Shady Side, MD
- Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum, Prince Frederick, MD
- Chesapeake Exploration Center, Chester, MD
- Cross Island Trail, Centreville, MD
- Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Rock Hall, MD
- Flag Ponds Nature Park, Prince Frederick, MD
- King's Landing Park, Prince Frederick, MD
- Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge, Cape Charles, VA
- Elk Neck State Park, North East, MD
- Eastern Branch Elizabeth River Water Trail, Virginia Beach, VA
- Havre de Grace Decoy Museum, Havre de Grace, MD
- Historic London Town and Garden, Edgewater, MD
- Martinak State Park, Queen Anne, MD
- Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge, Woodbridge, VA
- Mathews Blueways Water Trail, Mathews, VA
- North Point State Park, Kingsville, MD
- Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, MD
- Raystown Branch Juniata River Water Trail, Bedford, PA
- Sailwinds Visitor Center, Cambridge, MD
- Sandy Point State Park, Annapolis, MD
- Schooner Sultana, Chestertown, MD
- Smallwood State Park, Marbury, MD
- Sotterley Plantation National Historic Landmark, Hollywood, MD
- Susquehanna Museum of Havre de Grace, Havre de Grace, MD
- Susquehanna River Trail (Sunbury to Harrisburg), Harrisburg. PA
- Tuckahoe State Park, Queen Anne, MD
- Wye Island Natural Resource Management Area, Queenstown, MD
Nominations for Gateways sites are reviewed on a monthly basis by the National Park Service and a working group established by the Chesapeake Bay Program.
Additional Gateways will be added in coming months.
For information about the network, including all of the Gateways sites or how to participate, visit its web site at http://www.baygateways.net
