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In July of 2005 training took place at Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). It was attended by staff and volunteers from both Eastern Neck and Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. The technology will be used throughout the Chesapeake Marshlands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which is comprised of three refuges (Blackwater NWR, Eastern Neck NWR, Martin NWR) and four divisions (Barren Island, Watts Island, Bishops Head, and
Spring Island Divisions, together forming Susquehanna NWR).
The
Refuge Complex provides important habitat and protection
to support 12 globally rare and regionally significant migratory
birds; 56 of 57 Birds of Conservation Concern in the Mid-Atlantic
Coast; 54 of 135 National Birds of Conservation Concern; the
largest colonial and wading bird rookeries in the Chesapeake
Bay; the only large extant population of the endangered Delmarva
fox squirrel; the largest nesting population of bald eagles
north of Florida on the Atlantic Coast; 270 rare, and 13 Federal-listed
threatened and endangered species.
Each
unit has its own set of problems, including invasives species.
(One of the more publicized invasives-issues has been the
presence of nutria in and around Blackwater NWR. Nutria, a
South American aquatic fur-bearing mammal disrupt irrigation
and destroy native aquatic - fresh, brackish, and salt-water
- ecosystems. Fortunately, an intensive eradication program
at Blackwater NWR has been successful, but constant vigilance
will be necessary.)
In
the area of invasive plants, the complex has been confronting
a number of species, including common reed, wineberry, multiflora
rose, Japanese stilt-grass, Japanese honeysuckle, garlic mustard,
and autumn olive.
Although
the refuge staff regularly mows and judiciously sprays a number
of the known weed-locations, the plants do come back. The
participants from the Friends group and local volunteers have
trained and have now mapped a number of additional locations
and plant species, with an accumulated experience to make
future efforts even more successful.
Click
on any photo for a larger view.
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