Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge has begun a program to remove deteriorating buildings while cutting maintenance costs by tens of thousands of dollars. Several old barns on the refuge may soon be a threat to public and employee safety. They are unsightly and present a poor image for the refuge. Two of these decaying structures have been removed over the past year by salvagers through competitive bidding. Through this program, bidders collect useful materials from the structures and are required to dispose of all unusable materials and solid waste. Virtually all of the buildings above the foundations are removed by the salvagers and agency costs for demolition are substantially decreased.

The two barns removed thus far have represented two projects totaling $126,000 in costs. However, the remaining cost to the federal government should now be reduced to about $25,000.

Currently, the refuge has five more barns to remove.

NORTHEAST REGION, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE -- Conserving the Nature of the Northeast