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Roanoke River
National Wildlife Refuge
P. O. Box 430
Windsor, North Carolina 27983 |
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Refuge Facts
- Established: 1989.
- Acres: 20,978.
- Located in Bertie County,
NC.
- Other management: conservation
easements-98 totaling 2,870 acres in 19 counties and two satellites
totaling 174 acres.
- Location: the refuge consists
of five different tracts of land along 70 miles of the Roanoke River
and two distant satellite tracts in other river basins. The Roanoke
River tracts are scattered from Hamilton, NC to the mouth of the river
or western Albemarle Sound. Headquarters are in Windsor, NC.
Natural History
- Refuge lands, on the Atlantic
Coastal Plain, are part of an extensive bottomland hardwood forest supported
by wehadkee and chewacla soils. The forests consist of mixed hardwood
flats and ridges, cypress/tupelo sloughs and black and brown water streams.
- Concentrations of wintering
waterfowl, nesting ducks, raptors, osprey and neo-tropical migrants
are common. The largest inland heron rookery in North Carolina is on
refuge.
- The endangered shortnose
sturgeon is found in refuge habitat of lower river reach.
- Bald eagles nest on adjacent
lands. River corridor is wintering area for bald eagles.
- Bottomland hardwood forest
9,500 acres, cypress/tupelo swamp 8,000 acres.
Financial Impact of Refuge
- Five-person staff.
- 5,000 visitors annually
- Current budget (FY 07) $470,700.
Refuge Objectives
- Provide habitat for migratory
waterfowl, neo-tropical migrants and other birds.
- Provide migrating, spawning
and nursery habitat for anadromous fish; i.e. blueback herring, alewife,
hickory shad and striped bass.
- Enhance and protect forested
wetlands consisting of bottomland hardwoods and swamps.
- To protect and manage for
endangered and threatened wildlife.
- Provide recreation and environmental
education for the public.
Partnerships
- North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission.
- North Carolina Department
of the Environment and Natural Resources.
- Partnership for The Sounds.
- The Nature Conservancy.
- Georgia-Pacific.
- VA/NC Power.
- National Marine Fisheries
Service.
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
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