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Refuges Are Critical to Recovery of Sea Turtles

by Stacy Shelton featuring Q&A by national sea turtle coordinator Sandy MacPherson.

A loggerhead hatchling seems to be waving at the camera as a USFWS employee works in the background

A rescued loggerhead hatchling says "hi!" to the camera. Photo by Keith Fuller for USFWS. Download.

National wildlife refuges are America’s promise to itself that there will always be places for wildlife in our midst.

Consider the critical importance of coastal refuges in the recovery of sea turtles. Roughly 30 percent of loggerhead sea turtle nests found in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina are laid on national wildlife refuges.

In Peninsular Florida, which has the greatest number of loggerhead sea turtle nests in the United States, about one-quarter are found on national wildlife refuges. Refuges in the Florida Panhandle and Alabama are also important nesting areas for loggerheads that are part of a small, but genetically different, population in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Thoughts on This Month's Refuge Week from Regional Director Cindy Dohner

A red wolf wearing a collar is turned looking at the camera

Cindy Dohner gets her goose on at Hobe Sound with Refuge Manager Bill Miller. See more of Cindy's photos.

There is no doubt that life in the 21st century is stressful. Information is coming at us from every direction; managing traffic requires a strategic plan complete with “windows of opportunity,” our family schedules are booked to the hilt with outside activities. At work, it’s not much better--we have so much to do that our lists need lists! The question before us every day is “work/life balance,” how to maintain our equilibrium in the midst of the pressures of modern life. I say one answer is that we “take Refuge.” Literally. And there’s no better time to do it than this month, during National Wildlife Refuge Week, October 14-20.

While the demands on our time are great, we in the Fish and Wildlife Service are blessed to work for an organization that manages the very places that can restore us in body, mind and spirit. I’ve been on the road visiting our southeastern National Wildlife Refuges in the past few weeks, as has Mark. I’ve been to Carolina Sandhills, Alligator River, Clark’s River, Pocosin Lakes, Hobe Sound, and the National Key Deer Refuge Complex, with fly-overs of Pea Island and Currituck NWRs; and Mark visited Savannah NWR and was at Tensas River NWR for a hunting and fishing festival and dedication. We both have been reminded once again that our Refuges are places that help remind us of why we do what we do. They put things in perspective, while also providing outdoor recreational pursuits that can satisfy every age group and every interest. You want to fish or hunt? There’s a Refuge for that. You want to take photos of wildlife? We’ve got you covered. (Take a look at a few of mine!) You want to do absolutely nothing but take in the great outdoors minus freeway exhaust fumes? There’s plenty of room to breathe at our Refuges, and at least one Refuge in every state in the Region and the nation.

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View Cindy's photos on Flickr...

Scottsboro Man Sentenced for Trafficking Protected Reptiles

October 12, 2012

BIRMINGHAM - A Scottsboro man was sentenced Tuesday for the illegal possession, transportation and sale of protected reptiles in violation of the Lacey Act, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Special Agent in Charge for the Southeast Region Luis J. Santiago.

Chief U.S. District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn sentenced DAVID LANGELLA, 43, to three years' probation for conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and violating the Lacey Act. The judge ordered that the first four months of probation be served in home confinement and that, during his probation, Langella could not collect reptiles or assist anyone else in collecting them. The investigation by federal and state authorities established that from 2006 through 2009, Langella traveled to Arizona to hunt and capture Arizona state-protected reptiles. According to the felony and misdemeanor charges filed in federal court, Langella conspired with others to violate the Lacey Act, as well as Arizona and Alabama state laws. Langella transported some of the illegally captured reptiles back to Scottsboro for his own collection and some were distributed to other individuals. In addition, Langella provided guiding services to others for the capture of Arizona protected reptiles.

A 'Clumper’s' View of Strategic Habitat Conservation

by Stacy Shelton

Chuck Hunter. Photo: Gary Peeples, USFWS.

Chuck Hunter has been clumping species and habitats together for at least two decades. It’s his way of seeing the world.

Now a division chief for the National Wildlife Refuge System in the Southeast Region, Hunter’s love of long lists and Excel spreadsheets to organize broadly defined habitats and their associated species began when he was a field biologist in Arizona.

“I started realizing you really need to focus on species that showed stress and strain when you work toward restoration,” Hunter said. “That challenged the notion that if you benefit habitats for some species, you harm others. One way you deal with that is to work in a larger area, across a landscape.”

After moving to Atlanta in 1989 to work in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species Program for the Southeast Region, he read the encyclopedia of Southeastern ecosystems, titled “Biodiversity of the Southeastern United States.” For Hunter, it was seminal literature. Published in three parts in 1993, the books spell out the specific functional processes of lowland terrestrial, upland terrestrial and aquatic communities, examining the plants and animals that dominate each community and how they interact.

Reward Offered for Investigation Assistance Relating to Red Wolf Death

September 19, 2012

An endangered red wolf. Photo: Ryan Nordsven, USFWS. Download.

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service is requesting assistance with an investigation involving the suspected illegal take of a radio-collared red wolf that was recently found dead in Tyrrell County, NC. The wolf was located on September 4, 2012, near Creswell, NC, in the western part of Tyrrell County. Anyone who has essential information that directly leads to an arrest, a criminal conviction, a civil penalty assessment, or forfeiture of property on the subject or subjects responsible for the suspected unlawful take of this red wolf may be eligible for a reward of up to $2,500. The red wolf is protected under The Endangered Species Act. The maximum criminal penalties for the unlawful taking of a red wolf are one year imprisonment and $100,000 fine per individual. Anyone with information on the death of this red wolf or any others, past or future, is urged to contact Special Agent Sandra Allred at (919) 856-4786, Refuge Officer Frank Simms at (252) 216-7504 or North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Officer Robert Wayne at (252) 216-8225.

Visit Your Southeastern National Wildlife Refuges: October 13-27, 2012

September 17, 2012

A palm warbler looks inquisitive as it sits perched on a branch

A palm warbler at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. Photo: Keenan Adams, USFWS.

Treat yourself with a visit to a national wildlife refuge during National Wildlife Refuge Week, from October 14-20. Celebrate America’s wildlife heritage, and see what refuges are doing to conserve it.

“National wildlife refuges play a crucial role in conserving America’s wildlife legacy,” says U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “Refuges also play important roles in human communities. By providing healthy habitats for wildlife, refuges improve the air we breathe and the water we drink, improve soil quality and give protection against flooding in flood-prone areas. Jobs and businesses in local communities rely on refuges – and the visitors they attract. Refuges offer glorious and protected places to hunt, fish, hike and share the outdoors with a new generation.”

Continue reading to view list of refuge events in the southeast...

Red Wolf Restoration Celebrates 25th Anniversary

September 14, 2012

Two USFWS employees stand next to a dogs cage while media surround them with cameras
Red wolves arrive at the airport in Manteo, North Carolina in the 1980s.

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the reintroduction of the red wolf. On this day in 1987, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service took a giant leap forward in endangered species conservation simply by opening the pen holding a male and female pair of red wolves. Today, about 100 red wolves roam their native habitats in five northeastern North Carolina counties.

The red wolf (Canis rufus) is one of the world’s most endangered wild canids. In 1980, the Service declared red wolves extinct in the wild. Once common throughout the southeastern United States, red wolf populations were decimated by the 1960s due to intensive predator control programs and loss of habitat. A remnant population of red wolves was found along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. After being declared an endangered species in 1967, efforts were initiated to locate and capture as many wild red wolves as possible. Of the 17 remaining wolves captured by biologists, 14 became the founders of a successful captive breeding program.

The first litter of red wolves born in captivity occurred in 1977. By 1987, enough red wolves were bred in captivity to begin a restoration program on Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern North Carolina. Since then, the experimental population area has expanded to include three national wildlife refuges, a Department of Defense bombing range, state-owned lands, and private property, spanning a total of 1.7 million acres.

In addition to the wild population, approximately 200 red wolves comprise the Species Survival Plan captive breeding program in sites across the United States, still an essential element of red wolf recovery. Interbreeding with the coyote (Canis latrans), a species not native to North Carolina, has been recognized as a significant and detrimental threat affecting restoration of red wolves in this section of their historical home range. Currently, adaptive management efforts are making good progress in reducing the threat of coyotes while building the wild red wolf population in northeastern North Carolina.

To learn more about red wolves and our efforts to recover them, please visit www.fws.gov/redwolf.

We'd love for you to become a part of our online community about red wolf recovery. Join the conversation: like Red Wolf Recovery on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Two Montgomery County North Carolina Dams Removed from the Little River Basin

September 13, 2012

A man with gray hear and a white beard stands in uniform in front of a forested background

Biologists search for mussels in Densons Creek, Montgomery County, North Carolina. Credit: Mark Cantrell/USFWS

Two trackhoe excavators pound away at the narrow concrete and rock wall of the decrepit Troy Reservoir Dam No. 1, which stretches across Montgomery County's Densons Creek, a tributary of the Little River. On a nearby bridge a small group gathers to watch their efforts to improve the health of this stream bear fruit.

"Removing this dam is an opportunity to help the town of Troy further enhance Densons Creek's natural aquatic community, in turn helping meet local economic and conservation goals," said U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist Laura Fogo, who has spearheaded the project. "The removal of Troy Reservoir Dam No. 1 is part of a larger, landscape-scale effort to restore the streams of the Little River watershed."

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