By By JURGEN BOEREMA
news@wdnweb.com
Contributing Writer
A complex initiative to restore wetlands remains under way at Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge.
Deborah Pierce, refuge manager for Mattamuskeet, Swan Quarter and Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuges, said several organizations are involved with restoring a unique part of nature.
Pierce commented on the details of five marsh impoundments that are part of the initiative.
Funding for the projects was provided by Ducks Unlimited, U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service, North American Wetlands Conservation Council through a federal NAWCA grant and the North Carolina attorney general’s office through its Environmental Enhancement Grant program. The EEG program funding comes from Smithfield Foods/Murphy-Brown LLC, which transfers it per an existing agreement to the attorney general’s office.
Pumps and structures were replaced at four of the marsh impoundments. Replacing the pumps allowed the refuge to better manage water levels and restore 746 acres of impounded marsh. This action took place in December 2006.
“Marsh Impoundment Nine” consisted of a pump replacement to facilitate water management and thereby facilitate restoration of water-management capabilities to 272 acres. This action took place in December 2007.
Pierce said the scope of the work at the refuge is much larger.
“In addition to the pump replacement projects, we are currently partnering with Ducks Unlimited to replace two more pump stations within our managed marsh habitats at our seventh marsh impoundment and our 11th marsh impoundment. When these projects are complete, all of our old pumps but one will have been replaced. We are currently seeking funding to replace the last remaining pump at our tenth marsh impoundment,” according to Pierce.
Pierce is not sure whether the effort is working.
“I do not currently have a biologist on staff. We lost the biologist position due to budget cuts several years ago. Therefore, other than annual waterfowl census data, I do not have any current statistics or studies currently demonstrating the effectiveness of the pump-replacement projects,” according to Pierce.
The Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge consists of more than 50,000 acres of water, marsh, timber and crop lands.
The Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge is in the middle of the Atlantic Flyway and provides migration and wintering habitat for waterfowl and other migratory birds. Waterfowl numbers exceed 100,000 each winter and include snow geese, Canada geese, tundra swans and 22 species of ducks.