THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190404
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
The expansion of Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge could grind to a halt if Congress virtually eliminates money to buy land for conservation.
Local environmentalists argue that such an action would amount to wasting the $10 million already spent to buy 3,340 acres at Back Bay because the land acquired so far consists of scattered parcels. That means gaps surrounding the refuge could be developed.
``If you don't complete the job, the money invested thus far is going to be negated,'' said The Wilderness Society's Liz Boussard, coordinator of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Coalition.
The proposed House appropriations bill in Washington slashes Land and Water Conservation Fund expenditures for land purchases for national parks, forests and refuges.
In the past several years, Congress appropriated $250 million to $300 million a year from the fund. This year, the proposed budget is $51.5 million for emergency acquisitions.
The proposal also calls for freezing expenditures from the fund for five to seven years.
``I think balancing the budget is important,'' said Molly P. Brown, president of Friends of Back Bay, ``but if we don't promise the next generation clean air and clean water and a clean environment, then what have we really left them?''
Since 1990, Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge has received $7 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The refuge got another $3 million from the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, which is revenue from the sale of duck stamps and admission fees to refuges.
With these funds, the refuge has purchased half of the 6,340 acres targeted for expansion, with the goal of protecting fragile wetlands and wildlife habitat and preventing further degradation of the water quality in Back Bay.
Already, local conservationists are seeing results.
For the first time in more than 30 years, American bald eagles have nested on refuge property. A pair of eagles has given birth to four eaglets in a little over a year. The eagles nested in a stand of trees that had been slated for development but instead was purchased about two years ago as part of the expansion effort.
Additionally, subaquatic vegetation is growing once again in portions of Back Bay. The vegetation is critical to the health of the water because it is a nursery and feeding ground for wildlife.
The vegetation had disappeared over the years, presumably choked off by pollution from development.
``What we got was a good buffer to protect what's there,'' said Sue Carlyle, president of Southeastern Association for Virginia's Environment. ``I just wonder what other great benefits we could have if we could continue with the expansion.''
An additional 1,100 acres have been appraised, and the owners and refuge have agreed to a price.
Brown said the Migratory Bird fund would not be of much help now. That fund has a cap on what it will pay per acre, and most of the property left to buy is more expensive upland.
``These people are waiting for their money,'' Brown said. ``It's like a promise that's been broken. In five to seven years, this land may not be available anymore, and if it is, the price will be higher.''
Brown fears that the property owners will end up selling to someone else, perhaps a developer who wants to build homes or shops. She's particularly concerned about several parcels on the northern edge of the expansion area, close to the expanding Lago Mar subdivision.
``They're saying no more money to buy land, yet no one is out there saying no more environmental destruction,'' Brown said.
Conservation groups are lobbying congressional representatives to restore the money to the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
``In the long run it's cheaper,'' Carlyle said. ``It costs a lot more to remediate the land than if it's done right in the first place.''
The Land and Water Conservation Fund is financed primarily by royalties from the sale of oil and gas leases, but also from a tax on motorboat fuels. During the freeze on expenditures from the fund, the government would continue to collect the taxes that support the fund.
While the reductions are being been made in the name of balancing the budget, Boussard charges, ``This is one piece of the Republican agenda to divest the nation of its federal public lands.'' ILLUSTRATION: Map
STAFF
BACK BAY NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE EXPANSION
SOURCE: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
FILE COLOR PHOTOS
Conservationists are seeing results of removing land from potential
development. For the first time in more than 30 years, American bald
eagles are raising families on refuge property. Subaquatic
vegetation, critical to the health of Back Bay, is growing again in
some areas that presumably had been affected by nearby development.
by CNB