THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702150232
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 70 lines
While other parts of Virginia Beach were shortchanged in President Clinton's proposed budget for next fiscal year, Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge has emerged as a winner.
Clinton's budget for the Interior Department contains $2 million for land acquisition around Back Bay, one of the East Coast's premier migratory bird sanctuaries and refuge for several unique plant and animal species. Of the 500 federal preserves nationwide, Back Bay is one of only 24 to be included in the president's budget.
Supporters of Back Bay's land acquisition have had to lobby for funds every year since the program began in 1990. This is the first time the money has been put in a president's budget.
``It gives the project a lot of momentum,'' Molly Brown, president of the Friends of Back Bay, said Friday.
This year, instead of pleading for the funds, she'll merely have to justify keeping them in the budget. ``It's a nice position to be in for a change,'' she said.
The inclusion is a signal that a significant part of Virginia Beach's overall plan to curtail growth in its environmentally sensitive southeast corner will be completed. It fits in with the city's recently begun program to buy development rights offarm land in that region.
John P. Stasko, manager of the refuge, said the trend toward suburban-type housing in the region brings with it the desire for shopping centers, schools and parking.
Rapid runoff from such structures brings pollutants to the bay, clouding the water and preventing the growth of aquatic vegetation that is crucial to fish and waterfowl habitat, Stasko said.
``Once it's houses and pavement and so forth,'' he said, ``you can't turn back that clock.''
The refuge, begun in 1938, originally included 4,589 acres. But pressures from a growing city, including plans for high-density housing and tourist and shopping developments, caused concern for wildlife populations.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined in 1989 that an additional 6,340 acres should be bought. That acquisition began, focusing on parcels on the north and west of the large freshwater bay. So far, about 4,000 of those acres have been purchased.
There was considerable opposition at first from residents who thought there would be widespread condemnation of land, said Walter Priest, a marine biologist who studied the bay for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. But once people realized the program was ``strictly willing buyers, willing sellers,'' opposition faded.
Brown said the extra $2 million could almost complete the program, but added, ``Now, unfortunately, we're moving into the more expensive properties.''
Back Bay also received attention this week in Richmond as the General Assembly all but finished work on a bill by several Virginia Beach delegates to suggest solutions to the bay's environmental problems.
Del. Harry R. Purkey, a Republican and chief sponsor of the bill, is an avid hunter and fisherman who laments the loss of wildlife in recent years. ``We should have hundreds of thousands of birds in there,'' he said.
Although the bill has no funds for environmental programs, Purkey was optimistic about its ultimate agenda. ``Whatever the study indicates needs to be done will be done,'' he said.
Meanwhile, the Back Bay Restoration Foundation said it has begun a modest program to help farmers construct storm water retention dams. President Steve Vinson said the foundation would pay 75 percent of the cost of four structures on one farmer's land.
The dams are meant to slow the rush of storm water into the bay, holding it long enough for pollutants to settle. ILLUSTRATION: VP MAP