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Defenders in Action: Defenders Wins Battle to Protect Wildlife Refuge
Defenders of Wildlife and its allies celebrated a major victory this winter when the U.S. Navy abandoned its plans to build a landing field near Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, habitat for red wolves and tens of thousands of snow geese, tundra swans and ducks.
For five years the Navy has attempted to locate a fighter-jet practice landing field 3.5 miles from the refuge. The Navy's plans called for 31,000 landings and takeoffs each year at the field—an average of one every half hour. Defenders, other conservation groups and local residents fought the proposal, successfully arguing in a series of court cases that the Navy had violated federal environmental laws during the planning stages. "We are delighted that these plans will not go forward because such a round-the-clock barrage of noise and low-level holding patterns would have put both wildlife and pilots at risk," says Noah Matson, vice president for land conservation at Defenders of Wildlife. "The farms near the refuge that were in the Navy's proposed project are not just vital to the local economy but to the wildlife that makes eastern North Carolina so special. Case in point, red wolf pups were born at the end of the proposed runway last year." Pilots also would run the risk of a catastrophic collision with the large birds.
The Navy's plans also called for poisoning birds and prohibited farmers from growing corn, wheat and soybeans—staples of the local farming economy—on 25,000 acres of farmland surrounding the proposed landing field. These plans helped spark opposition by North Carolina politicians, including U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr. Congress has since denied funds for the Pocosin Lakes Refuge landing field site.
"Visitors to Pocosin come for the chance to glimpse endangered red wolves, black bears and tens of thousands of wintering ducks, geese and swans," adds Matson. "We are happy the Navy is no longer considering this site, because it is in everyone's best interest to keep it exactly what it is: A refuge for wildlife and those who love the outdoors."
