Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Seeks to Add More Land

Local residents who like to get outdoors might have noticed more space in town recently.

If you go to the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, you can see that 27 acres have been added to the southwest corner of the federally protected area.

And according to refuge officials, that's a good thing for everyone involved. The refuge contains more than 240 bird species, and is also home to the state-endangered bog turtle. The extra space will give those animals that much more land where development is restricted.

With more land for animals to roam free, Great Swamp Refuge Manager Bill Koch said, the more likely it is that they will be better protected.

"Wildlife knows no boundaries, and even though we have our signs up and we will protect what is on the refuge, when these critters move off the refuge they're more vulnerable," Koch said.

The refuge was first created in 1960 as part of an effort to prevent a large jet port from being built on the site. When it was formed, its wildlife became federally protected, and since then, its administrators have added land parcels to the refuge piece by piece.

The refuge identifies parcels it wants to add to its arsenal in a variety of ways. It often can happen by word of mouth. Organizations that the refuge works with, such as the Great Swamp Wildlife Association or the local open space committees, can often mention such properties to the refuge. In short, the refuge does not always operate as an independent entity.

"Sometimes we just drive by a property and you see a for-sale sign and then you make a call," Koch said.

The refuge is also generally not allowed to add properties outside a particular geographically defined boundary that surrounds the refuge. But it will likely continue to add more and more properties in the coming years.

Its officials prioritize the properties it can afford—it does not simply take any property that comes its way. It decides which properties it most wants in part based on their cost, but it also does so based on what the property will add to the refuge and how well it will protect its wildlife species.

In August, the refuge purchased a six acre piece of land, and acquired a 10 acre parcel last year.

But the refuge's interest in the 27 acre parcel was dormant for some time.

In this instance, the Trust for Public Land, a non-profit organization that works to conserve land nationwide, was in touch with the Swamp Road Trust—then the parcel's owner—in an effort to see if it could buy the land. But there was no significant movement at first.

"There wasn't much happening for a while on it," Koch said. "And then a realtor walked in the door a couple of years ago."

The realtor posted information on the property on the refuge's bulletin board. That move got the Trust more involved and eventually led to the $700,000 sale, which was paid for with funds from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Now, Koch said, refuge officials are pursuing an 18 acre piece of land.

But the land additions don't just happen for the animals' sake. Extra land also enhances the public's experience at the refuge. All the refuge's land is public, and if more of it becomes available, people have more and more opportunities to hike and watch birds in the area. Koch said the refuge's maps will soon feature the new refuge layout.

A cabin on the 27-acre parcel the refuge just acquired could also be used for staff housing in the future, though Koch said refuge officials would have been interested in acquiring the property regardless of the cabin's status.