Regarding the discussion about foot traffic along the Wildlife Drive, we would like to thank all of you for voicing your concerns and suggestions, particularly John Van Niel and others who contacted the Refuge directly. We feel honored to work at a place where so many of you reconnect with nature and where we can all find a sense of calm and solace in our hectic lives. Please know that you are always welcome to contact the Refuge with questions, concerns, or suggestions. Also, we have a number of public programs as well as volunteer opportunities for people to get involved and get “behind the scenes.” Volunteers help with just about every aspect of refuge management from environmental education and interpretation to heavy equipment operation to wildlife monitoring and habitat restoration.
Some background information about the National Wildlife Refuge System and the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge may be helpful to understand the Refuge’s policies. The mission of the Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the U.S. for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. The Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, specifically, was established as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. Montezuma NWR also has acquired lands under the authority of the Migratory Bird Conservation Act for use as an inviolate sanctuary, or for any other management purpose, for migratory birds. The overarching goal of the National Wildlife Refuge System’s wildlife-dependent recreation policy is to enhance wildlife-dependent recreation opportunities, and to provide access to quality visitor experiences, while managing refuges to conserve fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats. The Refuge Improvement Act designated six priority public uses on national wildlife refuges. These are: hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife photography, environmental education, and interpretation. Currently all six priority public uses are supported to some degree on the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge. Wildlife observation and wildlife photography are two closely related priority wildlife-dependent uses of the Refuge System and currently draw most of the visitors here at Montezuma NWR. In addition to the 3.5-mile Wildlife Drive, the Refuge currently provides nearly 4 miles of walking trails, a photography blind, a floating boat dock, observation towers and overlook areas. The Refuge manages these activities to ensure that visitors have opportunities to observe wildlife in ways that do not disrupt wildlife or damage wildlife habitat and to minimize conflicts between users. Currently, the Wildlife Drive is open from spring through November 30 only to vehicular travel. People are not allowed out of their vehicles except at designated viewing areas. We are in the process of replacing signs for the entrance road and Wildlife Drive to clarify this policy. Visitor Center volunteers are trained to tell people to stay in their cars along the Wildlife Drive. We also occasionally have volunteer Roving Naturalists along the Wildlife Drive who point out wildlife, talk to people about what to watch for along the Drive, and explain why people should stay in their vehicles. Please contact the Refuge if you are interested in helping with this. As a result of an apparent increasing trend in people exiting their vehicles along the Wildlife Drive, staff will make a more concerted effort to inform visitors that they need to stay in their vehicles on the Drive. Montezuma NWR also has the intermittent presence of Refuge Law Enforcement officers who serve several National Wildlife Refuges, covering a wide geographic zone, who enforce our Wildlife Drive policy. We are in the process of increasing public use opportunities including for wildlife observation and photography. For example, as many of you know we have recently (in 2013) implemented a program to provide opportunities for guided shorebird viewing at Knox-Marsellus and Puddler Marshes from areas that are normally closed to the public. This is a good example of a program that balances public access with minimizing disturbance to wildlife as the programs are not offered during the waterfowl migration when these species would be flushed from the marsh. As per our recently approved comprehensive conservation plan (CCP, available at http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Montezuma/what_we_do/finalccp.html), if and when funding allows, we also plan to open the Wildlife Drive or portions of the Drive from June 1 to mid-August to bicycle travel and pedestrians, which will allow a larger audience to experience the Refuge. The decision to open the Wildlife Drive to pedestrians and bicycle travel will be made annually based upon wildlife use, nesting/breeding activity, and the amount of vegetative growth for wildlife to seek adequate cover. Per our CCP, opportunities for wildlife observation and photography will be increased through the addition of an observation tower, discovery areas, photography blinds, pulloffs, etc. as funding allows. Many of these improvements will increase viewing from the edges of habitats to minimize disturbance. We are also working to better orient, inform, and guide the visiting public, and help create a more fulfilling wildlife observation and photography experience through a variety of means, including additional roving naturalists, trailheads, updated orientation information, etc. Please feel free to contact the Refuge with any questions about the current policy. Sincerely, The Staff at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge 3395 US Route 20 East Seneca Falls, NY 13148-9423 Phone: 315-568-5987 Fax: 315-568-8835 -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
