The Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge is a

National Wildlife Refuge The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interi ...

located on

Wallops Island Wallops Island is a island in Accomack County, Virginia, part of the Virginia Barrier Islands that stretch along the eastern seaboard of the United States. It is just south of Chincoteague Island, a popular tourist destination. Wallops Isla ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

; the refuge was created on July 10, 1975, with the transfer of of land from the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States's civil space program, aeronautics research and space research. Established in 1958, it su ...

, and is administered by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

(FWS) along with

Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. It is primarily located on the Virginia half of Assateague Island with portions (only about ...

(FWS). Much of the property is

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

y, and there is also a sea-level

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

on the island.

History, geography, and management

The refuge is adjacent to the

Wallops Flight Facility Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and approximately north-northeast of Norfolk, VA, Norfolk. The facility is operated ...

of the

(NASA),About the Refuge: Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge
United States States Fish and Wildlife Service. and crowd have gathered along the beaches of the refuge to watch

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

s launch from the

spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport''—and even more so ''cosmodrome''—has traditionally referred to sites capable of ...

.Annys Shin
Virginia aims to claim the next Space Coast
''Washington Post'' (July 9, 2011). The NWR contains mostly

salt marsh A salt marsh, saltmarsh or salting, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. I ...

and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

,Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge, Accomack County, VA; Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement
75 Fed. Reg. 57056 (September 17, 2010). and also includes the "Lucky Boy" sea-level

, a rare geographic feature along the Atlantic coast.Wildlife & Habitat: Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge
United States States Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge hosts

northern harrier The northern harrier (''Circus hudsonius''), also known as the marsh hawk or ring-tailed hawk, is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost United States, USA. The northern ...

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

s, and

great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air") or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extreme ...

s, as well as various

migratory birds Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. The ...

. NASA and the FWS's predecessor entered into a "noninterference/nonexclusive use agreement" in 1971; under the agreement, the FWS managed, but did not own, approximately 3,000 acres of land and marshland on the Wallops Island. NASA transferred 373 acres to the ownership of the FWS in 1975, and the FWS continued to manage the remaining 3,000 acres of land under renewals of the 1971 agreement with NASA until around 2006, when the agreement was not renewed. NASA, the FWS, and the Marine Science Consortium entered into a new collaborative agreement in 2011. The refuge is not staffed by FWS personnel and is not actively managed, although the A&N Electric Cooperative (and previously

Delmarva Power Delmarva Power is an energy company that provides electricity and natural gas to customers on portions of the Delmarva Peninsula in the states of Delaware and Maryland. The company is a subsidiary of Exelon. Electricity and natural gas Delmarva P ...

) maintains their power line right-of-way by removing certain vegetation, such as non-native autumn olive trees.Resource Management: Wallops Island National Wildlife Refuge
United States States Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge is closed to the public with the exception of

deer hunting Deer hunting is hunting deer for meat and sport, and, formerly, for producing Buckskin (leather), buckskin hides, an activity which dates back tens of thousands of years. Venison, the name for deer meat, is a nutritious and natural food sourc ...

; hunts of

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

was authorized beginning in 2002 in an attempt to control local deer populations and prevent overbrowsing, reduce deer–vehicle collisions along Virginia State Route 175, and prevent deer collisions with aircraft at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

References

External links

Official website
from the United States States Fish and Wildlife Service {{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in Virginia Protected areas of Accomack County, Virginia Protected areas established in 1975 1975 establishments in Virginia Wetlands of Virginia Landforms of Accomack County, Virginia