Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge Overview

A great egret (Refuge Reporter)

Directions

From south on US-13, turn left on VA-600 at the refuge sign just before the toll plaza for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. If coming north on the toll facility, turn right on VA-600 just after passing through the toll plaza.

The visitor center is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. during January and February. All other months, the center is open every day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, contact Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR, 5003 Hallett Circle, Cape Charles, VA 23310, phone: 757-331-2760.

Much of the refuge had been Fort John Custiss during World War II, a heavily fortified installation to protect naval bases on the Chesapeake Bay. The refuge trail system includes a branch to the top of a remaining bunker that housed a 16-inch gun never used in combat but capable of hurling munitions some 20 miles out to sea. After the war, the army post became Cape Charles Air Force Base, which was closed in 1981. Farming and fishing predated the military presence. Until the Migratory Bird Act of 1918 forced market hunters underground, there was open season on the hunting and egg gathering of waterfowl and shorebirds in the area. Commercial gunners would kill 500,000 ducks in a lifetime. One gunner was reported to have killed 858 ducks in a day.

With the military land declared surplus and awareness of large-scale recreational development in the works, a refuge to ultimately contain 1,350 acres was established as Cape Charles NWR in 1984, with a 180-acre land transfer from the Air Force. Later, after prepurchases by The Nature Conservancy, the refuge obtained another 369 acres and the 108-acre Skidmore Island, an offshore barrier island. More recent acquisitions included a newly reforested farm field being managed for songbirds and wintering woodcocks, and a 2.5-mile abandoned railroad right-of-way that provides a wooded corridor for songbird movements. They were conveyed to the refuge to mitigate for space that was provided for a new twin crossing of US-13 at Fisherman Island NWR. The change to the current refuge name occurred in 1985.

Major capital investment was made, however, in the refuge visitor center, which was completed in 1996. Designed to attract the millions of travelers on the adjacent major highway, the center is equipped with three-dimensional and other exhibits that explain the four principal habitats of the Delmarva Peninsula and their ecological significance—the barrier islands, estuaries, uplands, and the Chesapeake Bay. Public-use specialist Jim Kenyon says that because the refuge has limited public-use capacity, visitors to the center are also made aware of other wildlife viewing sites on the Delmarva Peninsula, including nearby Kiptopeke State Park and Chincoteague NWR.

Refuge manager Sue Rice would like to see more coastal zone habitat purchased from willing sellers and added to the refuge before it becomes built up like Cape May, New Jersey, another peninsula tip that is both a vacation resort area and internationally known birding spot. Rice also hopes an agreement can be reached to purchase the 249-acre parcel and to manage a smaller county-owned tract, both of which lie within the currently approved refuge boundary and share the peninsula tip with the refuge.

Wood points out that another benefit of a larger refuge would be more areas open for public access. Nevertheless, refuge visitors are currently greeted with an unusually informative visitor center, accessible viewing blind, and one-mile interpretive trail system. The trails offer excellent birding opportunities and provide representative examples of the range of habitats on the refuge, as well as glimpses into its interesting military past.

Despite the size of Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR, it is no less important to the wildlife conservation and management mission of the National Wildlife Refuge system than a refuge that is many times larger. Because of its strategic location, the refuge is an essential link in the chain of refuges along the eastern seaboard.