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Merrimac Farm latest gain in conservation effort
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Francis Barger admires the 44-pound striper he caught in the Chesapeake Bay.
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Ken Perrotte's outdoors column
Date published: 2/14/2008
A300-ACRE FARM adjacent to Quantico Marine Corps Base is the latest property to join the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries' lineup of wildlife management areas.
The VDGIF recently acquired Merrimac Farm in Prince William County with support from the Prince William Conservation Alliance (PWCA), MCB Quantico, and the McDowell family, previous owners of the property.
Closing the $2.859 million deal required a creative pooling of resources. The PWCA obtained an $820,773 Virginia Land Conservation Foundation grant, the Department of the Navy contributed $1,429,750, and the VDGIF provided $608,997 from its capital funds. The military contribution came from a special account designed to help protect installations against encroachment by incompatible development.
Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources L. Preston Bryant, Jr. said of the acquisition: "Merrimac Farm is an excellent example of how partnering organizations can use the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation grants to protect important habitat. This project contributes to Gov. [Tim] Kaine's goal of conserving 400,000 acres by the time he leaves office. Achieving that goal will not only protect our land and water for wildlife but also improve the quality of life for all Virginians."
The farm includes a mix of wetlands, hardwood forest and upland meadows, and nearly one mile of frontage on Cedar Run Creek. The property previously had been managed as part of a shooting preserve.
Jerry Sims, VDGIF's regional biologist, said plans for the site include special managed hunts (with hunters likely selected by random drawing), fishing, wildlife viewing areas, and environmental education programs that can help demonstrate wildlife management in a rapidly urbanized setting.
"I think this could become a model for other public lands in Northern Virginia," Sims said.
Public access will be limited, with horseback and bicycle riding, use of all-terrain vehicles, dog walking and jogging prohibited. Sims said this will protect the habitat and minimize conflicts among designated users of the tract.
Merrimac Farm Wildlife Management Area is scheduled to open this spring. For more details on the tract, call the Fredericksburg regional office of the VDGIF at 540/899-4169.
SHOT Show
I somehow managed to disconnect myself earlier this month from the five-day Las Vegas whirlwind and outdoor gear playground that was the 2008 SHOT Show and force myself to return to Virginia.
Joining 58,000 mostly kindred souls, I trekked the convention center halls and the miles of displays featuring firearms, hunting and camping equipment, tactical military and law enforcement gear, and outdoor clothing.
My shoulder was a little sore the first two days of the show, courtesy of a failed attempt to try out darn near every new American (and some Italian and Swedish) firearm on the market. Invited outdoor media members could test shoot at three different desert range venues ringing Las Vegas.
Date published: 2/14/2008
Most recent reader comments:
1 comments have been posted.
It will be interesting to see what public acces to this new WMA will be allowed. Sim's statement "Public access will be limited, with horseback and bicycle riding, use of all-terrain vehicles, dog walking...." causes me to think that it will probably be closed and only the "picked" hunters will be allowed onto the property. If this area will be severly restricted to public use then it was not a wise acquisition. It then only serves to be a protection buffer for Quantico Marine Base under t' guise of WMA.
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Star Directory
Merrimac WMA seems like a "VA Private Club"
(posted by
WeimCity
, Feb. 14, 2008 8:02 am)
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