Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

The Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks on the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula in Hyde, Tyrrell, and Washington Counties, North Carolina. Its headquarters is located in Columbia.

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Looking down on part of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
Map showing the location of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Map showing the location of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Map of the United States
Map showing the location of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Map showing the location of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (North Carolina)
LocationHyde, Tyrrell, Washington counties, North Carolina, United States
Nearest cityCreswell, North Carolina
Coordinates35°45′03″N 76°30′37″W
Area110,106 acres (445.58 km2)
Established1963
Governing bodyU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
WebsitePocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Pocosin Lakes NWR was established in 1990. Originally, the 12,000-acre (49 km2) southwestern portion of the refuge, now known as the Pungo Unit, was established in 1963 as the Pungo National Wildlife Refuge, but was merged in 1990 with Pocosin Lakes. The National Wildlife Refuge is 110,106 acres (446 km2), and approximately 90,000 acres (364 km2) were donated. The refuge is named for the pocosin peat wetlands that make up the majority of the protected habitat.

This refuge is home to indigenous animals such as the black bear, alligator, two species of fox, bobcat, raccoon, coyote, opossum, beaver, river otter, mink, and red wolf. It was the site chosen for the reintroduction of the endangered red wolf in 1987.[1] It is located along the Atlantic Flyway and is home to more than 200 species of birds. The Pungo Lake unit is a notable overwintering site for Tundra swans, snow geese, and many species of ducks, with about 100,000 waterfowl in residence between November and January.[2][3]

Ecology and Conservation

Nearly one-third of the refuge is currently undergoing hydrology restoration.[4]

Past Wildfires

Two notable wildfires have burned within the Pocosin Lakes NWR since its protection. In April 1985, the Allen Road Fire ignited in the refuge, burning nearly 100,000 acres over three weeks and requiring assistance from the Marines to extinguish the peat 'ground fires' it left in its wake.[5] On June 1, 2008, lightning struck the refuge and started a wildfire known as the Evans Road Fire that had, as of 17 September 2008, spread to about 40,704 acres (164.72 km2), and burned much of the same land before it was completely contained.[6] [7] The fire was declared out on January 9, 2009.[8]

History

Indigenous Occupants

Human presence in the Pocosin Lakes region likely dates back as many as 10,000 years. Though little systematic archaeological investigation of the Pocosin Lakes NWR has been undertaken, the adjacent Phelps Lake was found to contain more than 30 dugout canoes, some as many as 4,400 years old.[9] Indigenous people likely lived nearby, and accounts from early in the refuge's documented history mention the presence of various Native American artifacts on the shores of Pungo Lake.[10] The region was populated by tribes of Algonquian peoples up until the late Woodland period. The word "pocosin" itself comes from an Algonquian language via an uncertain etymology. While tribal organization and boundaries changed rapidly during the era of colonization, as conflict and disease inflicted high mortality rates on indigenous peoples, the Secotan and Machapunga tribes are both recorded in the area. The Machapunga people and Pungo Lake may share name roots; an 1888 account of a group of displaced "Mattamuskeet Indians" in Robeson County reports that they referred to Pungo Lake as Mattapungo.[11]

Colonization and Development

Following European colonization, the pocosin lakes were quickly modified and developed in an attempt to expand available crop land. In 1840, the state (via its agent "The Literary Board") began a decade-long attempt to drain Pungo Lake in what is now the Pocosin Lakes NWR. A 25-foot-wide canal was excavated by enslaved people, who worked knee-deep in water and were housed in "shanties" along the edges of the canals. Though efforts to drain the lake were eventually abandoned when little usable land was revealed, the canal construction did drop the lake's surface level by at least 5 feet, and the Pungo Lake Canal still extends from the lake to the Pungo River.[12]

Representation in Media and Art

References
  1. "Wildlife & Habitat - Pocosin Lakes - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service". www.fws.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  2. "Pocosin Lakes NWR: The Hidden Gem of the Inner Banks". N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  3. "Pungo - Pocosin Lakes". Audubon. 2016-09-12. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  4. "Pocosin Lakes Hydrology Restoration - Pocosin Lakes - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service". www.fws.gov. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  5. "Allen Road Fire Facts" (PDF). North Carolina Forest Service. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  6. "Wildfire smoke, odor reach Triangle". WRAL.com. Jun 12, 2008.
  7. "Wildfire contained, not out". WRAL.com. September 18, 2008.
  8. "Evans Road Fire on Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Officially Declared "Out"". Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. January 9, 2009.
  9. "Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge" (PDF). U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. May 1990. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  10. Refuge Leaflet. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. 1953.
  11. McMillan, Hamilton (1888). Sir Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony: An Historical Sketch of the Attempts of Sir Walter Raleigh to Establish a Colony in Virginia, with the Traditions of an Indian Tribe in North Carolina. Indicating the Fate of the Colony of Englishmen Left on Roanoke Island in 1587. Advance Presses. p. 19.
  12. Sawyer, Roy T. (2010-05-05). America's Wetland: An Environmental and Cultural History of Tidewater Virginia and North Carolina. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-2969-9.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

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