Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Looking down on part of Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
Map of the United States
Location	Hyde, Tyrrell, Washington counties, North Carolina, United States
Nearest city	Creswell, North Carolina
Coordinates	35°45′03″N 76°30′37″W / 35.75097°N 76.510162°W / 35.75097; -76.510162Coordinates: 35°45′03″N 76°30′37″W / 35.75097°N 76.510162°W / 35.75097; -76.510162
Area	110,106 acres (445.58 km2)
Established	1963
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	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 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] Areas that were previously ditched and drained in the refuge cannot support healthy wildlife habitat and are at extreme fire risk due to the dried peat soil. Restoration has been ongoing for more than 25 years, with a focus on restoring moisture, reducing mercury runoff into marine areas, conserving unique pocosin habitat, and preventing fires. These restoration efforts are highly controversial. To date there has been no acknowledgement by FWS of the damage done to downstream landowners. Farmers and other private landowners have had to deal more flooding as a result of the impounding of water. The modeling used to justify the restorative efforts is questionable.

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[]

• Composer Kenneth Frazelle wrote a piece called "“The Swans at Pungo Lake" for the North Carolina Symphony in 2006.

References[]

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

External links[]

• Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Home Page
• The short film Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (2005) is available for free download at the Internet Archive