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Improvements at Santee National Wildlife Refuge Continue to Enhance the Local Community

Santee National Wildlife Refuge will begin an improvement project to the Visitor Center parking area beginning on August 29, 2011. The improvements follow on the heels of the Visitor Center renovations project conducted in 2007/2008, which included a complete rehabilitation to the refuge’s Visitor Center/Headquarters facilities. The Visitor Center will remain open to the public during this time; Tuesday – Saturday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm. The building and parking area was first constructed in 1981 as the main contact area for visitors to the refuge and offices for Santee National Wildlife Refuge personnel. After 30 years, a much needed facelift has been accomplished in phases; first the rehabilitation of the visitor center and now the resurfacing/rehabilitation of the parking area. The refuge is proud to be able to accomplish this and many of the recent rehabilitation projects using local contractors to complete the jobs. “Supporting local businesses is important to our community and our staff” states Refuge Manager Marc Epstein. “The refuge supports the local economy not just through contracted work but also through the visitation attracted to the refuge because of the visitor opportunities here.”

The visitor center is located on the Bluff Unit of Santee National Wildlife Refuge, within one-mile of I-95. Visitors from across the United States and abroad come to the refuge to go bird watching, fishing, or to simply visit this peaceful area while taking a break from their travels. Although not always a final destination, many visitors express that it is now part of their routine to stop at the refuge as they are traveling up and down the eastern seaboard. This year the refuge reports 40,000 more visitors than was reported in 2001 with a total of 181,000 visitors; the visitation has doubled since 1994. Visitors come from as far away as Germany, England, and India, as well as from 42 of our country’ states; these visitors are not just using the refuge but also the local area businesses. Improvements to the refuge are significant to the facilities in this entire area, our community, and all of Santee Cooper Country.

Santee is also proud to announce an addition to the hiking trails at the Dingle Pond Unit of the refuge. During the summer of 2010, a 15 foot high observation tower was constructed along the current hiking trail at Dingle Pond to provide visitors a “tree-top” view of a Carolina Bay, a unique wetland that provides habitat for a diversity of plants and animals. The refuge also completed the first phase of an elevated boardwalk, which will increase the trail’s length by over a quarter mile. This addition will include over 500 feet of boardwalk through flooded cypress-tupelo swamp when completed. Other projects completed by local contractors this summer include 2 road projects and 3 waterfowl habitat projects. The habitat projects marked a significant improvement for waterfowl and wetland species of the refuge.

Santee National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1941 as a sanctuary for migratory birds. The refuge encompasses approximately 13,000 acres of habitat along the banks of Lake Marion in four separate units, and has approximately 39 miles of shoreline to maintain. The refuge visitor center as well as the Santee Indian Mound and site of Fort Watson are located on the Bluff Unit, 7 miles south of Summerton on Hwy 15/301.

The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.

For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.

National Wildlife Refuges…Where Wildlife Comes Naturally!
 

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