18 Things You Didn’t Know About Your Public Lands

Who would put an airport there and where did that 120-ton gun barrel end up?

The airport that wasn't

Ever fly into JFK and wish you could have landed in northern Jersey instead? Of course not, but that was almost the case in the early 1960s when the Port Authority of NY/NJ proposed a fourth jet field on what is now Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

I believe I can fly

The bald eagle was well on its way to extinction in 1969 when Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia was established as the first refuge specifically to support bald eagle recovery. Bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list in 2007 and continue to thrive on the refuge and across the northeast.

How much do you love fish?

James Weliver/USFWS

The Berkshire National Fish Hatchery in Massachusetts is the first and only national fish hatchery run by volunteers.

While we're at it...

Via Flickr: usfwsnortheast

Like fishing? The Allegheny National Fish Hatchery in Pennsylvania stocks around one million lake trout in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Fishing not your thing? 45 acres around the hatchery are open to the public to enjoy the grounds and get a tour.

California, Florida, Vermont. Wait, Vermont?!

Ken Sturm/USFWS / Via Flickr: usfwsnortheast

You’ve heard of the Everglades and San Francisco Bay. Want to visit them when you are in the northeast? Well, you can’t. But, you can visit one of ten national wildlife refuges, including Missisquoi in Vermont, that have something in common with their more famous counterparts. All are designated “Wetlands of International Importance” under the global Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Before it was a refuge for wildlife...

Keith Shannon/USFWS

Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia once served as a place of safety and a route to freedom for escaped slaves. Archaeologist and professor Daniel Sayers initiated a study in 2001 to uncover “maroon” communities in the swamp, which were established by some slaves who hid there. Historians estimate that between 2,000 and 50,000 maroons lived in the swamp, originally about 10 times larger than its current 190 square miles.

Like the Jack Black movie, except different

Gregory Breese/USFWS / Via Flickr: usfwsnortheast

The Delaware Bay is the second largest stopover location in the western hemisphere for northward bound shorebirds; only Copper River Delta on the Alaska coast hosts more birds. If you’re writing a “The Big Year” style bucket list, Cape May National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey is your stop!

The birthplace of a hero

Scott Schwenk/USFWS

The birthplace of Harriet Tubman was in and around an area that is now Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. The refuge’s historic landscape formed the life and experience of the American hero, who risked her life to help many slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad.

To everything there is a season tern, tern, tern

Tom Barnes/USFWS

Falkner Island of Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in Connecticut is home to the third-largest roseate tern colony in the northeastern U.S. The island is also the only regular nesting location for the federally endangered birds in Connecticut.

So that's where the big gun barrel went

Calling all WWII buffs, this is a must see! Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge is home to a 120-ton, 68-foot gun barrel that was on the USS Missouri when the Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945. Also…

Bunkers for a new battle

Via Flickr: usfwsnortheast

Many national wildlife refuges in the northeast were once military bases - Great Bay in New Hampshire, Assabet River in Massachusetts and Aroostook in Maine are among those that have old military bunkers on their grounds. In 2013, Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge experimented with using former cold war bunkers as safe artificial bat hibernacula to combat white-nose syndrome.

If you clean it, they will come

Stantec Consulting

Some of the pristine lands available for you to enjoy weren’t always so, well, pristine. Contaminated sites sometimes get cleaned and restored for public use through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Program. Public access to Connecticut’s Housatonic River has been restored thanks to NRDAR, as well as many other great places to enjoy across the country.

Hey farmer, farmer put away the DDT

Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland is the world’s first refuge for wildlife research. Work conducted at the refuge led to a ban on the pesticide DDT and a remarkable comeback for eagles, pelicans, ospreys, and other birds.

Here fishy fishy

Via Flickr: usfwsnortheast

Want to get out into nature but still have the comfort of a nearby parking lot? Just about every hatchery has a fishing derby, and the grounds are always available for folks to come take a walk, enjoy a picnic or get a tour.

Lions and tigers and rhinos...Oh my!

Our law enforcement officers work to protect wildlife and visitors on our public lands. They also play an instrumental role in the international protection of rare and endangered animals. Wildlife inspectors at U.S. ports of entry monitor shipments to make sure animals and wildlife products, like ivory and poached animal hides, aren't imported illegally.

Phillies and Flyers and Eagles...Oh my!

John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum is the nation’s first urban refuge. Need to escape the hustle and bustle of the “City of Brotherly Love”? This refuge is in city limits and was recently named Philly’s best overlooked park.

That's a lot of mussel

Public lands include water too, right? After chemical spills in the Powell and Clinch river watersheds in Virginia and Tennessee nearly decimated native freshwater mussels, populations are being restored with the largest number of captive-reared mussels in the northeast. Don’t go boiling that wine broth yet – these mussels are vital to the health of the waterways.

A magical experience

Wanna feel like Harry Potter for a day (and from a distance)? Refuges from Maine to Virginia are often visited by snowy owls in the winter months. Head out for a visit and find your own Hedwig (pictures only please, any attempt to capture them would violate the Muggle Migratory Bird Treaty Act)