The entrance to the center

The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is a biological research center in Maryland. Foundations of modern biology There are five unifying principles It is one of only 17 research centers in the United States run by the U.S. Geological Survey. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States Geological Survey ( USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. This USGS research center is located on the 12,841 acre U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge, the only National Wildlife Refuge whose purpose it is to support wildlife research. National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for certain Protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. [1]

Mission

Since its establishment in 1936 as the first wildlife experiment station in the United States, the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center has been a leading international research institute for wildlife and applied environmental research, for transmitting research findings to those responsible for managing the United States's natural resources, and for providing technical assistance in implementing research findings so as to improve natural resource management. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified ( natural) form

Patuxent's scientists have been responsible for many important advances in natural resource conservation, especially in such areas as migratory birds, national monitoring programs for amphibians and birds, wildlife population analysis, waterfowl harvest, habitat management, wetlands, coastal zone and flood plain management, contaminants, endangered species, urban wildlife, ecosystem management, and management of national parks and national wildlife refuges. Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of Birds Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability See also UK Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust USA Ducks Unlimited A habitat (which is Latin for "it inhabits" is an Ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular Species. A wetland is an area of Land consisting of Soil that is Saturated with Moisture, such as a Swamp, Marsh, or Bog ||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||}A floodplain, or flood plain, is flat or nearly flat land adjacent to a Stream or River that experiences occasional or periodic Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability disorder harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants animals and other organisms An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( A national park is a reserve of land usually declared and owned by a national Government, protected from most Human development and pollution A wildlife refuge, also called a wildlife sanctuary, may be a naturally-occurring sanctuary such as an Island, that provides protection for Species from

The Center develops and manages national inventory and monitoring programs and is responsible for the North American Bird Banding Program and leadership of other national bird monitoring programs. Bird ringing (also known as bird Banding) is an aid to studying wild Birds by attaching a small individually numbered metal or plastic ring to their legs The Center's scientific and technical assistance publications, wildlife databases, and electronic media are used nationally and worldwide in managing biological resources.

The research center hosts a wide variety of wildlife. Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants animals and other organisms

The focus of the Center's mission and vision for the future is to continue its dynamic international, national, and regional leadership in wildlife research. The Center will enhance its accomplishments in generating, interpreting, evaluating, and transmitting the scientific information needed to better address the pressing problems of managing the United States's biological resources, especially those under the stewardship of the Department of the Interior, other Federal and non-Federal partners. The United States Department of the Interior ( DOI) is a Cabinet department of the United States government that manages and conserves most federally Today's challenges in natural resource management involve new approaches such as adaptive management, landscape and ecosystem scale management, partnerships among multiple stakeholders, and transfer and use of the huge store of existing information using modern technology. Adaptive management (AM also known as adaptive resource management (ARM is a structured iterative process of optimal Decision making in the face of

The Center is a Federal research facility directed by the United States government to conduct research necessary to fulfill Federal responsibilities, primarily those of the Department of the Interior. The U. S. Geological Survey Biological Resources Division, of which the Center is a part, works with others to provide the information needed to manage the United States's biological resources. Thus, scientific information needs of partner agencies strongly influence much of the Center's scientific agenda.

The Center also receives funds directly from agencies benefiting from our research and from other partner organizations, such as those co-located at its Laurel headquarters. Such support provides critical resources that enhance the scope and value of the Center's activities, within the mission of the Division.

Science conducted at the Center, like any scientific enterprise, ultimately, is driven by the pressing public natural resource needs coupled with the intellectual creativity and motivation of its scientists and technical staff. No research program will succeed unless it flows from the creative energies of its scientists. The research of Center scientists must be engaged at the cutting edge of scientific understanding to assure the long term success of natural resources management.

Note: much of this material was copied directly from the USGS web page on Patuxent, a public domain resource. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone Please edit to make more encyclopedic.

History

The land that now comprises the 12,841 acres of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center was mostly farmland from the colonial period through at least World War I. Well-known landholders such as the Snowden and Duvall families owned substantial amounts of land during the colonial period and well through the 19th century. The legacy of the Snowden family can still be found in two historic homes of the area, one of which (Snowden Hall) actually stands on Patuxent Refuge property. In addition to these dwellings, there still exists quite a few cemeteries whose headstones bear the inscriptions of both the Snowdens and Duvalls, in addition to lesser-known surnames such as the Woodwards, Donaldsons, and Waters families.

Almost all of the 8,100 acres that makes up what is now called the "North Tract" (the Patuxent River bisects the refuge into the North and Central/South Tracts) were transferred in 1991 from the Defense Department's Fort Meade landholdings. It is here that the history of Patuxent Refuge is most apparent to the everyday visitor. Prior to the Department of Defense's ownership of the land in 1917, many old roads that would eventually be incorporated into use for training exercises by the Army existed. Part of the DOD's Trainfire Road, now known as the Wildlife Loop, once linked the railroad town of Woodwardville with Laurel, Maryland. Long before the area became a densely-wooded haven for wildlife amidst a heavily-populated urban corridor, the old Duvall and Lemons Bridges transported people between Prince Georges and Anne Arundel Counties. The former still exists as a newer bridge rebuilt in the 1940s, whereas only cement posts along either side of the river offer any vestige of what was Lemon's Bridge. Perhaps the most historic old road of all, which utilized Duvall Bridge, was the old Telegraph Road. It once linked Baltimore and Washington, and today it is still possible to see century-old telegraph poles along the road in both the Central and South Tracts.

Fort Meade

Fort George G. Meade, an active Army base, is near the research center. Fort George G Meade, located adjacent to Odenton, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County, is an active U In October 1991, 7,600 acres were transferred from the base to the Patuxent National Research Refuge; in January 1993, another 500 were transferred, as part of Defense Appropriation Bills for 1991 and 1992, respectively. ^[1]

As part of the U.S. Defense Department's 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process, several additional activities are scheduled to move to Fort Meade around 2010. The United States Department of Defense ( DOD or DoD) is the federal department charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government Base Realignment and Closure (or BRAC) is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Fort George G Meade, located adjacent to Odenton, Maryland, in Anne Arundel County, is an active U These include the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), Adjudication and Office of Hearing and Appeals Offices, and several DoD media activities. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA formerly known as the Defense Communications Agency) is a combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense Several parcels of land have been made available for commercial lease.

A September 2007 environmental impact report described the expansion, and particularly the proposed two additional 18-hole golf courses, as a "significant threat to the biological and territorial integrity of the Patuxent Research Refuge, a unique national interest in the forefront of scientific research and protection. " In response, the Army said that it is taking steps to limit the environmental damage but that the golf courses are needed for "maintaining the quality of life for soldiers and their families. "^[2]

References

External links

• USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Website
• USFWS Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge