| Stimulus funds put to use at Reelfoot Lake |
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Posted: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 12:24 pm
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed repairs on an observation tower at Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge in Union City.
The Service spent $8,985 in funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, popularly known as stimulus funds, to restore the Long Point Observation Tower to benefit the public.
The tower is open to the public year-round. The tower repair is one of three stimulus projects at Reelfoot.
Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1941 to manage the northern third of Reelfoot Lake as a refuge for migratory birds. Additional lands acquired in southwestern Kentucky expanded the refuge to its current 10,428 acres. The proximity of the refuge to the Mississippi River has always made the area a major stopover and wintering ground for migratory waterfowl and bald eagles.
The Recovery Act provided $280 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which included $115 million for construction, repair and energy efficiency retrofit projects at Service facilities, and $165 million for habitat restoration, deferred maintenance and capital improvement projects. Projects help create local jobs in the communities where they are located and around the United States, while stimulating long-term employment and economic opportunities for the American public.
Recovery Act projects address long-standing priority needs identified by the Service through its capital planning process.
The agency worked through a rigorous merit-based process to identify and prioritize investments meeting the criteria put forth in the Recovery Act: namely, that a project addresses the Department’s highest priority mission needs; generates the largest number of jobs in the shortest period of time; and creates lasting value for the American public.
For a full list of funded projects nationwide, go to the Department’s Recovery web site at http://recovery.doi.gov/.
For a list of Service projects, click on the Service’s logo at the bottom of the page or visit http://recovery.doi.gov/press/bureaus/us-fish-and-wildlife-service.
The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on the recovery web site, which includes an interactive map that allows the public to track where and how the Department’s recovery dollars are being spent.
In addition, the public can submit questions, comments or concerns at recoveryact@fws.gov.
For more information: http://www.fws.gov/reelfoot/.
WCP 10.19.10
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