Blackwater NWR Cambridge Maryland

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

         Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge                             Cambridge, Maryland 

View from the wildlife drive after a storm.
Location	Dorchester County, Maryland, USA
Nearest city	Cambridge, Maryland
Coordinates	38°24′50″N 76°05′50″W / 38.413921°N 76.097231°W / 38.413921; -76.097231Coordinates: 38°24′50″N 76°05′50″W / 38.413921°N 76.097231°W / 38.413921; -76.097231
Area	27,000 acres (110 km2)
Established	1933 (1933)
Official website

view of Blackwater NWR near the observation platform off the wildlife drive

Satellite image of the refuge

The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the critical migration highway called the Atlantic Flyway. The Refuge is located on Maryland's Eastern Shore, just 12 miles south of Cambridge, Maryland in Dorchester County, and consists of over 27,000 acres (110 km²) of freshwater impoundments, brackish tidal wetlands, open fields, and mixed evergreen and deciduous forests. Blackwater NWR is one of over 540 units in the National Wildlife Refuge System, which is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Blackwater Refuge is fed by the Blackwater River and the Little Blackwater River. The name "blackwater" comes from the tea-colored waters of the local rivers, which are darkened by the tannin that is picked up as the water drains through peat soil in the marshes.

Wildlife

In addition to a wealth of wetlands and forests, Blackwater Refuge is also host to over 250 bird species, 35 species of reptiles and amphibians, 165 species of threatened and endangered plants, and numerous mammals that can be spotted throughout the year in Blackwater's marshes, forests, meadows, and fields. During winter migration, Blackwater Refuge is also home to upwards of 35,000 geese and 15,000 ducks. The Refuge is currently host to three recovering species: the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel, the delisted migrant peregrine falcon, and the recently delisted American bald eagle.

Mammals

Blackwater Refuge is home to a variety of mammals, which until recently included the South American Nutria. Introduced to the refuge in the 1930s, intensive trapping efforts starting in 2002 helped nearly eliminate the animal from the area. Among the mammals is also the Delmarva fox squirrel, considered an endangered species. Blackwater forest management programs are working to protect this squirrel.^[1]