New Refuge Visitor Complex for Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

With your help, a new visitor complex for people of all ages at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge can be ready* for your use and enjoyment by the spring of 2003: The 100th anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge system!
(*Pending funding appropriations by the Congress)

The new Visitor Complex, to be constructed adhering to the principles of sustainable design, will be located where the present Refuge Headquarters stands. The building will support three primary functions: One, public education and interpretation; two, environmental education; and three, Refuge administration.

It will feature three exhibit halls, a wildlife viewing area, a 150-seat auditorium, classrooms with a wet lab, and a resource room for education.

The exhibit halls, which feature information about the Refuge's past, present, and future, will educate visitors about how wildlife and their habitats are protected and managed for present and future generations of Americans.

From their discovery in 1524, the barrier islands of Chincoteague and Assateague have left a trail rich in both folklore and fact. The Visitor Complex will invite you to marvel at the past, share the experience of the present, and participate in seeing the future.

Theme: Timepieces; Opening the Doors to Our Past, Unlocking the Keys to Our Future.

Primary Exhibit: "Old Chincoteaguer" - animated mannequin in a hunt setting; collections of decoys, weapons, tools; and a pro-conservation message.

Secondary Exhibits: Native Americans' use of Assateague; the Famous Chincoteague Ponies, Island history; early exploration; the Lighthouse; barrier island dynamics; the advent of the National Refuge System; nearby National Wildlife Refuges

Theme: Making Room: Flyways, Byways, and Highways; unfolding the landscape.

Primary Exhibit: Multiple-screen audio/visual introduction to the management of the Chincoteague Refuge.

Secondary Exhibits: Managing for biodiversity; maritime forest management; a fresh-water aquarium. Refuge pony management; and Refuge employees at work.

Theme: The Road Most Traveled; bridging the gap between Sustainable Wildlife and the public's growing demand for recreation.

Primary Exhibit: Four holographic screens allow visitors to choose a specific refuge habitat at a specific time of year; visitors will learn about the challenges refuge staff face in meeting the public's demand for wildlife-dependent education and recreation, while keeping the need to sustain healthy wildlife and plant population foremost.

Secondary Exhibits: Building Smooth Avenues of Cooperation; Link to the Modern World; Managing Wildlife in Hi-tech; and Turning Point - from education to advocacy.

If you are a frequent visitor to the Refuge, you understand the need for a new, modern visitor facility. The small visitor contact station was built in 1974, and simply cannot accommodate the current education and interpretive demands of the public. The more than 1.5 million annual visitors are sophisticated, well educated people who come from all 50 states and many foreign countries expecting a unique educational and interpretive involvement with wildlife. The new Visitor Complex will be able to supply this experience.

1. Lobby, Related Functions, Temporary Exhibits

2. Exhibit Halls; Admin./Staff (2nd flr)

3. Auditorium; environmental education (2nd flr)

4. Wildlife viewing room

5. Deck

6. Entrance court

7. Information kiosk

Make plans now to begin the 21st Century by offering your support today for the proposed new Visitor Complex at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. For more information about how you can assist with the quest for a new Visitor Complex, call or write

Mr. Stewart Baker, Chairman
The Committee to Support
the New Refuge Visitor Complex
Chincoteague Municipal Center
6150 Community Dr.
Chincoteague Island, VA 23336

The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge includes over 14,000 acres of beach-dune-marsh-forest system located primarily on the Virginia portion of Assateague island, a barrier island along the Maryland and Virginia coast. It also includes all or parts of the Virginia barrier islands of Assawoman, Metompkin, and Cedar.

The Refuge was established in 1943 as an inviolate sanctuary for migratory birds. Since that time objectives have been expanded to protect and manage threatened and endangered species, conserve native flora and fauna, and to provide wildlife-dependent recreation and education. It is recognized nationally as a birding hot spot; more than 300 species of birds are known to occur on the Refuge. The Refuge also supports breeding populations of the endangered Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel and threatened Piping Plover.

You may be surprised to learn that the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge lies within one workday's trip for more than 37 million Americans living in Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, MD; Philadelphia, PA; New York City; Norfolk, VA; and Dover, DE.

The Refuge offers unlimited opportunities for students of all ages to learn about wildlife, plants, and habitats. All visitors can participate in observation, fishing, clamming, bicycling, hiking, and wildlife photography. The Refuge, in cooperation with the National Park Service Assateague Island National Seashore, oversees the public beach on Assateague Island.

The proposed new Visitor Complex is endorsed by the following:
The Town of Chincoteague, Inc.	The Eastern Shore of Virginia Tourism Commission
The Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce	Eastern Shore of Virginia Chamber of Commerce
The Nature Conservancy - Virginia Coast Reserve	Accomack County Board of Supervisors
Chincoteague Natural History Association	Assateague Coastal Trust