head turtles dragging themselves 

 ashore to deposit their eggs in the 

 sand. 



Over the years, Pea Island has 

 remained popular; people are nearly 

 always there, quietly watching birds. 



But people also are interested in 

 Alligator River — so interested that 

 a nonprofit support group formed 

 several years ago, in large part to 



$5.5 million, the center will cost 

 nearly 20 times the refuge's annual 

 budget. But volunteers and staff alike 

 say the refuge needs more ways to 

 teach people what is going on at Alli- 

 gator River — a key element in 

 maintaining public support for their 

 projects. 



Noffsinger acknowledges the 

 critical role public support plays; 



The land is one oj the last large pocosin tracts 

 in North Carolina. Aside jrom the Department 

 oj Dejenses Dare County bombing range, 

 the rejuge today covers an entire peninsula, 

 bordered by the Alligator River to the west, 

 the Albemarle Sound to the north 

 and the Pamlico Sound to the east. 



raise money to build a visitors' 

 center. The Fish and Wildlife Service 

 purchased land for the center on 

 Roanoke Island; the Coastal Wildlife 

 Refuge Society is raising money for 

 construction. 



The center would be used for 

 refuge offices and for teaching the 

 public about the work Fish and Wild- 

 life is doing there, with descriptions 

 of land management, a nature trail 

 and a live red wolf exhibit. 



People would view the wolves 

 through a one-way mirror — much 

 like those used in police lineups — 

 to protect the skittish canids from too 

 much human attention. 



At an estimated $4.5 million to 



opposition can quickly kill the best 

 of projects. And the importance of 

 such support will only increase, he 

 says. Noffsinger predicts future con- 

 flict about what people can and can- 

 not do on the refuge as human popu- 

 lations increase and wild areas grow 

 more scarce. 



"We like for people to be able to 

 use it," he says. "We want the sup- 

 port that comes with that. We want 

 people to be able to see what won- 

 derful things we're doing. 



"You allow them to participate 

 as much as possible, try to provide 

 the experience for them," Noffsinger 

 says. "But we're very cautious." 



6 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1 99 J 



