CAMBRIDGE, Md. – On Friday, Sept. 19, 2014, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Dan Ashe will join Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and local partners to visit the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and announce an important milestone in the ongoing recovery efforts for the Delmarva Peninsula fox squirrel.
The Delmarva Peninsula fox squirrel was listed as endangered in 1967 – one of the first species ever listed as part of the Endangered Species Act. At the time of its listing, the squirrel occupied only 10 percent of its historic range, which included just four counties in Maryland - Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot and Dorchester.
During the past 47 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state and local partners and private landowners, have taken a coordinated, collaborative approach to recover the species across the Delmarva Peninsula.
WHO:
Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Martin O'Malley, Maryland Governor
Ben Cardin, U.S. Senator, Maryland
Dan Ashe, Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Suzanne Baird, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Refuge Manager, Blackwater National Wildlife
WHAT:
Announcement to Highlight Conservation Success Story of the Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel
WHEN:
Friday, Sept. 19, 2014
10:45 a.m. – Check-In
11:00 a.m. – Announcement
WHERE:
Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
Environmental Education Center on Wildlife Drive
2145 Key Wallace Dr.
Cambridge, Md. 21613
RSVP:
Credentialed members of the media interested in covering the announcement are asked to RSVP HERE by Sept. 18, 2014, at 5:00 p.m. EDT
Source: Department of Interior
