08/01/07 - Environmental Education and Recreation Area Open to Public

The refuge now has an Environmental Education and Recreation Area on Highway 408 west of Benton, Kentucky.  The area includes a five-acre, handicap accessible fishing pond with a paved perimeter trail and parking area.  Approximately 4,000 three- to four-inch bluegill sunfish, 1,500 six- to eight-inch channel catfish, and 1,000 two- to three-inch largemouth bass were stocked in October 2006.  The fishing pond is limited to day use and there will be no fee.

The Environmental Education and Recreation Area also includes over two miles of hiking trails that wind around the pond, along an abandoned railroad grade, past a bottomland hardwood forest restoration site, past managed wetlands, and through a sunflower field and native grasslands.  Each of these sites will attract different types of wildlife as they mature.  Bluebird boxes and wood duck boxes will help attract these colorful birds.  The area will showcase refuge management techniques and provide a convenient place to enjoy the outdoors.  Additional improvements are planned.

The project was made possible by a partnership between Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge, the Friends of Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge, Terry Land Development, the City of Benton, the Marshall County Fiscal Court, the Marshall County Health Department, the Marshall County Conservation District, the Jackson Purchase Resource Conservation and Development Foundation, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service.  For more information contact the refuge office at 270-527-5770.