S. Ind. refuge seeks money to buy ex-mine property

OAKLAND CITY, Ind.  — Managers of a southwestern Indiana wildlife refuge are hoping for enough federal funding to buy a large piece of reclaimed mine land that supporters say is key to completing the site.

The Patoka National Wildlife Refuge received $500,000 through an earmark included in a 2009 federal budget bill. It is tentatively slated to get $1.15 million in the 2010 budget being hashed out by Congress, the Evansville Courier & Press reported.

Refuge Manager Bill McCoy says almost every dollar will be needed to buy the 1,150-acre piece of land, which is currently owned by Peabody Coal. Peabody committed to sell the land to the refuge in 2005, but McCoy said the company won't be able to resist offers from developers forever.

"If we don't buy it, what will happen to it?" McCoy said. "This is important for the long-term protection of refuge habitat."

The land ties two other areas together, he said, and is contiguous with three miles of existing Patoka boundaries.

The Patoka National Wildlife Refuge, created in 1994, was authorized to acquire up to 22,472 acres of wetlands and wildlife habitat along the Patoka River in Gibson and Pike counties about 30 miles north of Evansville.

The refuge can buy only from willing sellers, but it has had a bigger problem finding money in recent years than willing sellers.

This spring marked the first time the refuge received federal funding since 2005. U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., helped shepherd the earmark for the refuge.

Ellsworth has visited the wildlife refuge, spokeswoman Liz Farrar said.

"Obviously, Patoka has a core group of supporters, and they have been in touch with him ever since he took office," she said.

Patoka was included in President Barack Obama's proposed 2010 budget — a sign McCoy hopes is indicative of a renewed interest in conservation funding.

For now, though, the refuge is keeping interested sellers on the wait list.

"We have far more land than we have money to buy," McCoy said.