Help protect the refuge wildlife and their habitats by making a contribution to the Back Bay NWR Society. Support our advocacy, outreach, and education for the betterment of the Refuge.
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Society is the primary partner and Friends group of the the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Learn MoreGain new experiences and meet new people while helping to advance wildlife conservation. Preserve and protect habitat and wildlife.
Learn MoreThere are no dues required for Society membership. The Society depends on donations to fund programs and projects.
Learn MoreThe Nansemond Indian Nations Chief Emeritus, Lee Lockamy, has loaned an exhibit of artifacts to the wildlife refuge. This collection includes arrowheads of various ages, shells and tools such as mortars and pestles. The Nansemond Indian Nation’s ancestral lands included the area along the Nansemond River and extended east to the Atlantic Ocean. This area includes what is currently Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
The Nasemond, are the indigenous people of the Nansemond River, a 20-mile long tributary of the James River in Virginia. Our tribe was part of the Tsenacomoco (or Powhatan paramount chiefdom) which was a coalition of approximately 30 Algonquian Indian tribes distributed throughout the northern, southern, and western lands surrounding the Chesapeake Bay.
Our people lived in settlements on both sides of the Nansemond River where we fished (with the name “Nansemond” meaning “fishing point“), harvested oysters, hunted, and farmed in fertile soil.
Our tribe formally organized with elected officers in 1984 and later applied for and received Virginia state recognition in 1985. After more than 30 years of effort as the Nansemond Indian Tribal Association, our tribe (along with 5 other tribes from the original Powhatan paramount chiefdom) was granted federal recognition. In honor of this turning point we have returned to the name used by our ancestors—the Nansemond Indian Nation.
Refuge visitors upload photographs from their phones at four designated locations. Photographs contribute to scientific documentation of the refuge habitats. By automatically appearing in time-lapse videos that are available online.
LEARN MOREMonarch butterflies have suffered a drastic reduction in population in the last 30 years. Some estimates indicate a population decline of 90%. The most common reason cited for this dramatic decline is loss of habitat. Given the success of the pollinator garden and the fact that Back Bay is on the Monarch’s eastern migratory flyway, it was decided to put in a monarch specific garden at the Refuge.
Volunteers removed and pruned old vegetation, cultivated and amended soil, and filled beds with native plants supporting pollinators and wildlife Garden beds are maintained by volunteers throughout the year. Signage and visitor outreach is being planned
LEARN MOREThe 2.7 miles of the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Trail System consists of seven, interconnected trails that provide opportunities to observe the wildlife and vegetation of the refuge’s seven distinct habitats- ocean, beach, marsh, shrubs, grassland, maritime forest and freshwater bay. Trail surfaces vary from boardwalk, crushed stone, sand and gravel.
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