Bald Eagle Refuge Opening 2003
Wednesday, June 25, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
** MEDIA ADVISORY **
Interior Secretary Norton and
National Zoo Director Spelman Join Dolly Parton at Opening
of the National Zoo's “Bald Eagle Refuge”
Exhibit
| Zoo Director Lucy Spelman with Dolly Parton celebrtating the official opening of the exhibit with a ribbon-cutting and ceremonial speeches. |
At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 2nd, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and National Zoo Director Lucy Spelman will join singer/actress Dolly Parton at the official opening of the “Bald Eagle Refuge,” the Zoo’s newest exhibit.
This exhibit is a partnership between the National Zoo and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as part of a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
The two bald eagles that will live at the Zoo were found injured in the wild, nursed back to health by wildlife rehabilitators, and have been cared for at the American Eagle Foundation, located at Dollywood in Tennessee.
| The Bald Eagle Refuge Exhibit press
opening in Beaver Valley at the Smithsonian's
National Zoo. Pictured above, from left to right: Syd Butler, Executive Director of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the Department of the Interior's Deputy Secretary for Administration, J. Steven Griles, Dolly Parton, Al Cecere of the American Eagle Foundation, Zoo Director Lucy Spelman, and Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams. |
In addition to this official opening of the Bald Eagle
Refuge exhibit, bald eagles will be celebrated at Bald
Eagle Day the National Zoo on July 4th, with a special
program of family activities from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
WHO
- Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior (Represented at the event by
- Lucy Spelman, Director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo
- Dolly Parton, singer/actress and eagle patron
- Syd Butler, Executive Director of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA)
- Bob Byrne, Wildlife Program Coordinator for the Wildlife Management Institute representing the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE)
- Clinton A. Fields, Executive Director for Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ)
- Al Cecere, President of the American Eagle Foundation (AEF)
WHAT
Photo opportunities with Secretary Norton, Director
Spelman, Dolly Parton and the bald eagle “Challenger.”
Remarks by Secretary Norton, Director Spelman, and Dolly Parton at the Zoo’s new “Bald Eagle Refuge” exhibit.
Presentation by Secretary Norton of a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Partnership Award to Dolly Parton in recognition of her Outstanding support for bald eagle conservation and the National Wildlife Refuge System.
WHEN
Wednesday, July 2, 10 a.m.
WHERE
Valley Trail at the National Zoological Park near the
sea lion exhibit
3001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C.
Press parking in Zoo lot “D”. Call the National
Zoo contact for instructions for parking microwave trucks
and directions to the event site.
CONTACTS
Richard Cole
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
(703) 358-1886
Mike Morgan
National Zoological Park
(202) 673-0209
