NASA Hands 105 Acres to Wildlife Service, Preserving Forest Habitat

NASA transferred 105 acres of Maryland forest—known as Area 400—to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on July 7, ending a five-year dispute. The no-cost handoff forestalls a private developer sale that would have fragmented critical habitat. The land adjoins the 13,000-acre Patuxent Research Refuge, established in 1936 for scientific study.