In the shadow of nation's largest mall, a wildlife refuge

Every evening, deer come out of the woods and knock the bird feeders outside Charlie Blair's office off their stands so they can eat sunflower seeds. A wild tom turkey has been hanging around, too, preening and attacking his reflection in the window.Until you see the jets flying low in the sky, it's hard to believe that Blair's office at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge is virtually across the street from the airport, the Mall of America and Interstate 494 in Bloomington, a Minneapolis suburb.The noise and pollution seem enough to repel a nature-lover like the refuge's new manager. But Blair says the refuge's location in the heart of the Twin Cities is an advantage. It is one of just four urban national wildlife refuges in the nation."If we want this place to exist for our children's children, we need to support people's need to know ... about wildlife refuges," Blair said. "We have the opportunity to contact so many people."Blair became manager of the 14,000-acre refuge two months ago, taking over an institution challenged by under-funding, pollution and occasional conflict between walkers and bikers."Our greatest challenge is making the refuge work in the urban environment," he said. Though the wildlife service's priorities for public use emphasize human recreation -- activities include hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, environmental education and interpretation -- "wildlife comes first, that's clear," he said.Blair, 56, had worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Minnesota before.This is where his three children grew up, a factor that helped lure him back from a job managing a national refuge of 49 islands off the coast of Maine."You hear a lot about how wonderful Minnesota is and there's a lot of truth in it," he said. "I really missed the people and the culture."Minnesota Valley has been called the biggest wildlife refuge no one ever heard of. Established in 1976, the park is southwest of Minneapolis and stretches along the Minnesota River for 45 miles.Painted turtles, fox, beaver and coyote thrive in the refuge, which has great blue heron breeding colonies and eight active bald-eagle nests. The wetlands are part of the Mississippi Flyway, the north-south migration route used by millions of waterfowl and songbirds.Within sight of the Mall of America, a tiny trout stream emerges from a bluff and trickles through the refuge's forest.Though the refuge is a fertile place for wildlife, nature sometimes needs a helping hand. The trout stream was stocked with fingerlings last year, something that will be done again this year.Prairies and oak savannas need to be burned periodically to replicate natural cycles, and the refuge hosts a wildfire-response team from spring to fall to handle burns on refuge land as well as fires elsewhere in the state. Fighting illegal hunting and invasive plants like buckthorn and purple loosestrife is a constant battle.All of that is Blair's responsibility. With a $2.1 million budget and 27 employees at full staffing -- there are only 19 right now -- the job keeps him hopping. Federal budget cuts over the past three to four years have tightened staffing and hours at many refuges across the country. Last winter, Minnesota Valley's visitor center in Bloomington was open just one Saturday a month, though hours have been expanded again for spring and summer. About 800 volunteers help run education programs.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)