NATCHEZ &045;&045; Bird watcher and conservationist David Aldridge of Natchez remembers fondly the hours he has spent at Catahoula National Wildlife Refuge near Jonesville, La., observing waterfowl the year around and in the winter months delighting in the rare sightings of eagles and ospreys.

&uot;I even took a group from the ILR on a tour there,&uot; he said, referring to members of the Institute for Learning in Retirement at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

For outdoor enthusiasts such as Aldridge, good news came this week when the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Conservation Fund and other public and private partners, including Wal-Mart, announced that the Catahoula refuge would be one of five beneficiaries of the first phase of a conservation program to preserve endangered wildlife habitat.

Tuesday, Wal-Mart announced a $35-million fund to be made available over the next 10 years to purchase endangered land in the United States.

From Wal-Mart, a $1-million grant, matched by $1 million from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, was set aside for 6,098 acres to expand the Catahoula refuge, established in 1958 and bordering nine miles of the 26,000-acre Catahoula Lake.

Andrew Hammond, manager of the refuge, said the additional acres will help to secure the future of the site and to accomplish on-going goals of providing a habitat for native and migratory waterfowl and other wildlife.

The new acreage is a portion of land already managed by the refuge but owned by American Electric Power, a company based in Ohio, Hammond said. &uot;Now this will allow us to have the land into perpetuity and allow us to manage it as our own, and it helps out in providing better access to the property.&uot;

The refuge is made up of 25,043 acres, with nearly 18,000 of that in Catahoula Parish and the remaining approximately 7,000 acres in LaSalle Parish.

Of the 25,000-plus acres that make up the refuge, about 10,000 were managed in cooperation with American Electric Power. The newly acquired 6,000 acres are from that cooperative area. AEP will retain about 4,000 acres of the area.

&uot;The Conservation Fund has been wonderful in getting this acquisition,&uot; Hammond said. &uot;They have been working on the details with Wal-Mart for about a year.&uot;

Christine Fanning, vice president of marketing and communications for The Conservation Fund, said choosing the Catahoula refuge as one of the five first recipients of additional land in the program was a natural.

&uot;Catahoula Wildlife Refuge is one of our nation’s national treasures,&uot; she said. &uot;It’s adjacent to Catahoula Lake, which is one of only 22 wetlands in the United States.&uot;

As temporary home to as many as 400,000 migratory birds in peak years, the refuge is in the heart of the Mississippi River flyway, one of four bird migration routes in the country, Fanning said.

The new program seeks to protect such land &uot;being gobbled up by insensitive development every day,&uot; she said.

Bill McGehee, who takes part in bird counts in the Natchez area, said the Catahoula refuge is &uot;a fabulous place, especially for ducks and geese.&uot;

Moreover, the refuge is a safe harbor for thousands of small birds making their way up or down the flyway. &uot;It’s a safe place for a lot of little guys, a place where they can hunker down and weather the storm. Right now I’d bet there’s a crowd of warblers, vireos and other little birds from South America coming in there.&uot;

Those small birds face the daunting reality of losing habitat not only in their winter homes but also in their summer habitats, he said. &uot;They are in a lot of trouble.&uot;

Having more land added to the refuge is good news, McGehee said. &uot;You don’t have to be a bird watcher to enjoy the refuge.&uot;

In addition to the Catahoula refuge, the four other properties to get additional land in the first phase of the Wal-Mart money and matching grants include:

4Sherfield Cave/Buffalo National River in Arkansas: Adding 1,226 acres of bat habitat.

4North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona: Buying two private ranches with 1,259 acres.

4Squaw Creek in Oregon: Buying a conservation easement on a private ranch to protect 1,120 acres along a tributary of the Deschutes River to aid salmon and steelhead fish populations.

4Downeast Lakes region of Maine: Protecting 312,000 acres around Washington County, including 54 lakes and 1,500 miles of river and stream shoreline.

Naming its program &uot;Acres for America,&uot; Wal-Mart officials said the company will provide funds for acquiring at least 138,000 acres during the next 10 years &045;&045; an area equal to the land occupied by the corporation’s stores, parking lots and distribution centers nationwide.

Matt Hogan, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a written statement that the Wal-Mart pledge is a gift to the American people.

&uot;Wal-Mart’s innovative conservation program, Acres for America, will soon be the model for corporate America,&uot; Hogan said.