The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is announcing a special event celebrating over 40 years of wildlife conservation and the diversity of species found at the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge.

The Hiwassee Waterfowl and Shorebird Festival will be held December 5-6th from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hiwassee Refuge located off of Highway 60 between Dayton and Cleveland.

Now that the area has served as the home of the annual Sandhill Crane Viewing Days for the past 18 years and participated in the experimental introduction of the endangered whooping crane project, the area is best known for the cranes. This year’s event will focus on the many years of conservation efforts by TWRA and several wildlife conservation groups and celebrate that success.

Since the Birchwood School just held their “Smallest and Tallest” event on November 14. 2009, no special events will be held there, but shuttle buses donated by Blue Moon Cruises will pick up passengers at the school Gym. The Birchwood School Gym will be open both days with their concession stand open and will serve as a place to park and standby for the next shuttle to see the wildlife at the Refuge.

The Cherokee Removal Memorial facilities will also be open both Saturday and Sunday where educational Cherokee heritage displays and experts will provide a look back at the history of the local area.

Retired TWRA Regional Manager, Clarence Coffey is scheduled present a talk at 2 p.m. on what native Tennesseans wore and ate in 1830.

Meigs County Emergency Refuge Squad will be on hand at the Hiwassee Refuge both days, with their mobile concession stand serving drinks and hot dogs, and will also be available to assist in emergency medical situations.

The event is co-sponsored by the Tennessee Wildlife Federation and will feature educational information provided by the Ducks Unlimited and Delta Waterfowl, two of the major players in conservation partnerships during the past three decades. Their efforts has allowed TWRA to manage the area in a fashion to benefit all species of wildlife that live or visit the Refuge for rest, security and food.

The Hiwassee Refuge was originally designed as a rest stop for migrating ducks and geese. Some professional observers now claim that the thousands of sandhill cranes that use the refuge on their annual migration, may now out compete the waterfowl for the available food sources.

“Next year TWRA, Birchwood School, the Cherokee Removal Memorial, and Meigs County Tourism plan to celebrate together again at the 19th Annual Cherokee/ Crane Days in early December,” said TWRA Regional Information Officer, Dan Hicks. “After a brief two year separation on event dates, the event will be held when more diversity of wildlife and cranes are present at the Refuge”, Hicks added.