NC Wildlife Resources Commission Consolidates Staff, Moves to New Headquarters

[NCangler]

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Consolidates
Staff, Moves to New Headquarters

RALEIGH, N.C. (Sept. 21) - It's not just fish and wildlife that migrate.

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission this week moved into its new headquarters - a five-story, 73,000 square-foot building - on N.C. State University's Centennial Campus.

Located at 1751 Varsity Drive, the new "N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Administrative Headquarters and Centennial Campus Wildlife Education Center" features state-of-the-art design elements to maximize energy conservation and minimize impacts on the environment. It took nearly six years to design and build.

The move unites 170 staff who had been working in four different locations in Wake County. Across the state, the Wildlife Commission employs a total of 622 people.

Workspace shortages and inefficiencies of having employees working in four different buildings led to the consolidation, according to Dick Hamilton, executive director of the Wildlife Commission.

"The Wildlife Commission's search for new facilities allowed us to build on our long-standing relationship with N.C. State University," Hamilton said. "Historically, we've collaborated with N.C. State in teaching, research and extension services such as the N.C. Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Having our new building on N.C. State's Centennial Campus is a good fit."

Consolidating Wildlife Commission employees in Wake County into one building gives the public "one-stop shopping" to purchase licenses, vessel registrations and Wild Store products or to obtain permits. Fisheries and wildlife biologists, engineers, enforcement officers and educators working in the building are accessible to the public as well.

The ground floor and basement levels of the building will house a wildlife education center for children and adults to learn about fish, wildlife and conservation of North Carolina's natural resources. The education center is still under construction and will open to the public in spring 2006. It will include an auditorium, classrooms, laboratories and video equipment for distance-learning classes. Visiting school groups will be able to call the education center to schedule field trips to see exhibits and participate in educational programs.

Some of the conservation education programs will feature the building itself. Selected as a pilot project in the State's High Performance Buildings Program, the Wildlife Commission's new building has received national recognition for incorporating sustainable building features that incorporate reusable and renewable resources, provide natural lighting, complement the natural characteristics of the site, cause minimal environmental impacts and use energy efficiently.

"The Wildlife Commission designed the new headquarters to reflect the mission of the agency, part of which is to conserve the natural resources of the state," Hamilton said. "We hope it will serve as an example for future government buildings."

The new Wildlife Commission building opened to the public on Sept. 19. Classrooms, exhibits and displays on the first floor and basement are still being installed, but wildlife staff is on site.

E-mail addresses for Wildlife Commission employees moving into the new building have not changed, but new phone numbers are in effect:

· Director's Office: 919-707-0010
· Wildlife Enforcement Office: 919-707-0030
· Wildlife Management: 919-707-0050
· Inland Fisheries: 919-707-0220
· Education Center: 919-707-0201
· Engineering Services: 919-707-0150
· Conservation Education: 919-707-0170
· Finance: 919-707-0080
· Purchasing: 919-707-0070
· Personnel: 919-707-0101

Since its inception in 1947, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has been dedicated to the wise use, conservation and management of the state's fish and wildlife resources. Nineteen wildlife commissioners create and maintain laws and regulations governing hunting, fishing, trapping and boating activities based on input from the public and the Commission's wildlife and fisheries biologists, wildlife enforcement officers, educators, engineers and administrative staff.

Visit www.ncwildlife.org for more information or to see images of the new Wildlife Commission headquarters.