Small Pond, also known as Asta Pond, is on its way to another improvement thanks to the signing Friday of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Audubon Society of the Virgin Islands and the local government. The agreement allows Audubon to construct a pier to enhance wildlife viewing.
Audubon Vice President Terry Pishko said the vegetation that fringes the pond is almost beyond the mangroves.
The pond is home to myriad varieties of birds and a popular spot with residents and visitors.
According to Pishko, Audubon members began taking an interest in the pond as far back as the 1970s. In 2003, it was named a wildlife sanctuary following an agreement with the local government for the organization to make improvements to the pond.
Members have done plantings along the edges and constructed a viewing platform on the ocean side of the pond. It’s located near Frank Bay.
Pishko said the members raised money for the pier through events like its annual plant sale.
She said the organization doesn’t know how much the pier will cost, but expects it will be about 40 feet long and four feet wide.
“It will be handicapped accessible,” she said.
Gov. John deJongh Jr., Property and Procurement Commissioner Lynn Millin-Maduro and a cadre of Government House staffers made the trip across Pillsbury Sound for the signing ceremony Friday at the Battery.
The governor said he held the signing at the Battery rather than Government House to recognize the government’s commitment to natural resources.
Millin-Maduro said Audubon took the initiative on the pier and that Property and Procurement welcomed the effort because it was something the department didn’t see often.
“It will become an attraction,” she said.
