NASA hands 105 acres of Goddard forest to wildlife refuge

In a ceremonial transfer on Tuesday, NASA conveyed roughly 105 acres of wooded land from Goddard Space Flight Center to the neighboring Patuxent Research Refuge, according to NASA.

Goddard Space Flight Center sits in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Patuxent Research Refuge borders the facility directly and falls under the administration of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

NASA said the transferred parcel had been designated internally as Area 400. Staff at the center had an informal name for it as well: the "Hundred Acre Wood," per NASA.

With the transfer complete, NASA said the forested acreage now forms part of the largest unfragmented forest block in the surrounding region. The roughly 105 wooded acres, once held by the space agency, are now under the refuge's stewardship.