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An Obligation to Wildlife in a Changing Climate
After years of inaction on the issue, decision-makers in Washington have begun the process of approving legislation designed to curb green house gas emissions – those responsible for causing climate change. With nearly universal consensus among scientists, and shifting public sentiment on the issue, the debate is no longer whether climate change is happening, but rather how swiftly and severely it will occur, and what we can do to mitigate and prepare for the effects.
Recent studies from the United States Geological Survey suggest that many of the predicted changes- such as increased temperatures and rising sea levels- are not only already occurring now, but are occurring at a more rapid pace than first anticipated. Facing this increasingly unpredictable future, preparing for the impacts of global climate change poses the most fundamental management challenge in the Refuge System’s century-long history.
The consequences of increased heat-trapping gasses such as methane and carbon dioxide in our atmosphere will have far-reaching and potentially devastating effects on our wildlife and the refuges that protect them. According to Juliet Eilperin, environment writer for the Washington Post, “as climate change begins to transform the environment in the United States… the old paradigm of setting aside tracts of land or sea to preserve species that might disappear is no longer sufficient.”
Indeed, new and more detailed scientific modeling shows that coastal and estuarine refuges, such as Blackwater NWR in Maryland, may be increasingly underwater in the not-too-distant-future, altering habitat for migrating shorebirds and nesting waterfowl. Regions that rely on melting snowpack could be devastatingly dry, threatening endangered fish species, and higher annual summer temperatures on refuges such as Agassiz NWR in Minnesota have already decreased numbers of once-abundant moose. And perhaps nowhere are these changes more evident than the refuges in Alaska, which encompass more than half of all lands and waters in the NWRS.
These issues create a particularly difficult challenge for the Refuge System, which more than other federal land agencies is often comprised of small and more fragmented parcels. Refuges frequently protect localized habitats deemed critical for wildlife, such as a particular wetland, or along a specific flyway. As these habitats are put under stress, wildlife will likely shift ranges with little regard to adhering to refuge boundaries. For this reason, we must use new strategies to protect critical wildlife habitat and create additional linkages between existing habitats to help species adapt to a changing landscape.
The cornerstone of any major climate change policy, such as the Waxman-Markey energy bill currently under debate in the House of Representatives, led by Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), will be reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, which is urgently needed to reduce the risks of potentially catastrophic global climatic changes. Yet it is also critically important, for the sake of preserving our treasured wildlife heritage for future generations, to anticipate and address climate change adaptation needs on our wildlife refuges. A first step in achieving this will be to dedicate a percentage of revenue from any upcoming “cap and trade” climate legislation for the purpose of wildlife conservation and climate adaptation.
The Obama administration’s proposal to tighten federal fuel efficiency standards in automobiles earlier this week – the first nationwide regulation of a greenhouse gas – was an important step in beginning to address climate change, as is the current energy and climate legislation being debated in House. These developments provide hope that Congress will act soon to enact a more comprehensive plan to limit sources of carbon dioxide and mitigate its damaging effects to both people and wildlife.
Onward and upward!
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Obama Budget Fails to Meet Core Refuge System Needs
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Lack of funding for refuges results in closures, illegal activities and deteriorating infrastructure.
© Steve Hillebrand, FWS and Evan Hirsche |
On May 7, 2009, President Obama made public his budget request for next year, Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, which included suggested allocations for the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). Despite recognizing critical climate change and land acquisition needs, President Obama’s FY10 refuge funding request falls short in regards to the System’s inflationary needs, which could result in cuts to wildlife conservation, public use and law enforcement positions.
The FY 2010 budget request proposes a 7.1% increase ($802 million) over the FY 09 enacted level for the Department of the Interior as a whole. The request for operations and maintenance (O&M) for the Refuge System is $483.3 million, a $20.4 million increase over FY09. While a needed increase, it falls well short of NWRA’s requested $514 million, and amounts to level-funding at best. Refuges need at least $15 million each year to cope with inflationary costs, and the Administration’s request for FY10 includes only $6 million System-wide for fixed costs, which means if Congress does not add additional funding to the President’s request, some work currently occurring on refuges won’t continue and may result in job losses.
The President’s budget does, however include several bright spots for refuges, and overall the administration is heading in the right direction. As advocated for by NWRA and Friends, the budget request includes increases in funding for refuge land acquisition; the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program, a key tool in protecting vital lands outside refuge boundaries; the Visitor’s Services programs that oversee volunteer efforts; and State Wildlife Grants.
As Congress debates the FY10 appropriations bill for the Department of Interior and Related Agencies, NWRA, its conservation partners including the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), and the more than 250 local “Friends” groups, will work with Congress to make the case for $514 million for refuges in FY10 to ensure enough funding for fixed costs while retaining the initiatives set forth by President Obama.
View a detailed review of the President’s Refuge System budget request.
View NWRA’s full recommendations for FY 10, included in testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies.
See May 11, 2009 press release.
Use NWRA's Refuge Action Network to Take Action! and urge Congress to increase funding for refuges for FY10.
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Refuges Receive Roughly $200 million from Stimulus
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Contractors work at Sabine NWR, LA. © Tom MacKenzie, FWS |
In late April, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would invest $290 million on refuges and fish hatcheries funded through the $787 billion, 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funding includes $115 million for construction projects, including energy efficiency projects, and $165 million for habitat restoration projects.
NWRA, Friends and the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) advocated for $1 billion for refuges in our “Green Jobs for Refuges” campaign. The roughly $200 million that will go specifically to refuges will make possible improvements in green infrastructure, while addressing wildlife habitat needs.
Projects are already started all over the country and NWRA and CARE will communicate to Congress, the Administration and the public ways in which the funding helps refuges put people to work in local communities. Stay tuned, and if you have a project at your refuge, we want to here about it! Please contact NWRA’s Vice President of Government Affairs and CARE liaison, Desiree Sorenson-Groves.
Click here for more information on our Green Jobs for Refuges campaign.
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Conservation Groups Urge Interior Leadership to Reject “Road to Nowhere”
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The proposed road through Izembek NWR would have treacherous driving conditions and high maintenance costs as opposed to the more efficient hovercraft already in use.
© FWS |
Responding to the inclusion in an omnibus public lands package of the harmful “Road to Nowhere” provision that proposes to carve a road through designated wilderness and vital wildlife habitat in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, 16 conservation groups including the NWRA wrote to Secretary Salazar in April to express their unified opposition.
In a follow-up June 21st meeting with Kim Elton, the Director of Alaska Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior, representatives of these groups explained in detail their objections to the proposal. In the meeting, the groups emphasized that the road is unnecessary, a solution in search of a problem and not in the pubic interest. The Secretary must find the road to be in the public’s interest before the road can be built.
Earlier this year, Congress failed to remove the "Road To Nowhere" provision from a massive public lands bill that included 150 provisions prior to sending to the President to be signed into law. The proposal’s fate now falls upon Secretary Salazar, who in accordance with the legislation must issue a determination that the road is in the public interest before construction can begin.
In their meeting with Mr. Elton, groups explained that the transportation, health, and safety needs of King Cove were already met by Congress in 1998, and that a ruling in favor of the road would sacrifice vital wildlife habitat while allowing the first-ever bisection of a Congressionally-designated wilderness area.
Congress solved the healthcare needs of King Cove with a $37.5 million appropriation in 1998 that purchased a state of the art hovercraft and upgrades to the medical clinic and airport. With a 100% medevac success record, the hovercraft has demonstrated that the road is completely unnecessary.
Read the April 8 letter to Secretary Salazar here.
To learn more about the proposed road through the Izembek NWR, please visit: http://www.refugeassociation.org/new-publications/Izembek.html
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House to Vote on Climate Change Legislation
A U.S. House of Representatives Committee on May 21st took a first and highly significant step to curb emissions of greenhouse gases when the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed H.R. 2454, America’s Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, legislation to deal with Climate Change. While final passage of such legislation remains uncertain – the bill must pass the full House and the Senate has its own versions currently under debate - it is essential that a portion of the massive funding generated by a “cap and trade” program on greenhouse gas emissions is set aside to aid wildlife in adapting to a changing climate.
NWRA and our conservation partners are urging Congress to designate that 5% of the total funding generated in this trading market of pollution allowances to be directed toward wildlife adaptation - for projects such as large-scale ecosystem restoration projects, invasive species control, land acquisition, wildlife corridors, and nationwide land use planning.
National wildlife refuges have been and will continue playing a vital role in helping species adapt to our changing climate. But they and all other federal and state public lands and wildlife agencies need dedicated funding to ensure they are able to meet the challenges ahead. Estimates predict that funding at the 5% level could provide an average of $1.9 billion annually for wildlife.
Take action today!
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CARE Report Offers Latest Look at Refuge Funding Crisis
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CARE's "Restoring America's Wildlife Refuges 2009" report calls upon Congress to fund the Refuge System at $808 million by FY 2013
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Restoring America’s Wildlife Refuges 2009: A Plan to Solve the Refuge System Funding Crisis, a new report released May 22 by the NWRA-chaired Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), finds the nation’s wildlife refuges remain vastly under-funded and require $808 million in annual appropriations to fulfill their obligations to wildlife and the American people as mandated in the Refuge Improvement Act (the System is currently receiving $462.8 million per year – an average of just $3.08 per acre). The consequences of funding shortages can be seen at refuges across the country: unstaffed refuges and closings, unsafe roads and trails, decreased safety, millions of acres of invasive species, unprotected at-risk species, and a 10% reduction in workforce since 2004.
CARE’s report will serve to remind Congress that although this year’s nearly $29 million increase will slow the workforce reductions and refuge closings that have occurred over the past several years due to budget constraints, there remain serious and long-term ramifications for both wildlife and local economies without a significantly and consistently higher investment in refuges.
The report calls upon Congress to increase the Refuge System’s annual operations and maintenance budget to $514 million for fiscal year 2010 (FY10), putting the System on the path for full funding - $808 million annually – by FY2013. Full funding for the Refuge System will result in vibrant wildlife habitats, outstanding opportunities for the public to learn about and enjoy wildlife and boost economic activity in local communities that thrive on wildlife-dependent recreation.
The report finds that:
- One in three refuges are operating without a single staff member;
- The System has already cut 300 staff positions; without adequate funding increases, plans for a 20 percent staff reduction will resume;
- The system needs 845 full-time law enforcement officers, but currently has just 205 – one officer for every 731,000 acres;
- Mission Critical, non law enforcement positions need to increase by 74 percent, an additional 2740 positions;
- The System is able to invest just 0.67 percent of its value in annual maintenance woefully short the industry standard of investing between 2-6 percent;
- More than two million acres have already been lost to invasive species, placing threatened and endangered species at even greater risk.
CARE is comprised of 22 diverse sporting, scientific and conservation organizations representing over 14 million Americans. Endorse CARE today.
See press release.
Visit CARE homepage to download report.
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Refuge Association Launches 4th Annual Refuge Photo Contest
NWRA has launched its 4th annual digital photo contest showcasing America’s national wildlife refuges. Entries for the 2009 Refuge Photo Contest can be submitted until July 15, 2009 with results to be announced in October 2009 during Refuge Week. Image submissions can be of birds, mammals, insects, fish, other animals, plants, people, or simply shots of refuge scenery – but must be taken on a national wildlife refuge.
This year, ATP Oil and Gas, Inc. has generously donated the $5,000 first place cash prize. Other prizes include two round trip tickets courtesy of Southwest Airlines, and offerings from Barbara’s Bakery, Wild Bird Centers of America and Houghton Mifflin.
In addition, the winners’ images will be highlighted on NWRA’s website and future publications. At least 200 images will be selected for inclusion in the NWRA Refuge Image Library and every photographer submitting an entry will receive a complimentary one-year membership in the National Wildlife Refuge Association.
So visit a refuge near you, and start taking pictures today! Click here for contest details and entry procedures.
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NWRA/Co-Plaintiffs Request Summary Judgment in Elk Refuge Lawsuit
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Antler Shed, National Elk Refuge
© Reid Squyres |
A year after filing a complaint in the U.S. District Court for D.C. challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to continue winter feeding of elk and bison herds on the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming, the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA), together with five other environmental organizations, have finalized their arguments for summary judgment to order the Service to revise its decision.
The lawsuit argues that the winter feeding of elk, which was begun in 1910 after a series of severe winters, may promote hunting and tourism but also leaves the large herd vulnerable to the spread of brucellosis, which causes pregnant animals to abort their calves, and will gravely worsen the near-inevitable spread of chronic wasting disease, the form of "mad cow disease" that affects elk and deer.
In April 2007 the Service adopted a Final Management Plan for the Elk Refuge that virtually acknowledged the disease risks but adopted, out of six alternatives, a plan to "adaptively manage" the herds in a "dynamic framework" taking various factors into account, one of which is disease, and giving the State of Wyoming an effective veto over any future decision to end winter feeding on the Refuge.
The lawsuit argues that this "plan to make a plan" not only fails to meet NEPA's standards, but that it also violates the National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act of 1997, an overarching goal of which, as set forth in the Service's own manual, is to protect the biological integrity and environmental health of each refuge. NWRA is asking for a judgment that the Plan does violate both statutes and must be revised to comply with them.
The NWRA’s complaint was filed on June 3, 2008, and was assigned to Judge Richard Leon. Earthjustice is lead counsel for all of the plaintiffs. Wyoming intervened as a defendant to protect its economic interests in hunting and tourism. The case will likely be decided on summary judgment based on the administrative record and supplemental affidavits. NWRA filed a motion for summary judgment on February 18, 2009, and the defendants have filed cross-motions. An important affidavit in support of NWRA’s case was filed by Ann Harvey, a member of NWRA’s Board who is also a wildlife biologist and lives in Jackson, Wyoming, just south of the National Elk Refuge.
The brief is complete except for a reply brief due from the Service on June 12. Meanwhile the FWS has issued a proposed plan to irrigate portions of the Refuge to increase forage, with the intended result of partly dispersing the herds that would otherwise congregate along the feedlines. While NWRA supports the irrigation proposal because it may mitigate the overcrowding, it does not cure the defects of the Final Management Plan.
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Friends Focus: Friends of Potomac River Refuges Rally Area Non-profits to Impact Climate Change Legislation
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Friends of Potomac River Refuges’ Dean Toole and Joan Patterson at their 5th Annual Fall Festival ©FOPRR |
Next month the Friends of Potomac River Refuges and eight other conservation organizations will host a workshop on building a clean energy future in Northern Virginia. The June 6 “Tools for Change” Workshop in Arlington, VA will focus on formulating a strong message to the public and elected officials about the need to confront climate change.
Workshop participants will hear from experts on the threats that climate change poses for the region’s natural resources. Speakers include The Honorable Preston Bryant from the Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources, Edward Maiback, Ph.D. from the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, and Mike Tidwell from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
The Friends of Potomac River Refuges, founded in 2002, works hard to promote conservation, awareness, and appreciation of the wildlife and habitats of the Potomac River National Wildlife Refuge Complex, comprised of Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck NWR, Occoquan Bay NWR, and Featherstone NWR, three important sanctuaries along the Potomac River, just south of Washington, DC.
Last spring, when the complex faced staff cuts due to funding shortages, the Friends of Potomac River Refuges submitted written testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies arguing on behalf of their refuges and the wildlife they protect. The Friends have been integral in maintaining the ecological integrity of the Potomac River Refuges and in making such annual events as the Fall Festival, the Youth Fishing Day, and the Eagle Festival a success year after year. Their partnership with regional non-profits to raise awareness about climate change and its effect on natural resources such as wildlife refuges is sure to be another such success for this tireless group.
To learn more about the FOPRR, visit them online at www.foprr.org.
To learn more about the “Tools for Change” Workshop, visit: http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/NOVAclimate.
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June 6 - Friends of Potomac River Refuges' "Tools for Change" Workshop
June 19 - Friends of Bear River's Wings of Thunder Premier
July 15 - Photo Contest submission deadline
Based on recent climate change models, more than 160 coastal refuges - most of which are estuaries and often referred to as our ocean's nurseries - are threatened by rising sea levels and salt water intrusion. Learn more about refuges and rising sea levels by trying out the FWS' new Sea Level Rise simulator: http://www.fws.gov/chesapeakebay/slamm/
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