Advocacy and Media Bootcamp Draws Friends to DC

bootcamp
25 refuge Friends groups met in DC. | NWRA

Representatives from 25 refuge Friends groups from across the nation gathered in Washington, DC, March 6 through 8 for the 2004 Refuge Friends Advocacy and Media Bootcamp. Hosted by the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA), the 50 participants from 16 states assembled to build advocacy skills, celebrate the work of Friends and FWS staff and learn how to engage the media in building public awareness and support for refuge activities and issues.

The weekend workshop and Monday Capitol Hill visit offered an exciting opportunity for Friends groups to build essential skills in creating and sustaining relationships with their elected officials and communicating the needs and successes of their refuges to their communities. Speakers included key Department of Interior officials and Congressional staff as well as representatives from environmental, media and advocacy organizations. Attendees also enjoyed opportunities to network with each other and with the workshop presenters. Defenders of Wildlife, The Wilderness Society, Wildlife Management Institute and Barbara’s Bakery provided important sponsorship support.

The 2004 Refuge Volunteer and Friends Group of the Year awards, sponsored by the NWRA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, were presented at the Refuge System Awards dinner on March 7. Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Craig Manson, the featured speaker, emphasized the vitally important contribution made by dedicated refuge volunteers and Friends groups to all aspects of the Refuge System mission.

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NWRA Applauds FWS Wilderness Recommendation for Arctic NWR Coastal Plain

For Immediate Release: August 15, 2011

Contact: Desiree Sorenson-Groves, Vice-President, Government Affairs, (202) 290-5593, dgroves@refugeassociation.org

polar bear
Polar Bear | FWS

Washington, DC—On Friday, August 12, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released a draft plan on how to manage the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for the next 15 years and included an important recommendation for Congress to designate the refuge’s Coastal Plain as Wilderness.

“We have long called for Congress to designate the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain as Wilderness,” said Evan Hirsche, President of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. “With this new Wilderness review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the science confirms our need to protecting “America’s Serengeti” for the benefit of future generations.”

Established 50 years ago by President Eisenhower, the Arctic Refuge is unique among refuges with a mandate to “protect wilderness values.” Home to some of the world’s most majestic wildlife, from polar bears and musk ox to caribou and snowy owls, the Arctic NWR is arguably the most expansive intact ecosystem in the United States and one of the largest in the world.

Current policy has prohibited oil and gas development on the coastal plain in the northeast corner of the refuge along the Beaufort Sea, but allowed the opportunity for a future act of Congress to allow it. The recommendation of Wilderness in the CCP is a step in the right direction in protecting this spectacular piece of American heritage once and for all.

“Having witnessed the Gulf tragedy last year, we know that there is no totally safe way to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic NWR,” said Hirsche. “The only way to guarantee the protection of the Arctic NWR is to permanently protect it with Wilderness designation and we praise the FWS for putting forth such a recommendation in its plan for future management.”

Every national wildlife refuge is required by law to complete a Comprehensive Conservation Plan, or CCP, to guide its management for approximately 15 years. This is the first time the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has updated its plan in more than 20 years, a time when the impacts of climate change and oil and gas development are far better understood in the context of managing the refuge.

The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge Association is to conserve America’s wildlife heritage for future generations through strategic programs that protect, enhance, and expand the National Wildlife Refuge System and the landscapes beyond its boundaries that secure its ecological integrity.

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Strong Public Support for Everglades

More than 38,000 people and organizations—including NWRA and many refuge Friends groups and supporters across the country—submitted written comments on the proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, and many Florida-based Friends attended public meetings to show their support for the new refuge. Thank you for raising your voices.

With the exception of a vocal minority, the vast majority of the comments were supportive of the refuge proposal. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now preparing a revised version of the proposal (known as the Land Protection Plan and NEPA document) that will be released for a second round of public review in July. So stay tuned! We will need your input again as the proposal moves through this next phase.

Cattle Ranchers in the Everglades Headlands

The proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge is envisioned as just one component of a much larger and collaborative landscape-scale effort in Central and Southern Florida. The Greater Everglades Conservation Partnership Initiative involves Florida’s cattle ranchers, sportsmen, Native American tribes, state water management districts and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and Florida Department of Agriculture, as well as federal agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Department of Defense.

All of these varied partners are coming together around the shared goals of protecting and sustaining Florida’s rural, agricultural and sporting traditions, restoring water supply and water quality to the headwaters region of the Everglades, and ensuring that threatened and endangered species like the Florida panther, Florida black bear, Everglades snail kite, and Florida scrub jay all have room to roam, feed, nest, and raise their young.

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Counting Down to a New Refuge System Vision

In less than a month, I will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, where NWRA staff members will join refuge Friends groups, Fish and Wildlife Service staff, and representatives of other conservation, recreation and scientific organizations to rally around a new vision for the future of our national wildlife refuges.

The Madison Conference, Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation, is the culmination of a year of hard work by the FWS to craft a new plan that will guide the Refuge System for the next 10-15 years. NWRA has been a key player since the beginning, working with the Fish and Wildlife Service to coordinate outreach to a host of traditional and non-traditional partners across the U.S.

We’ve reached out to birdwatchers, hunters and anglers, Friends groups, environmental educators, wildlife photographers and many others. On www.AmericasWildlife.org, the online community we created with the Service to engage the public and recruit comments, we’ve received many compelling ideas about the Refuge System’s future.

With tens of thousands of comments and ideas received from a spectrum of interests, the level of public participation is unprecedented in the history of the Service. We’re grateful that such a wide range of Americans who value refuges and wildlife have added their voices to the public debate.

The July conference will not mark the end of our work, however, but rather the beginning of a long and demanding implementation process. The newly released draft vision reflects a new way of doing business for the FWS and refuges, with an emphasis on partnerships and shared expertise. Whether it’s leveraging the conservation potential of adjacent public and private lands beyond refuge boundaries, or placing greater responsibility with Friends groups to meet public outreach objectives, the new vision reflects the realities of today’s fiscal climate, while also acknowledging that successful wildlife conservation isn’t the sole responsibility of the FWS and Refuge System. With the myriad challenges posed by climate change, competition for clean and plentiful water, human encroachment and invasive species, the future of conservation depends on all of us.

Onward and upward!

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Florida Wildlife at Risk

Florida Scrub Jay caption here.

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[media-credit name="Image Credit for Scrubjay | OrgHere" align="alignright" width="235"]Alternate Scrubjay Text[/media-credit]
Florida Scrub Jay caption goes here.
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House Funding Proposal Includes Deep Cuts

House Funding Proposal Includes Deep Cuts to National Wildlife Refuges and Guts Key Land Acquisition, Grant, and Climate Change Programs

A 21% cut to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 8% cut to Refuges, will result in the closure of 140 Refuges, elimination of 300 Refuge staff positions, elimination of any new land acquisitions and conservation easements and prevent any new endangered species listings.

For Immediate Release: July 20, 2011

Washington, DC—The National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) was stunned over the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee’s proposed $37 million cut to the National Wildlife Refuge System’s budget as part of an overall 21% cut to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency charged with overseeing the 150 million acre system.

“Despite the extraordinary economic, ecological and public benefits that come from conservation funding, the House has chosen to slash an already meager Refuge System and natural resources budget,” said Evan Hirsche, President of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. “By doing so, Congress threatens America’s clean air and water and safe places families depend on for recreation and renewal.”

The Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement, or CARE, a diverse coalition of conservation and sporting organizations chaired by NWRA, estimates the System needs at least $900 million annually to properly function. The House proposal would be just over half that much at $452 million and would mean 140 refuges would close, 300 positions would be eliminated and critical habitat restoration projects would not be completed, growing the already enormous backlog of operations and maintenance needs.

The House plan would also slash the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) by 80% to the lowest level in its 45-year history with only $11 million for the Refuge System; barely enough to finish projects started this fiscal year. This level of funding would bring Refuge System land acquisition projects to a screeching halt leaving hundreds of private landowners seeking to sell their land or obtain conservation easements in limbo. Further, such a cut violates a trust with the American people as LWCF revenues are derived from small percentage of offshore oil and gas lease receipts and intended as reciprocation for extraction of resources from the public domain.

“The LWCF is one of the strongest tools a land manager has to protect key habitats and promote good will in communities,” said Hirsche. “Drastic cuts to LWCF not only hurts wildlife, but also hard working farmers and ranchers who seek conservation easements that help protect wildlife habitat while also allowing them to stay on the land and keep family business intact.”

The bill further proposes to eliminate funding for the Neotropical Migratory Bird Fund and drastically reduce funding for climate change programs, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), which funds wetland restoration on refuges, the State Wildlife Grants program that helps states keep species from becoming endangered and the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Programs which helps the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) work directly with private landowners. Further, the bill takes aim at bedrock environmental laws including the Endangered Species Act; language in the bill prohibits the FWS from any new endangered species listing.

NWRA is asking Congress to fund the Refuge System at $511 million in Fiscal Year 2012, level funding from FY 2010. NWRA, it’s conservation partners in CARE and more than 230 local “Refuge Friends” groups will work with Congress to restore funding for the Refuge System in any final FY 2012 spending bill.

The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge Association is to conserve America’s wildlife heritage for future generations through strategic programs that protect, enhance, and expand the National Wildlife Refuge System and the landscapes beyond its boundaries that secure its ecological integrity.

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