The National Audubon Society reports:

Izembek National Wildlife Refuge on the Alaska Peninsula is one of the world’s most critically important northern wetlands for migrating birds. A proposed road would cut through Izembek’s protected Wilderness, pristine habitat that Audubon and other conservation groups have been working to save for over a decade. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now accepting public comments—help keep this special place safe.

The proposed road would cut through the biological heart of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. The land swap required to build a road would sacrifice key habitats: 206 acres of critical, internationally recognized wildlife habitat in exchange for a larger amount of less important habitat. The wildlife values of Izembek National Wildlife Refuge are globally significant, and should not be compromised, particularly when there are other reasonable alternatives for addressing transportation between King Cove and Cold Bay.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be holding a public hearing in Washington, DC and one in Anchorage, Alaska.

If you are interested in attending the hearing and would like help preparing testimony, please contact Taldi Water in the National Audubon Society Washington, D.C. office at twalter@audubon.org or (202) 861-2242 x3042.

You can submit written comments opposing the land swap by visiting the NAS Action Center page or by visiting the Audubon Alaska Society website.

Comments are due by April 30.

Tags:
National Wildlife Refuge System, Izembek NWR, Alaska

From CARE:

America’s National Wildlife Refuge System, comprising 150 million acres, requires a minimum of $900 million annually to operate adequately. The report finds that:

• Refuges face a $3.7 billion backlog in deferred maintenance and operations funding. Washed-out trails, leaking roofs, closed roads, and broken equipment are just a few of the more than 11,000 problems currently waiting to be addressed on refuges nationwide. Unless funding is secured to address the backlog, many refuge facilities could deteriorate beyond repair.
• Crime is a big problem in the Refuge System, yet only 213 officers patrol its more than 150 million acres. A minimum of 209 additional officers are needed (at an additional annual cost of $31.4 million) to protect refuge visitors and respond to crimes that include drug production and dealing, wildlife poaching, illegal border activity, assaults, and a variety of natural resource violations.
• The Refuge System is fighting a losing battle against invasive plants and animals. Approximately 2.3 million acres of refuge lands are overrun with non-native invasive plants, while more than 4,400 invasive animal populations ravage millions more acres. The Refuge System needs at least $25 million per year to treat just one-third of its infested plant acreage and begin low-level control of invasive animals.
• There has been a dramatic increase in oil and gas drilling on 155 refuges, but the Refuge System is not well equipped to oversee these activities or clean up degraded sites. Some $15 million per year is needed to adequately oversee oil and gas operations on wildlife refuges.
• With the recent addition of more than 50 million acres of marine monuments in the Pacific Ocean, the Refuge System faces increased management, coordination, restoration, and law enforcement challenges. These increased responsibilities carry a price tag of between $18 and $35 million annually.

CARE has urged that Congress boost refuge operations and maintenance funding to $578 million for FY 2011. These funds are needed to provide nature programs to the public, maintain high water quality, complete critical habitat restoration projects, and properly patrol and enforce laws in the Refuge System. Since 2008, Congress has begun to reverse a damaging trend of budget cuts that started in 2003, but the Obama administration’s proposed budget will retard the momentum that the Refuge System was finally enjoying after years of neglect.

Tags:
National Wildlife Refuge System, Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement

Land under study includes everything from preserves near the Walt Disney World Resort to the 54,000-acre Kissimmee Preserve State Park.

The Florida Chapter of the Nature Conservancy has driven the planning effort and, in a paper published last November, floated a concept that calls for purchasing a 20,000- to 50,000-acre core of “high quality habitat suitable for public access,” along with other parcels throughout the region that could be managed as “satellite preserves.”

Conservancy spokeswoman Jill Austin confirmed Wednesday that a plan is “being finalized” that should be ready for the media soon but declined to elaborate in detail. “They’re studying it,” she said.

Tags:
wildlife refuge, Everglades, National Wildlife Refuge System, Florida

• Researchers share Ash Meadows revelations
• How to transfer refuge land to Jefferson Parkway under debate
• Suit seeks to halt engineered crops at refuge
• Piping plover help continues on PI
• Watch: Living north of the Arctic Circle

The islands’ leaders said the reserve would bring international attention and federal investment, but they say they have been left empty-handed. The monument has no advisory council, no management plan and no plans for a visitor center or science education outreach…

One challenge for the Marianas Trench Monument stems from Bush placing it under the Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service. The monument has to compete with hundreds of other refuges for funding for a visitors center. And its budget is lumped with 27 national wildlife refuges, monuments and memorials in Hawaii and the rest of the Pacific. Funding for the complex actually was cut by more than 22 percent in 2010, even though the protected area greatly expanded. The complex received just over $1 million in 2010.

The Times reports that the Friends of the Marianas Trench Monument (Friends of the Monument) have asked not only for more money but for the government to give oversight of the monument to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, thus taking it away from USFWS.

Bush’s proclamation required the creation of an advisory board for the monument within three months. But the Obama administration has not yet formed the panel. Interior is planning to complete the roster for the advisory board soon, said Eileen Sobeck, Interior’s deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks.

Sobeck said the Fish and Wildlife Service will also begin to move forward with a management plan this year.

Tags:
wildlife, wildlife refuge, Pacific, National Wildlife Refuge System

While Texas Forest Country is still basking in the glow of the Supreme Court’s validation of the Neches River National Wildlife Refuge, I congratulate all of you who helped make the wildlife sanctuary possible.

The refuge truly is a gift East Texans have given themselves. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged their office received more letters, faxes, and phone calls in support of this refuge than any other ever established…

Not long before his untimely death, Charlie Wilson called to express his thanks for the efforts to protect the Neches and its wildlife. The congressman realized the untapped economic potential of this exceptional, natural place in today’s world of technology and speed. He cautioned us not to falter and added, “You truly are doing the Lord’s work.”

With your kind permission, I would like to acquaint you with the Texas Conservation Alliance, without whose dedicated commitment this refuge would never have become a reality…

Texas Conservation Alliance is building support for a study of the Neches as a Wild and Scenic River. Designating the Neches as a Wild and Scenic River would protect it from dams and pumping that plan to deliver 80 percent of the marketable water to other parts of the state. The resulting diminished water flows could spell disastrous consequences for the Big Thicket and other wildlife habitat down river. All types of wildlife will suffer as hardwood bottomlands shrink, sloughs and old lakes dry up, and the increased salinity of the Sabine Estuary destroys or diminishes the oyster and commercial and recreational fishing, so valuable to the Beaumont area. Citizen support is crucial to convince congressmen up and down the river that the last wild, free flowing river in the state should remain wild and free flowing.

You can learn more about helping the Texas Conservation Alliance on their website. Note that the Alliance includes the Friends of Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the Friends of the Neches River.

Tags:
National Wildlife Refuge System, Neches River NWR, Texas

The matter is before the Alaska Board of Game, which convenes Friday in Fairbanks for a session that runs through March 7. A number of proposals that could involve national parks and preserves are among the agenda items for the session, but none has drawn as much attention as “Proposal 131.” According to the Board of Game’s agenda, this proposal drafted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game would allow the state to control predators — mainly wolves — on park lands without Park Service permission..

The proposal seems to be driven by low caribou numbers on a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-managed wildlife refuge in the Aleutian islands. However, the proposal before the Board of Game addresses both Fish and Wildlife Service and Park Service lands in the state.

“Under their regulation, they would no longer have to seek our approval,” said Dave Mills, a former superintendent at Gates of Arctic National Park and Preserve and Yukon-Charley National Preserve who now runs subsistence programs in Alaska for the Park Service. “They could just consult with us on potential predator control activities. The problem with that is we have laws and regulations that require us to do certain things before that (predator control) would happen, or not to allow that. In the case of predator control, there’s a whole set of conditions that would have to be met before we would even consider anything like that.”

So concerned are the two federal agencies that the regional directors for both the Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service plan to provide testimony on Friday about the impacts such a rule change could have. In a joint letter sent earlier this month to the Board of Game, Park Service Regional Director Sue Masica and Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director Geoffrey Haskett pointed out that the proposed change could “directly affect federal lands and the wildlife that use those lands.”

“It has been suggested that by removing these State regulations, compliance with specific Federal laws might be avoided,” the letter went on. “We need to be clear; all of the Federal statutes that apply to park, monument, preserve and refuge lands must be fully complied with, regardless of the disposition of this State regulation. Our initial assessment of the proposal is that even if it were to pass, predator control activities within parks and refuges would require specific Federal authorization and supporting NEPA analysis. We understand the State’s concern about State management of wildlife in Alaska and do not wish to intrude on those traditional powers; however, those powers are not absolute when we are dealing with Federal lands within the State.

“The discussion created by this proposal is touching upon fundamental jurisdictional issues between the Federal and State governments.”

The Alaska Board of Game has taken an extreme turn when it comes to killing predators in order to bolster hunting within the state — one example being former governor Sarah Palin’s notorious aerial wolf hunts. Wildlife is not managed for the health of the ecosystem, but rather to increase the income from hunting game, and that’s where state and federal officials will inevitably clash when it comes to managing Alaska’s wildlife.

Tags:
National Wildlife Refuge System, Alaska Board of Game

• Environmental group slams management of National Bison Range
• Manager Faces Host Of Issues At Monomoy Refuge
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“This means that the lawsuit will not continue further and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can proceed with accepting lands for the refuge,” Janice Bezanson, an Austin conservationist said. Bezanson is executive director of the Texas Conservation Alliance.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified the site decades ago as a priority site for conserving habitat for wildlife, songbirds, and migratory waterfowl, Bezanson said. Plans are in place for the refuge to acquire more than 6,000 acres once the lawsuit is finalized.

Bezanson said Dallas officials added Fastrill into their long-rang water plan in January 2005 — after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had identified the site for a possible refuge and had begun meeting with stakeholders.

“There is enough water in existing reservoirs for Dallas to have all the water it needs for future growth,” Bezanson said in a press release. “Dallas could tap Lake Texoma, Wright Patman Reservoir or Toledo Bend Reservoir for its future supplies.”

Previous posts in this blog about the creation of the Neches River National Wildlife Refuge can be found here: March 14, 2009, October 7, 2009, October 14, 2009, and October 23, 2009.

Tags:
National Wildlife Refuge System, Neches River NWR, Texas

From MSNBC:

Sam Hamilton, 54, was pronounced dead at 1:16 p.m. after being transported off the mountain at Keystone Ski Area. Hamilton had been reported having chest pains, according to the Summit County coroner.

“Sam was a friend, a visionary, and a professional whose years of service and passionate dedication to his work have left an indelible mark on the lands and wildlife we cherish,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said in a statement. “His forward-thinking approach to conservation — including his view that we must think beyond boundaries at the landscape-scale — will continue to shape our nation’s stewardship for years to come.”

Hamilton guided the Interior Department’s restoration work in the Everglades. He also oversaw recovery and restoration efforts following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated coastal wetlands, wildlife refuges and other wildlife habitat along the Gulf of Mexico.

This blog reported on Hamilton’s background and support for his confirmation as director in 2009: July 31, June 17, June 12.

Updated:
The National Wildlife Refuge Association has made an announcement regarding the death of Sam Hamilton, Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“Sam was a bright light in the world of wildlife conservation,” said Evan Hirsche, President of the NWRA. “He was a pioneer in innovative strategies to protect and restore wildlife habitat; as Director of FWS, he worked tirelessly to implement a larger, landscape-level wildlife conservation vision for the nation. With his passing, the conservation community has suffered a great loss.”

Hamilton led the FWS within the U.S. Department of the Interior - the agency responsible for managing the National Wildlife Refuge System and National Fish Hatchery System, as well as enforcing the Endangered Species Act. Hamilton began his career on refuges as a Youth Conservation Corps volunteer repairing fences on refuges in Mississippi. Throughout his career Hamilton held many positions within the FWS including Director of the FWS Southeast Region, where he had authority over 128 wildlife refuges throughout the southeastern United States, and had been instrumental in restoring vital habitat in the Everglades. He also served as the agency’s state administrator in Texas, where he oversaw implementation of the Endangered Species Act. He was a Mississippi native and graduate of Mississippi State University.

“Sam got his start building fences on national wildlife refuges, rising to the highest level in the Fish and Wildlife Service leadership. Throughout he never forgot his love for national wildlife refuges,” said Hirsche.

Tags:
National Wildlife Refuge System, Sam Hamilton, US Fish and Wildlife Service

• Obama Administration Proposes Budget Cuts for Endangered Species Listing
• Grazing will continue on land sold for wildlife refuge
• Ford to donate 242-acre Monroe marsh as part of Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge
• Eagles wow the crowds at annual festival
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• Hikes drive winter visits at Canaan refuge

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced that effective February 22, 2010, the rules governing possession of firearms on National Wildlife Refuges will change as a result of legislation enacted by Congress. After this date, the law allows an individual to lawfully possess a firearm within the boundaries of a National Wildlife Refuge in accordance with federal, state and local firearms laws.

As directed by this new law, the Service will look to the laws of the state and locality in which the refuge or refuge unit is located to govern possession of firearms on the refuge. Visitors will be allowed to possess firearms on National Wildlife Refuges provided they comply with applicable provisions of federal, state and local law. Persons with so-called firearm “carry” permits will be able to possess firearms on a refuge in accordance with the provisions of the state issued permit. The new law applies to all 551 units of the National Wildlife Refuge System, as well as the National Monuments and the 392 units of the National Park System.

While the law will change the application of rules regarding possession of firearms, it has no impact on the authorized uses of firearms on National Wildlife Refuges. The law does not allow visitors to fire or discharge the firearms in any way, brandish the weapon in the view of others, or any other use of the firearm. Enforcement of regulations concerning firearms use remains under the purview of the Department of the Interior.

While possession on a refuge may generally be allowed under state law, possession of firearms will remain prohibited in Federal facilities. Examples include: visitor centers, refuge administrative office buildings, refuge maintenance offices and workshops, field and backcountry offices, ranger stations and fee collection stations.

Refuge visitors wishing to possess firearms on any unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System should carefully read and understand the laws of the state in which the refuge they plan to visit is located — as well as applicable local and county laws and ordinances that derive from that respective state’s law. The laws of the states in which they reside, or from which they may have received firearms permits, do not apply when they are away from those states, although some states offer reciprocity and allow possession based on another state’s permits.

Hunting, trapping and fishing are considered to be a legitimate, traditional recreational and wildlife management use of renewable natural resources on refuges. However, this new law does not change or expand hunting opportunities on national wildlife refuges or exempt hunters from state or federal hunting regulations.

Each person who hunts on a National Wildlife Refuge must have the required state license(s) required by the refuge, as well as any permits and/or user fees. The National Wildlife Refuge System Act of 1966, other laws and the Fish and Wildlife Service’s policy permit hunting on a refuge when it is compatible with the purposes for which the refuge was established and acquired. For additional information, go to: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/hunting/.

The law does not differentiate between concealed handguns under state permit and long guns (rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders) and it applies to all firearms, which are defined as a weapon designed to fire a projectile by the use of an explosive charge. All Federal firearms statutes remain unchanged.

Tags:
National Wildlife Refuge System, guns, US Fish and Wildlife Service