Media Contacts
Cat Lazaroff
Communications Director
(202)
772-3270
Christine Merker
Communications Coordinator
(202) 772-0284
Not a journalist but need help? Contact our Member Services
team:
1-800-385-9712
Sign up for our Press List
Get Defenders Headlines
Get the latest wildlife conservation news and information... right when we post it online.
For Immediate Release
Nation's Most Endangered Wildlife Refuges of 2005 Announced by Defenders of Wildlife
Large-scale threats overwhelming refuges
WASHINGTON -- According to a Defenders of Wildlife report released today, one of the nation’s most significant resources for protecting and conserving wildlife and wildlife places -- the national wildlife refuge system – is battling a daunting array of threats from inside and outside its own borders.
The report Refuges at Risk: America’s Ten Most Endangered
National Wildlife Refuges 2005 highlights how complex issues such as border
policy, western water management, energy development, air pollution, suburban
development and other threats are eroding the largest system of protected lands
in the world dedicated to wildlife conservation. Release of the report precedes
National Wildlife Refuge Week (October 9-15).
“If we don’t
turn back some of these immediate threats to our wildlife refuge system,
America’s most amazing wildlife spectacles will simply not be there for our
grandchildren,” said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.
“Whether it’s caribou in the Arctic Refuge, rare songbirds in Mingo Refuge, or
jaguars in the Buenos Aires Refuge, where can we protect wildlife, if not in our
national wildlife refuges?”
According to Defenders’ report, the large-scale threats facing the system are overwhelming the poorly staffed refuges. U.S. border and immigration policy is shifting illegal border crossing into sensitive desert habitats within Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Arizona. A massive water diversion in California could completely alter the Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR. Oil and gas wells in the McFaddin NWR have killed vegetation and polluted marshland habitat, while the Bush administration and many in Congress push plans to permit drilling in the Arctic NWR. At the Moapa NWR, a proposal to drill for water for Las Vegas may suck dry the refuge’s springs, which are vital for endangered species. Noise and habitat exclusion from a proposed jet landing field next to the Pocosin Lakes NWR threatens tens of thousands of swans, geese and ducks and the Navy pilots whose safety will be compromised by this ill-conceived plan to mix large waterfowl and fighter jets.
“Each of these ten refuges, and the 535 other refuges in the country, is in a funding crisis,” said Schlickeisen. “Moapa Valley NWR has only a quarter of one staff person’s time to restore and protect its fragile desert springs for an endangered species. Nearly 200 other refuges do not even have staff.
“Next week is National Wildlife Refuge Week, a time to celebrate and experience the beauty and wonders of these remarkable lands. We can and must fix the problems facing our wildlife refuges,” added Schlickeisen. “We cannot sit by and watch the only public lands devoted to wildlife protection whither away. There’s simply too much at stake – not only for us but for future generations.
“Our report clearly shows that the National Wildlife Refuge System faces increasingly complex threats,” said Schlickeisen. “If we can’t protect wildlife and habitat on our wildlife refuges, where can we protect them?”
While Defenders’ Refuges at Risk project focuses each year on threats to our national wildlife refuges that are either human-caused or at least controllable by humans, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita show that these special places are also vulnerable to natural catastrophes. In addition to the human tragedy and horrific damage the hurricanes did to people in the region, it also did tremendous damage to refuges in Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi. Initial estimates by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service indicate that Katrina caused more than $90 million in damages to these refuges, including damage to Breton National Wildlife Refuge, an island refuge off the coast of Louisiana, roughly half of which was simply washed away. The Service is still assessing wildlife impacts from these storms. Defenders will urge legislators to address the needs of refuges slammed by Katrina and Rita, while also dealing with the threats that are the focus of Refuges at Risk.
The National Wildlife Refuge System contains 545 refuges and covers nearly 100 million acres in all 50 states and 5 territories, providing some of this nation’s most spectacular landscapes and supporting an amazing variety of wildlife – from migratory birds to bighorn sheep, elk and caribou – as well as many endangered and threatened species. Close to 40 million visitors visit refuges every year seeking outdoor experiences.
Defenders of Wildlife works with federal, tribal, state, and local agencies, private organizations, and landowners to protect America’s national wildlife refuges. The goal of the Refuges at Risk report is to highlight the threats facing the wildlife refuge system in order to build public support for saving wildlife by safeguarding and nourishing the places where they live.
2005 Ten Most Endangered Wildlife Refuges
(in alphabetical order)
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, AK: Drilling proponents have resorted to legislative tricks in attempts to open the Arctic refuge to drilling despite overwhelming public opposition, threatening polar bears, caribou, and millions of birds.
Browns Park NWR, CO: Incompatible livestock grazing has
wiped out habitat for elk, deer, and thousands of migratory birds on this refuge
that protects wetlands along the Green
River.
Buenos
Aires NWR, AZ: Border policies have funneled growing
numbers of migrants and enforcement personnel into the fragile and harsh Arizona
desert leaving hundreds of miles of illegal foot trails and roads.
The last home to the endangered masked bob-white quail, the refuge cannot
withstand escalating border traffic.
Florida Panther NWR, FL: Expanding development and roads near the refuge are destroying habitat and killing Florida panthers, one of the world’s most endangered species.
McFaddin NWR, TX: Already marred by scores of wells, the refuge is bracing for increasing oil and gas development as energy prices make old oil fields like McFaddin once again attractive. The refuge protects Texas’ largest freshwater marsh and is an important migratory bird wintering and resting area.
Mingo NWR, MO: Pollution from a proposed power plant upwind of the refuge will poison this vast, pristine bottomland hardwood forest.
Moapa NWR, NV: Proposed groundwater pumping to feed Las Vegas’s exponential growth is a death sentence for Nevada’s desert springs and the endangered species that depend on them.
Oyster Bay
NWR,
NY:
Stormwater runoff and sewage discharge from motor boats
is deteriorating this important estuary, near the home of the father of the
refuge system, Teddy Roosevelt.
Pocosin Lakes NWR, NC: The Navy is pushing to build an auxiliary landing field in the home of 100,000 swans, geese, and ducks threatening both wildlife and military pilots.
Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR, CA: A massive water transfer will destroy habitat vital to most of the birds in the Pacific Flyway if a restoration plan isn’t developed before the transfer takes place.
###
Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 490,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues.
