Travel: Visit a wildlife refuge on your next road trip

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

National Wildlife Refuge System celebrates 11th birthday this year

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Visit a National Wildlife Refuge this summer!

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — National Parks may get most the glory, but the country’s vast National Wildlife Refuge system has also earned a special place in the hearts of anyone who cherishes the thought of giving native animals a place to roam.

This month, the NWR system is marking its 110th birthday, and despite impending budget cuts resulting from the budget sequester, several sites will be holding special events to celebrate.

It’s not surprising that the first formal wildlife refuge was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt, who created the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, along Florida’s central Atlantic coast, with an executive order in March 1903. (more…)

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Environment: Judge orders U.S. Fish and Wildlife to find and eradicate genetically engineered plants in wildlife refuges

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Battle over genetically engineered crops continues

Use of genetically engineered crops is widespread, but a judge blocks their use in wildlife refuges in the southeastern U.S.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — National Wildlife Refuge managers in the Southeast will have a tough job ahead, as a federal judge has ordered the agency not only to halt the planting of genetically engineered crops, but to eradicate those that have already been planted, as well as any stray plants that might escape.

The ruling is in response to a lawsuit by environmental and watchdog groups aimed at halting the use of genetically engineered crops in wildlife refuges. After finding in October that prior approval of GE crop planting violated environmental laws, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg directed the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to halt planting of GE crops under any of its cooperative-farming agreements throughout the ten-state Southeast Region. (more…)

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Watchdog and public health groups challenge the use of genetically engineered crops in National Wildlife Refuges

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Environmental groups say the planting of genetically engineered crops puts the biological integrity of national wildlife refuges at risk. PHOTO COURTESY USFWS.

Lawsuit claims USFWS violated environmental laws by approving use of GE crops

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Environmental and watchdog groups have joined forces in a legal battle to end the cultivation of genetically engineered crops on fifty-four national wildlife refuges across the Midwest. The lawsuit — filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the Center for Food Safety, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Beyond Pesticides is the latest in a series of successful actions by public interest groups to stop planting of GE crops on wildlife refuges.

The groups are claiming that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service violated federal environmental laws by entered into cooperative farming agreements and approved planting of GE crops in eight Midwestern states, without the environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act  and in violation of the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act and FWS’s own policy. (more…)

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Urban wildlife refuge planned near Albuquerque, New Mexico

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

A planned new urban wildlife refuge near Albuquerque, New Mexico will provide habitat for species like the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. PHOTO COURTESY USGS.

Feds say new site will boost economy, help urban residents connect with nature

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Working closely with local partners, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has the go-ahead to establish a new 570-acre wildlife refuge on the site of a former dairy farm just a few miles south of New Mexico’s largest metropolitan area

“With the support of Bernalillo County, the Trust for Public Land, New Mexico’s Congressional delegation, and many partners, New Mexico will gain its first urban national wildlife refuge,”  Said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. “Once complete, this refuge, which is within a half hour drive of nearly half of New Mexico’s population, will be a place for people to connect with and learn about the natural world and will provide valuable habitat for wildlife, including the endangered the southwestern willow flycatcher.”

Joined by U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, Congressman Martin Heinrich, and Bernalillo County Commissioner Art De La Cruz, Salazar said a refuge in this location would fulfill the goals of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative to work with community partners to establish a 21st century conservation ethic and reconnect people, especially young people, to the natural world. (more…)

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More oversight needed for wildlife refuge drilling

Posted on April 8, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Sandhill cranes at the Bitter Lak wildlife refuge in New Mexico.

Numerous spills prompt call for more stringent guidelines, including better training for staff

By Summit Voice

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service needs rules to protect National Wildlife Refuges from spills and contamination from oil and gas drilling, according to a rulemaking petition filed this week by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a Washington, D.C. group that watchdogs federal agencies.

According to PEER, thousands of wells now operate on refuges, particularly in the south and east where the subsurface rights are privately held, with little regulation. That number is likely to skyrocket as natural gas from underground shale formations is tapped.

PEER is pressing the Fish & Wildlife Service, which operates the refuge system, to adopt rules modeled on ones the National Park Service has had in effect for more than 30 years. The rules address spill prevention and response, bonds for reclamation, proper waste disposal and reducing surface impacts. (more…)

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Feds outline a new vision for wildlife refuge system

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

A roseate spoonbill at a national wildlife refuge in Florida.

Salazar wants to connect a new generation to the outdoors and more access to recreation

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar participated in the  Center for American Progress’ new Public Lands Project this week, speaking about the America’s Great Outdoors initiative and unveiling his new vision for the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Salazar announced a draft vision plan to guide the growth and management of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The vision document – “Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation” — was developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Wildlife Refuge Association and offers nearly 100 draft recommendations to protect and improve the world’s premier system of public lands and water set aside to conserve America’s fish, wildlife and plants for the continuing benefit of the American people. (more…)

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Key federal wildlife agency gets new director

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

Dan Ashe has been nominated as next director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Fish and Wildlife Service manages National Wildlife Refuge system and overseas endangered species protection

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Dan Ashe, 15-year veteran with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has been nominated to serve as the agency’s new director.

“As a senior manager with the Fish and Wildlife Service for more than 15 years, Dan Ashe has experience leading many of the agency’s programs, including the National Wildlife Refuge System and the migratory bird program,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar . “He is an outstanding choice to ensure the Service’s programs are both innovative and science-driven as we face the challenges of managing our fish and wildlife resources in the 21st century.” (more…)

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Conservation a legacy of Great Depression

Posted on October 3, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

A cypress tree casts its reflection through the fall mist onto Buck Lake, part of White River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. The refuge is one of 27 celebrating their 75th anniversaries this year. Photo by Richard Hines, USFWS

27 national wildife refuges celebrating their 75th anniversary this year

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — In 1935 land prices were low, the need for conservation apparent, and the nation was laboring to recover from the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. This helps explain why it was a banner year for the establishment of national wildlife refuges. Twenty-seven refuges, most of them in the country’s midsection, mark their 75th anniversaries in 2010.

Some, like White River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas, celebrating with an open house on Saturday, October 16, see parallels between those times and now.

In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps played a “significant role,” says refuge manager Dennis W. Sharp, building roads and structures on the refuge, established for the protection of migratory birds. Today, during another economic downturn,  stimulus funds have helped repave six miles of gravel road on the refuge and repair CCC structures including a dam, a garage and a pipe storage building. (more…)

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