News
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is embarking on an ambitious new effort to establish a Southwest Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Area. If successful, a new conservation area would allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to work with willing landowners to protect the lands most important to our water and wildlife in one of the most biologically diverse regions in our country.
“Partnerships are going to make it possible to accomplish our landscape-level conservation goals,” said Julie Morris, the Florida and Gulf Coast program manager for the National Wildlife Refuge Association. “By working hand-in-hand with our local, state, and federal partners, as well as nonprofits, we can maximize conservation on a lot more land.”
The Keep America’s Refuges Operational Act of 2022 (H.R. 6734) recently passed the House of Representatives and now heads to the Senate for consideration. In March, the National Wildlife Refuge Association’s former Vice President of Government Affairs, Caroline Brouwer, testified in support of the bill to the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife.
President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, putting our nation on a new path to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean energy economy. This historic $370 billion package is a critical investment in our future and we applaud the diligent efforts in Congress to get this bill over the finish line. We were pleased to see the inclusion of over $121 million to address the threat of invasive species and increase the resiliency and capacity of habitats within the National Wildlife Refuge System and State wildlife management areas.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association recently named Libby Marking as the Director of Government Affairs & Public Policy. Libby will work closely with Congress and the Administration to promote federal conservation funding and policy affecting the National Wildlife Refuge System. She also will lead the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement.
Through the generosity of some of our great Board Members, each year we present a Refuge Friends group with the O’ Brien Prize. Refuge Friends groups are the lifeblood of the National Wildlife Refuge System serving as volunteers and stewards of their local national wildlife refuge. We are pleased to announce the Refuge Friends group that will be receiving the O’Brien Prize, Friends of Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Vermont.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association is requesting Refuge Friends’ testimony on behalf of National Wildlife Refuge System funding levels for the Fiscal Year 2023— this time for the Senate! Many of you already submitted testimony for the House back in March, but even if you didn’t you can still submit testimony to the Senate!
Bayou Sauvage, at nearly 30,000 acres, is the nation’s second largest urban refuge and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It lies protected mostly within the levees of eastern New Orleans and has long been a favorite of birders, fishers, hunters, crabbers, hikers, bikers, and kayakers. An abundance of wildlife – more than 340 species of birds, including bald eagles, as well as Gulf sturgeon, American alligators, and the occasional west Indian manatee – call the refuge home.
The National Wildlife Refuge System encompasses more than 850 million acres of land and waters across America’s 568 National Wildlife Refuges, including 5 Marine National Monuments. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is responsible for managing these lands and is expected to fulfill its obligation to the Refuge System’s 64 million annual visitors and diverse wildlife on a budget of a mere 61¢ per acre per year, a fraction of what other land agencies receive. For comparison, the National Park Service receives $31 per acre for land management.
