News
The evidence of the effects of lead toxicity on wildlife populations and human health has been growing quickly over the past few decades. The National Wildlife Refuge System should be the pinnacle of wildlife protection and conservation on public lands. We must acknowledge the adverse health effects lead has on wildlife, especially on national wildlife refuges throughout the country.
The decades-long battle to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska has reached a milestone as yet another major oil company pulls its lease to drill for oil in the sensitive Coastal Plain ecosystem. Regenerate Alaska is now the third company to abandon its lease in addition to Chevron and Hilcorp who did less than a week earlier.
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.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association recently named Elizabeth (Liz) Figueroa as the South Florida Regional Partnership Specialist for NWRA’s Urban Wildlife Refuge Program. Liz’s primary focus is to build a major urban program throughout South Florida in partnership with the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Boynton Beach.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association listens to the growing concerns of refuges about how chronic underfunding is affecting their refuge, complex, and region. Due to this underfunding, staff positions are being cut, law enforcement is expected to cover thousands of acres (and in the worst-case scenario, a full state), refuges are being complexed, and important programs are being dropped.
Former President Jimmy Carter has filed an amicus curia, or friend of the court brief, supporting a rehearing of a District Court decision to allow a road to be constructed across the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Carter’s brief comes in support of the National Wildlife Refuge Association and other conservation partners’ petition requesting a rehearing of that decision by a larger set of 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges.
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!
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.
The National Wildlife Refuge Association is excited to announce the third installment of the O’Brien Prize, an annual award for our Friends groups. The prize is named after Donal O’Brien III, a past Board Chair and longtime enthusiast of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Don is a generous supporter of the great work we do for national wildlife refuges and is very impressed by the dedication and effectiveness of Refuge Friends groups.
Historically, the Klamath Basin has been a crucial part of the Pacific Flyway for migratory waterfowl, owing to its approximately 185,000 acres of wetlands attracting more than seven million waterfowl each year. The renowned ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson wrote that the Klamath Basin was one of the few places in the country where you could see more than one million birds on a given day. Unfortunately, given climate change and drought, that is no longer the case.
