Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Wildlife Refuge System is the world’s premier system of public lands. The Refuge System encompasses more than 150 million acres, is enjoyed by 40 million Americans each year, employs nearly 27,000 people, and generates almost $1.7 billion in sales for regional economies.
And it is woefully under-funded.
That’s where the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) comes into play. Comprised primarily of hunting and conservation organizations, including the National Rifle Association, CARE’s 22 member organizations have worked together as a coalition for 15 years with the sole purpose of increasing the level of operations and maintenance funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Refuge System has an operations and maintenance backlog of more than $3.6 billion—a shortfall that has ramifications for sportsmen and women who visit refuge lands for hunting, fishing, and other recreational activities.
Unfortunately, 35 percent of refuges are currently unstaffed, and every refuge has unmet operations and maintenance needs. To give just a few examples of those needs, the system requires 845 full-time law enforcement officers, but currently has just 205—one officer for every 731,000 acres. The system is able to invest just 0.67 percent of its value in annual maintenance, and CARE recommends investing $380 million annually or 1.6 percent, still woefully short of the industry standard of investing 2 to 6 percent. And more than two million acres have already been lost to invasive species, placing threatened and endangered species at even greater risk
With its congressional supporters, CARE has been successful in obtaining funding increases for the Refuge System at a slow, but steady, pace. For the upcoming fiscal year (FY) 2011 appropriation cycle, CARE is asking Congress to raise the appropriation level to $578 million. This is far below the $900 million annually that CARE estimates the Refuge System needs to function fully, but it would put the system on the path of meeting its responsibilities to hunters, anglers, and other constituencies that value refuges.
For FY 2010, the system’s congressional appropriation is $503 million—an average of just $3.35 per acre. The system received $462.8 million for FY 2009.
Hunters have been the backbone of the National Wildlife Refuge System since its beginnings in 1903, when hunter-conservationist President Theodore Roosevelt established the first federal refuge, the tiny three-mile Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, to protect a species that was on the brink of extinction. In 1934, the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, commonly known as the “Duck Stamp,” was created by another sportsman, J.N. “Ding” Darling. This stamp serves as the federal license required for migratory waterfowl hunting. Its current cost is $15.
Ninety-eight cents out of every Duck Stamp dollar is spent directly on purchasing land for the Refuge System. Thanks to the support of hunters across America, more than five million acres of wetland and grassland habitat have been added to the system. Of the 551 refuges in the system, more than 300 are open to hunting, as are approximately 36,000 Waterfowl Production Areas.
Hunters’ contribution of nearly $25 million annually has grown the system in a significant way, and while used to acquire lands suitable for waterfowl and hunted species, the revenue has a direct benefit for other wildlife. Over the past seven decades, more than $750 million has been generated, largely from waterfowl hunters. Adjusted for inflation, the number would be far north of $2 billion. This revenue is an unparalleled contribution exemplifying the unique role the hunting community continues to play in wildlife conservation throughout the country.
In 1934, when the Duck Stamp was created, our country was in the midst of the most severe economic depression we had ever known, and financial resources were slim to non-existent for many hunters. But because our natural resources were undergoing their own crisis, hunters stepped up as the stewards of the wildlife they hunted—something that still holds true to this day.
The Refuge System exists because of hunters, and the hunting community expects its investment to be protected. There is no better way to acknowledge and respect this level of citizen-based conservation funding than to ensure funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System that can sustain and enhance the wildlife and habitat put under its charge.
Thus, the NRA asks Congress to support CARE’s request of $578 million for FY 2011.
