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Member organizations of the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), including the National Rifle Association, met with members of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) on Wednesday to reaffirm their commitment to the National Wildlife Refuge System and discuss the system’s fiscal year (FY) 2011 funding needs.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, along with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Sam Hamilton and Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks and DOI Chief of Staff Tom Strickland, spoke to the members about the importance of the National Wildlife Refuge System and the collective efforts of the CARE coalition to support necessary funding to the system.
“The conservation agenda for the 21st century should surpass the conservation agenda that goes back to the days of Theodore Roosevelt,” said Salazar. “We are doing some heavy lifting against the backdrop of huge budget deficits, including funding for the refuge system and DOI in general.”
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the founding of CARE, which was created in 1995 as a loose coalition of diverse organizations concerned about the ability of our National Wildlife Refuges to fulfill their missions. CARE has worked together as a coalition representing more than 15 million Americans who enjoy wildlife refuges for hunting, fishing, and conservation, and whose purpose is to increase the level of operations and maintenance funding for the 150-million acre system.
Representing NRA at the meeting was Susan Recce, a founding member of CARE and NRA-ILA’s Director of Conservation, Wildlife and Natural Resources, who spoke about hunters’ investment in the refuge system—and the importance of providing appropriate funding to protect that investment.
Through CARE’s efforts, the refuge system has received steady funding increases, and CARE has requested $578 million in operations and maintenance funding for 2011, which is an increase of $75 million over FY 2010, though still far below the $900 million annually that CARE estimates the system needs to function fully.
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.
By comparison, the President Obama’s FY 2011 budget proposal calls for $2.7 billion for the National Park Service, which manages 84 million acres, and $1.1 billion for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages 253 million surface acres. Based on these tentative appropriation levels, the federal government will invest $32.14 per acre in our National Parks and $4.35 per acre on BLM lands in 2011, but only $3.85 per acre for our National Wildlife Refuges—and that’s if Congress grants CARE’s 2011 appropriation request.
“A more targeted approach with engagement by sportsmen might broaden bipartisan appeal on Capitol Hill, potentially leading to the increased funding sought by the CARE partners,” said Strickland.
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.
“Sportsmen’s access to America’s refuge system is a key to maintaining sportsmen support, especially in light of the fact that waterfowl hunters help pay for the refuge system through the Federal Duck Stamp Program,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation President Jeff Crane.
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.
The current members of CARE are:
American Birding Association
American Fisheries Society
American Sportfishing Association
Assateague Coastal Trust
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation
Defenders of Wildlife
Ducks Unlimited
Izaak Walton League of America
National Audubon Society
National Rifle Association of America
National Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Refuge Association
Safari Club International
The Corps Network
The Nature Conservancy
The Wilderness Society
The Wildlife Society
Trout Unlimited
U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
Wildlife Forever
Wildlife Management Institute
