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Growing Threats To Refuges

The new 2005 State of the System report is now available from the National Wildlife Refuge Association. The new report cites an urgent need to implement strategies that conserve lands outside national wildlife refuges. It finds that lands and waters surrounding refuges, called buffer zones, actually have more agriculture, subdivision, and other human activity than the national average. The report features 12 refuges – six threatened and six rescued – that illustrate the need to take action.

The report's six top threatened National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) in the United States are: Pocosin Lakes, North Carolina; Horicon, Wisconsin; Stone Lakes, California; White River, Arkansas; Alaska Maritime, Alaska; and Desert NWR Complex, Nevada.

The report's six top rescued national wildlife refuges in the United States are: Sacramento NWR Complex, California; Minnesota Valley, Minnesota; Lake Umbagog, New Hampshire/Maine; Tensas River, Louisiana; Red Rock Lakes, Montana; and Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas.

Many of the refuges mentioned in the report are Important Bird Areas (IBAs). Most are also popular birding, wildlife-watching or visitor-oriented locations.

The NWRA is urging Congress and the Administration to implement five solutions to address the "beyond the boundary" issue for the Refuge System: strengthening incentives for private landowners to practice conservation; conserving more land through acquisition and easements; allocating more funds at the state level; conducting more research to determine priorities; and establishing preventative systems for shipping disasters near refuges. For those actively engaged in bird conservation, these solutions are part of the currently promoted strategy for 21st-century integrated bird conservation, approaches that include State Wildlife Action Plans, migratory bird Joint Ventures, conservation elements of the Farm Bill, and NAWCA.

For more information and to view the State of the System – Beyond the Boundaries report visit http://www.refugenet.org/