Green Jobs For Refuges

Latest Update: May 5, 2009

In late April, Secretary Salazar announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would invest $280 million on refuges and fish hatcheries funded through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The funding includes $115 million for construction projects, which include energy efficiency projects, and $165 million for habitat restoration projects.

NWRA and the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) advocated for $1 billion for refuges in our “Green Jobs for Refuges” campaign.

Download the Green Jobs Fact Sheet

Stimulating Local Economies by Investing in America’s Wildlife Refuges

Contractors work at Sabine NWR, LA after hurricane damage. © Tom MacKenzie, FWS

With at least one national wildlife refuge in every state, the National Wildlife Refuge System conserves and restores vital habitat for fish and wildlife. In doing so, wildlife refuges offer significant economic benefits by attracting 40 million visitors annually, who spend more than $1.7 billion each year, resulting in employment for more than 27,000 Americans. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will utilize the funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and put thousands of American’s to work throughout the country on projects to restore habitat and make buildings more energy efficient.

These projects will not only improve the lives of thousands of Americans but also reduce global warming pollution and improve environmental health by making facilities and buildings more energy efficient, installing alternative energy systems, and restoring thousands of acres of degraded habitat. These projects will keep local construction, electrical, landscaping and other companies working throughout 2009. Moreover, they will prepare the next generation of American workers with the skills they need to lead a green revolution in our economy.

This investment in infrastructure and habitat restoration on national wildlife refuges across the country will put people to work today and lay the foundation for tomorrow’s greener and more efficient economy. Economic stimulus projects for FWS fall in two broad categories – Greening Facilities, and Restoring Habitat.

See a list of Stimulus Projects by State.

Green Jobs on Refuges - Greening Facilities, and Restoring Habitat

Rooftop solar panels power Visitor’s Center, Imperial NWR, AZ
© FWS

GREENING FACILITIES

The National Wildlife Refuge System has standardized facility designs that incorporate many ways to conserve energy and reduce global warming pollution. These elements include proper site location, xeric landscaping, high levels of insulation, energy efficient windows and lighting, application of passive solar energy and photovoltaic cell technology, use of water conserving devices, geothermal heat pumps, and recycled materials in construction.

Improving Energy Efficiency

FWS will immediately improve the energy efficiency of many facilities by installing solar and geothermal power systems and by upgrading insulation, windows and doors, and retrofitting lighting. FWS will hire local contractors, including electricians and carpenters, and will engage younger workers who will in turn learn new and important skills that will prepare them for a career in infrastructure development or environmental restoration.

New Green Construction

FWS will initiate large–scale and high-priority construction projects including visitor centers, education and equipment storage facilities and office space. Each facility incorporates standard designs that utilize green technology and energy-efficient features. These projects create or support jobs broadly across the construction industry and require supplies and materials from a wide range of companies and areas.

Blueprint of approved Standard Design Visitor Learning Center for Wertheim NWR, NY © FWS

Renewable Energy

Building on existing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, FWS will accelerate the transition from conventional to renewable energy systems. With this investment, FWS can employ local companies to install photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, small wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps. These projects provide short-term jobs and economic stimulus and long-term cost savings and emission reductions.

Invasive Water Chestnut is hand-pulled at Log Pond Cove, Silvio O. Conte NFWR, MA © FWS

RESTORING HABITAT

Combating Invasive Species

Many national wildlife refuges are literally being taken over by the unrelenting march of invasive plants and animals on millions of acres that crowd out native vegetation and degrade the quality of wildlife habitat. FWS will work to eradicate invasive plants and animals, which is essential for FWS to accomplish its wildlife and habitat objectives.

Restoring Native Habitat

In 2006, hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers spent more than $122 billion – fully 1 percent of U.S. GDP – on equipment, lodging and services. Restoring native habitat on national wildlife refuges is critical to supporting healthy populations of game and nongame species that are essential to our economy and culture. Beginning in spring 2009, FWS will begin restoration projects such as cultivating and planting native trees, grasses and other plants as part of comprehensive efforts to restore and improve vital habitat.

Upgrading Water Management Systems

Wetlands across the refuge system provide critical habitat for fish and wildlife, along with a host of other benefits, including flood control, improving water quality, groundwater recharge and carbon sequestration. Many wetlands now include man-made levees, dikes, pumps, valves and other systems that have become important for wildlife and wetland management. Using existing priorities, FWS will contract local companies and workers to repair, construct and restore these ageing and deteriorating structures and systems.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – An Agency with a Proven Track Record of Creating and Implementing Effective Jobs Programs

The FWS has a proven track record of quickly and efficiently converting significant emergency funding into positive on-the-ground results. For example, a September 2008 Department of the Interior Inspector General (IG) report assessing the use of emergency funding to repair damage to lands and facilities caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita concluded that FWS had spent 90 percent of funding it received within one fiscal year of funding being appropriated. This was the highest and most efficient rate of all Interior agencies. The IG also found that FWS had made substantial progress in completing repairs less than two years after the hurricanes. It attributed FWS’s successful management and use of funds, in part, to creation of a high-level management team in the Southeast region that quickly evaluated damage, prioritized projects and monitored expenditures.

Historic Opportunity Harkens Back to Jobs on Public Lands After Depression

Refuges put thousands of Americans to work as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan to pull our nation out of the Great Depression. From Seney NWR in Michigan to Malheur NWR in Oregon to Aransas NWR on the gulf coast of Texas, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was responsible for much-needed conservation and construction projects on refuges all over the nation. The funding included for refuges in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act harkens back to this historic time in our nation’s history.

Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement Press Release (12.11.08):
22 Environmental and Sporting Groups Announce Stimulus Plan to Create 20,000 Green Jobs on Wildlife Refuges

For more information or to speak with a representative at the National Wildlife Refuge Association about more ways you can help, call 202-333-9075 or send an e-mail to Desiree Sorenson-Groves at dgroves@refugeassociation.org.

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