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CAPITOL FLYER
Thursday, January
5, 2006
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Capitol
Flyer is intended to keep you abreast of the latest developments
in Washington affecting the National Wildlife Refuge System.
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Special
Edition: 2005 Year in Review
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Table of Contents:
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2005: The Year in Review
Happy
New Year, from all of us at the National Wildlife Refuge Association!
With 2005 concluded and members of Congress home in their districts
and states before they return to Washington for another year of
legislating, the January issue of Capitol Flyer is a great opportunity
to look back over the good (National Friends Conference), the bad
(Arctic) and the ugly (refineries on refuges) of the past year as
it applies to national wildlife refuges.
2005
National Friends Conference: "Friends in Action" - Without a doubt,
2005 began on a high note when the national wildlife refuge community
came together in Washington, DC, for the 2005 National Friends Conference,
held February 5-7. In all, more than 250 refuge Friends and U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) staff attended the conference, representing
over 100 refuges in approximately 45 states. Following the conference,
the National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) led more than 120
Friends to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress to expand
Congressional support and draw attention to the Refuge System's
funding shortfalls.
Pocosin
Lakes NWR - Early in 2005, a Federal District Court ruled that the
U.S. Navy distorted an environmental impact statement (EIS) to justify
the construction of an outlying landing field (OLF) for fighter
jets within five miles of the Pocosin Lakes NWR in North Carolina.
Although the Navy appealed the district court ruling in March, the
U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond upheld the ruling.
The Navy is currently working on a new EIS.
National
Bison Range - On March 15, the annual funding agreement (AFA) between
the FWS and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), which
transferred approximately half the refuge staff positions and budget
at the National Bison Range in Montana to the tribes, went into
effect. Although Congress had 90 days to review the agreement and
the NWRA and other national and local groups urged them to conduct
oversight on the agreement, no official action was taken. The agreement
runs through September 30, 2006, at which point the CSKT may sign
another agreement with the FWS.
Yukon
Flats Land Exchange - In February 2005, the FWS began considering
a proposed land exchange at the Yukon Flats NWR in Alaska. The exchange
would take place between the FWS and Doyon, Limited, an Alaska Native
Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Corporation that owns 1.25 million
acres within the exterior boundary of the refuge. In May, as a result
of pressure from the NWRA, other conservation organizations and
some native villages, the Department of the Interior (DOI) agreed
to conduct an EIS.
Conservation
Tax Incentives - The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) of the U.S.
Congress came out with recommendations for Congress that would dismantle
tax deductions for landowners who volunteer to conserve their land.
Those tax incentives, in place for more than 25 years, have led
to voluntary conservation of more than 34 million acres of working
agricultural lands, working forests, wildlife habitats, historic
landscapes and parklands. Due to enormous pressure from conservation
organizations like the NWRA and land trust organizations across
the country, the Senate approved a conservation tax incentive bill
that is a victory for land conservation. Passed in November, the
bill expands tax incentives for conservation easement donations,
while also tightening the appraisal standards for donated property
and changing the rules for donations of easements on historic structures.
Ivory-Billed
Woodpecker - 2005 saw the dramatic announcement by the Department
of the Interior that the ivory-billed woodpecker, long thought extinct,
had been found in the Cache River NWR, Arkansas. The ivory-billed
woodpecker was squeezed out of its southeastern old-bottomland habitat
due to the fragmentation and harvesting of contiguous forests. Presumed
extinct for decades, there have been unconfirmed sightings in a
number of southeastern states, but no confirmation of live birds
until now.
Special-Interest
Access to Closed Refuges - On May 26, the House Resources Subcommittee
on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans held a hearing on
public access to the National Wildlife Refuge System. The groups
testifying included Ham radio operators, model airplane enthusiasts,
and veterans from the Battle of Midway (conservation groups were
not asked to testify). Special-interest groups testified that they
are unfairly denied access to national wildlife refuges to pursue
their activities. The FWS provided testimony at the hearing explaining
that the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997
clearly defined compatible uses on refuges. The Act designates six
priority "wildlife-dependent" uses on refuges: hunting; fishing;
wildlife observation and photography; and environmental education
and interpretation. As a result of the hearing, Congressman Nick
Rahall (D-WV) introduced H.R. 1183, which provides access to Navassa
and Desecheo, two Caribbean refuges that are closed to the public
for biological and public safety reasons. H.R. 1183 passed out of
the House Resources Committee October 19; however, no further action
has taken place on the legislation.
Partners
for Fish and Wildlife Legislation - On June 28, the Senate unanimously
passed the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act (S. 260). The bill
authorizes $75 million a year for the FWS' Partners for Fish and
Wildlife Program from 2006 to 2011. The Program provides incentives
and assistance for private landowners to improve the natural habitats
on their own land. In 17 years, the program has protected more than
670,000 acres of wetlands and produced over 33,000 agreements with
private landowners. Similar legislation (H.R. 2018) is currently
being considered by the House Resources Committee. The NWRA strongly
supports this legislation and hopes to see it become law in 2006.
FY
2006 Interior Appropriations - At the end of July, the Congress
cleared for the president's signature a $26.2 billion Interior-Environment
spending bill, the first fiscal year (FY) 2006 appropriations bill
sent to the White House. The bill provided the FWS' operations and
maintenance (O&M) account for the Refuge System at $391,521,000
after rescissions. This is an approximate increase of $7 million
over FY 2005. However, a 1% across-the-board rescission included
in the final FY 2006 appropriations bill passed in December cut
an additional $4 million from the refuge O&M budget. Therefore,
the final O&M budget is approximately $387 million. Included in
the Interior Appropriations bill is $1 million (not including rescissions)
to continue and expand the Volunteer Invasives Monitoring Project
(VIMP) and provide competitive grants to refuge Friends groups on
invasive species control. This allocation is a result of the successful
VIMP program-a partnership among the NWRA, FWS, The Nature Conservancy
and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The NWRA has worked closely with
Congress over the years to ensure this funding is approved. In 2005,
the VIMP added seven new sites for a total of 13 sites participating
in the Program.
Transportation
- After prolonged consideration stretching back to 2004, Congress
finally passed the Transportation bill July 29. The bill was deemed
a victory for the Refuge System, which was allocated $29 million
annually for the maintenance and upkeep of roads on national wildlife
refuges. Originally, the Senate version called for $29 million,
while the House version allocated $20 million. However, as a result
of FWS efforts to educate members of Congress and lobbying by the
NWRA and Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), the
Senate figure was adopted in the final bill. Although the Refuge
System continues to face a backlog of more than $2 billion for transportation
needs, getting the full $29 million is a victory for the Refuge
System, and a considerable increase over the past Refuge Roads funding
level of $17 million. In addition to Refuge Roads, the Transportation
bill also allocated $20.2 million for specific refuge projects across
the country.
Beyond
Refuge Boundaries - The NWRA issued a policy report in August citing
an urgent need to implement strategies that conserve lands outside
national wildlife refuges. The "2005 State of the System" report
tells the story of 12 refuges-six threatened and six rescued-that
geographically illustrate why we must take action now. In the report,
the NWRA recommends five government actions: 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. Following the report, the NWRA held a workshop at the FWS'
National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia with 60 attendees
representing 30 refuge Friends groups from across the country. The
workshop provided an opportunity to educate Friends about threats
to refuges from beyond refuge boundaries and give them the tools
to protect refuges from these threats.
Refineries
on Refuges - Just before Columbus Day, the House passed a bill that
allows oil refineries to be built on national wildlife refuges,
national conservation areas and other public lands. The "Gasoline
for America's Security Act" (GAS Act), H.R. 3893, which was is aimed
at lowering gasoline prices by increasing refinery capacity in the
wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, includes a provision that would
require the president to designate areas on federal lands "appropriate
for the purposes of siting a refinery." The GAS Act passed the House
by a razor-thin margin of 212-210. Similar refinery legislation
was considered in the Senate, but failed to pass out of committee
when Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI)-guest columnist in NWRA's inaugural
issue of Wildlife Refuge Magazine-joined committee Democrats in
voting against the bill.
Gulf
Coast Hurricane Damage - One of the biggest stories of 2005 was
hurricanes hitting the Gulf Coast. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused
severe damage to refuges in the Gulf Coast region. Following these
two powerful storms, Hurricane Wilma inflicted damage across Florida.
Estimates of the damages to refuges from the combined storms exceed
$240 million (while additional needs continue to be discovered);
this represents well-over half of the Refuge System's total annual
operating budget. On October 28, the Administration submitted a
supplemental funding request to Congress that included $61 million
for restoration and repair costs on refuges. According to the FWS,
these costs alone total approximately $152 million between Katrina
and Rita. As one of Congress' final actions of the year, the House
and Senate approved $30 million for refuges damaged by hurricanes.
This number is woefully short of the actual Refuge System needs.
The NWRA, along with CARE, will continue to work with Congress in
2006 in order to address the extensive damage to refuges caused
by hurricanes in 2005.
Mining
Provision for Public Lands - In 2005, a section was added to the
Budget Reconciliation bill that threatened to put millions of acres
of public land, including refuges, up for sale to mining companies.
The mining provision would have allowed companies to buy rights
to over 270 million acres of public lands for any number of purposes.
The NWRA, along with a number of conservation groups, strongly opposed
the mining language. Thanks to strong opposition from conservation
organizations, including a large number of hunting and fishing organizations,
the mining provision was ultimately removed from the Budget Reconciliation
measure.
Arctic
NWR - In November, the Senate approved a Budget Reconciliation bill
that included language allowing drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. Following the Senate vote, the House approved a
Budget Reconciliation bill that did not include the Arctic drilling
language. Faced with the reality that they could not pass a Budget
bill if it included drilling in the Arctic, Republican leaders were
forced to drop the provision from the final bill. However, as soon
as the Arctic provision was dropped from the Budget bill, Senator
Ted Stevens (R-AK), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
on Defense, added the language to a "must-pass" Defense Appropriations
bill in the final days leading up to Christmas. However, with letters
and calls pouring in to Congressional offices from people all across
the country, the Senate Republican leadership could not overcome
a filibuster threat, and was forced to, again, drop the Arctic drilling
provision. As something the NWRA and its members have been tirelessly
fighting throughout much of 2005 (as well as past years), this was
a huge victory and a great way to close out the year.
(return
to table of contents)
DOI Officials Confirmed
On
December 29, R. Thomas Weimer was sworn in as Assistant Secretary
of the Interior for Policy, Management and Budget. He replaces Lynn
Scarlett, who was promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Interior November
22.
Weimer
previously served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water
and Science. His 18 years of federal experience includes previously
serving at Interior as chief of staff to Secretary Manuel Lujan,
Jr. Thomas Weimer began his career as an engineer at Sandia National
Laboratories. From there he went to Capitol Hill, were he began
his work in policy with then-Congressman Lujan. He has also spent
time as program director at the National Academy of Engineering
in Washington, DC.
(return
to table of contents)
Take
Action!
If
you received this issue of Capitol Flyer directly from the NWRA,
your e-mail address is registered with the Refuge Action Network.
But have you taken action on refuge issues? Help make a difference
on refuge issues by utilizing the NWRA's
RAN e-advocacy tool. It's fast, easy and effective!
Please
visit the NWRA Web site or contact Michael Woodbridge, Assistant
Director of Government Affairs, at 202.333.9073 or mwoodbridge@refugenet.org
for more information.
(return to table of contents)
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Capitol
Flyer, a monthly e-newsletter from the NWRA, is prepared by Michael
Woodbridge, NWRA's Assistant Director of Government Affairs.
For additional information, please contact mwoodbridge@refugenet.org.
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