NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE FUNDING CRISIS

After six years of trying to roll back environmental regulations, ignoring global warming, rewriting the Endangered Species Act and increasing oil drilling in sensitive wild areas like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Bush Administration is now reducing the operations of the natural resource management agencies. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Bush Administration weren’t trying to weaken the natural resource agencies before the Bush political appointees go out of office in two years.

Getting hit particularly hard is the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). In recent weeks, the regional offices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have released what they call Workforce Plans, which is an innocuous term for disastrous plans to reduce the already scant staffing on our national wildlife refuges from Alaska to Florida.

Because of the terrible cost of the war, other costly blunders and tax cuts there is no money to pay for the inflationary rises in the federal domestic programs. As an example, since fiscal year 2004, the Midwest Regional Refuge System budget has remained relatively static. At the same time, personnel costs have increased annually. Operational costs, such as fuel, equipment and other expenses have also increased. To offset these rising costs, the Midwest Region has already left 35 positions vacant and will reduce staff by an additional 36 positions -- to reach the total of 71 positions -- over the next three years.

The loss of these 71 positions is a 20% reduction in the size of the refuge field workforce, a loss that cannot be made up even with improved efficiencies and better collaboration between field stations. The refuge program staff in the Midwest Regional Office has similarly been reduced, downsizing by 12% between the years 2004 to 2006.

These losses have already impacted the Midwest Region’s refuge accomplishments, and further performance impacts are expected. Staffing of our national wildlife refuges has always been pretty thin. Budget shortfalls are not unusual in the history of the National Wildlife Refuge System, but always before the extreme dedication of the field staffs made up the differences. This time that isn’t going to happen since 20% of the staff people are not even going to be there. This will mean some refuges will not have any staff available, on others there will be less habitat managed for wildlife, less protection of wildlife and the people that use the refuges, less maintenance of facilities like hiking and bird watching trails, fewer wildlife interpretation programs and more days when visitor centers will be closed. If this disturbs you, please contact your U. S. Senators and Representatives and complain about the staff reductions on our national wildlife refuges.

To see how the other parts of the Refuge System are adjusting their programs to compensate for this funding crisis, go to the following blog sites.

Budget cuts, natural damage threaten Ding Darling_By News Blogger _Richard and Judy Schmonsky spent a morning this week walking Wildlife Drive at the JN "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge and got a huge kick out of the pelicans, raccoons and wading birds. But the biggest kick for the Albany, NY
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/NEWS0105/70306041/1007

Refuges in Pacific Region Face Funding Crisis_PR Newswire (press release) - New York,NY,USA_These cuts come on the heels of a crippling refuge budget backlog of over $2.5 billion. "Our national wildlife refuges are literally crumbling before our....
http://www.pr-inside.com/refuges-in-pacific-region-face-funding-r63360.htm

or

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-12-2007/0004544481&EDATE

You can help save ‘Ding’ refuge_The News-Press - Fort Myers,FL,USA_As one would expect, the people who run the JN “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island are meeting a series of crises by doing the right ..._
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070312/OPINION/70311027/1015

Jobs being cut at Texas, Oklahoma wildlife refuges_Times Record News - Wichita Falls,TX,USA_Arizona’s nine refuges include the 860000-acre Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, third-largest in the lower 48 states. http://www.timesrecordnews.com/trn/local_news/article/0,1891,TRN_5784_5406190,00.html