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the growth and management of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The
document, initially drafted by the Service and the National Wildlife
Refuge Association, articulates a 10-year blueprint for the Refuge System.
Entitled Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation,
the Service’s vision was developed with extensive input from stakeholders
through a transparent public process during the last 18 months. The final
version of the document is now available online at
www.americaswildlife.org.
“For more than 100 years, the National Wildlife Refuge System has
conserved America’s great wildlife heritage and working lands for current
and future generations, and this blueprint will ensure that a new era of
conservation – one rooted in strong partnerships with the community –
remains vibrant for the next 100 years,” said Secretary of the Interior
Ken Salazar. “I applaud the Fish and Wildlife Service for their commitment
to increasing the public’s access to open spaces and to inspiring a new
generation to enjoy America’s great outdoors and get involved in
conserving our nation’s wild things and wild places.”
Conserving the Future underscores the importance of building and expanding
partnerships – working together with other federal agencies, states,
tribes, conservation organizations and citizens.
“The conservation challenges of the 21st century demand that the Service
renews its commitment to our important relationship with state fish and
wildlife agencies and with traditional partners such as anglers and
hunters,” said Dan Ashe, Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service. “At
the same time, we need to be creative and bold in forging new
partnerships.”
Among the vision’s recommendations, the Refuge System will:
launch an urban refuge initiative to increase the American
people’s connection with their natural heritage, including wildlife
refuges;
work with state fish and wildlife agencies to prepare a strategy
for increasing quality hunting and fishing opportunities – especially for
youth and people with disabilities – on wildlife refuges;
collaborate more with private and regional groups to conserve
wildlife habitat;
undertake an inventory and monitoring of the Refuge System’s land
and water resources to better protect them against future threats;
develop a plan to guide refuges in assessing potential climate
change impacts to refuge habitats and species; and
plan for strategic growth by prioritizing potential acquisition
sites and assessing the status of current habitat protection efforts.
To date, three implementation teams are focusing on 1) strategic growth of
the Refuge System; 2) an urban wildlife refuge initiative; and 3)
leadership development, and six more teams are being formed to focus on
aspects of the vision.
In describing the Refuge System’s role in addressing America’s
conservation challenges, the vision document states: “Human demands on the
environment combined with environmental stressors are creating an urgent
need for conservation choices. The scale of issues and challenges we face
is unprecedented and impacts us all; no single entity has the resources
necessary to address these challenges on its own. Conserving the Future
acknowledges that strategic, collaborative, science-based landscape
conservation -- along with effective public outreach, education and
environmental awareness -- is the only path forward to conserve America's
wildlife and wild places.”
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