Director Steven A. Williams
at the Outdoor Writers Association of America

June 25, 2002

Thank you, Steve.
I truly welcome this opportunity to speak to you this morning because I believe we have much to say to each other.

But before I go on I want to make a couple of things very clear: I hunt and I fish!

And I am deeply affected by the values of those two activities. They inspire me in my leadership of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Fishing and hunting instill in us a respect and appreciation for the outdoors. We notice whether the fish we catch are healthy, whether there are as many ducks as last year, whether deer have overbrowsed the woods. Fishing and hunting bring us into direct, personal contact with nature as nothing else can. And they teach us about who we are, as human beings.

And so I am glad to be here today among friends who understand and share these values.

As Steve told you, I worked for the States of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Kansas. I really enjoyed those jobs. But it has always been my dream to someday lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Although I still have a lot to learn about the Service, I did come to the job with some clear ideas in mind. I'd like to share them with you.

First, I want to restore balance to the agency. In my first meeting with Service staff, I said I believe that we have lots of fences to mend. I think some of our traditional partners have felt left behind as the conservation mission of the Service has expanded over time. We must renew our partnership with America's sportsmen and women, those whose ethics and support have been the backbone of wildlife conservation for more than a century.

Second, we must also strengthen our partnerships with State agencies and the rest of the wildlife conservation community, including industry, non-government organizations, private landowners, and those who hike, birdwatch, or otherwise enjoy fish and wildlife.

And finally, we must work hard to ensure the integrity of the scientific information that the Service uses to make its decisions.

Balance, partnerships, and integrity – these are critically important to fulfilling the Service's mission, and to maintaining a quality of life that is so important to everyone in this room, and to so many Americans.

Let me give you some statistics about just how many people we're talking about.

The Service has recently announced some of the results from the 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. And in 2001, more than 82 million Americans engaged in wildlife-related recreation--an increase of five million over 1996--the last time the survey was conducted.

Those folks spent more than $110 billion. That's about 1.1 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

That's a big number. I figured out I must have personally contributed the lion's share of that, judging by my collection of fishing tackle.

Now there was some good news, and some bad news, in these survey results. The good news was that the number of anglers held steady compared to 1996. 34 million people age 16 or older reported fishing in 2001.

The bad news was that the number of hunters declined by 7 percent since 1991. Most of the decline was in hunting for small game and what we used to call varmints. The number of big game and migratory bird hunters held steady. And the regional breakdown for hunting participation was interesting – the biggest decline was in the Pacific area, dominated by a drop in California. Hunting in the region that includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana increased by 8 percent.

These statistics prove how important wildlife recreation is to our country. And they underscore that we have to work hard to make sure we are making it easy for anglers and hunters to stay in their sports and to recruit youth, women, and minority hunters and anglers.

But of course Mother Nature has to cooperate in order for us to offer good hunting opportunities, and so I'm going to turn now to the prospects for this year's waterfowl hunting season.

I'll start by saying we haven't finished collecting all the data yet. But our habitat surveys have seen evidence of continuing drought problems in a number of areas, while other areas don't look too bad. It's too early to tell whether breeding duck numbers this year will be greatly affected by the drought. It's possible we might actually see more effect from the drought next year. This complex situation could make your task of communicating the duck hunting regulations more of a challenge this year. Our migratory bird specialists are here with me and they will be presenting more information at 4:30 this afternoon, so I hope you can join them.

Despite this year's drought, we have lots of reasons to be positive about our waterfowl populations overall. We've made progress stemming the loss of the nation's wetlands. And the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, which is now being updated, has been a tremendous success in saving and restoring waterfowl habitats here, in Canada, and in Mexico.

As an avid angler, I'd like to be able to say that our efforts on behalf of fish have been equally as successful. Unfortunately, I fear that is not the case. I am determined to strengthen the Fish and Wildlife Service's commitment to recreational fishing and aquatic resource conservation.

Toward that end, one of my key areas of concern is our Fisheries Program and how it can help overcome the degradation of our nation's aquatic resources.

Coming from a background in several state agencies, I know first-hand how bad the crisis is for fish and other aquatic resources. Unfortunately, in my experience, information about the severity and implications of this crisis has not been elevated to the level of media and public interest it
very much deserves.

Aquatic resources in this country really are hurting. Consider the following:

• More than a third of the nation's fish are listed under the Endangered
Species Act.

• Fish consumption advisories rose by 70 percent between 1993 and 1996.

• More than 45 percent of the nation's endangered species live in water, and, with the exception of the alligator, not one has been delisted.

Not only as an angler, but as a conservationist, I think these facts should be of special interest to the outdoor media because this is a topic that concerns all Americans.

It's important that people understand that these problems affect more than fish. They threaten the activities fish support, such as recreational fishing and the more than $ 35 billion economic impact recreational anglers and angling have on the U.S. economy. They affect the availability of safe places to fish, swim and boat, birdwatch and picnic. They affect safe water supplies. In other words, if the fish or the habitat is sick, it affects us in many ways.

The Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council has recently published a new report, called "A Partnership Agenda For Fisheries Conservation." It represents an unprecedented effort on the part of the Service, States, Tribes and other partners interested in fish and aquatic resource conservation to begin the process of repositioning our Fisheries Program for success in addressing current and future aquatic resource threats.

I congratulate the Council for its lead role in the difficult task of developing and championing this report. With key input from this report, the Service is working hard to develop a clear plan to support and guide the future efforts of our skilled and passionate fisheries professionals who are out there on conservation's front lines.

I know the Service is perceived by some as having strayed from its support of recreational fishing. I want you to know I support recreational fishing. Our aquatic resources are facing many difficult challenges, and our Federal fisheries program is suffering from years of flat budgets and disagreements among Congressional staffs and the government's green eyeshade people about what the Fisheries program should focus on. With the help of the Partnership Council, I believe we are making progress to resolve these issues.

Once again, I count the outdoor media as invaluable allies as we move forward to address the fisheries conservation issues outlined above and a host of other conservation challenges.

Before I close, I want to tell you one more thing. And while this comes last, it certainly is not least.

Next year we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The actual birthday is March 14, 2003, marking the day 100 years ago when President Teddy Roosevelt established Pelican Island, Florida, as the first national wildlife refuge.

The Refuge System started with one dedicated man who had one boat, and a gun. Today the Refuge System is the world's largest collection of lands dedicated to wildlife. There is at least one refuge in each State, and there is a refuge within an hour's drive of most major cities. The diversity of these lands, from desert to tundra to southern swamp, is amazing.

The Bush Administration has appointed a Centennial Commission to highlight awareness of the Refuge System. Ten leaders from the business world and natural resource community and eight members of Congress are on the Commission. Some names you might recognize are pro basketball's Karl Malone, Johnny Morris of BASS pro fame, TV star Jack Hanna, and Peter Coors.

During our Centennial Year, there will be tremendous story opportunities, hunting and fishing experiences, photographic safaris, and video adventures, whether you want to go to distant Alaska or visit a National Wildlife Refuge in your own back yard.

The Refuge System also offers you opportunities to communicate the colorful history of the people and events that helped create refuges and tell about the volunteers and employees who care for them. It also offers wildlife managers like me a unique opportunity to explain to the public how hunters, anglers, and other outdoor recreationists are advocates who have helped build the system.

My challenge to you today is to help us tell this amazing story. You have a personal invitation from me to hunt, fish, and enjoy wildlife on the refuges and to tell your readers, listeners, and viewers how they can do the same. And we need your help to make sure the American people understand why saving and managing habitat for fish and wildlife is important – whether or not they hunt or fish. We want them to know about the passion and dedication of our staff and our thousands of volunteers. And we want to tell the story of the wildlife itself.

Thank you for listening. I look forward to taking your questions and hearing from you.