Remarks by National Wildlife Refuge Chief William Hartwig
Outdoor Writers Association of America, Columbia, MO

June 15, 2003

As Steve Williams mentioned, we are here today in the midst of a very important celebration: This year is the National Wildlife Refuge System’s Centennial. I was thrilled to become Chief just days before we celebrated in Florida the 100th birthday of Pelican Island, the first Refuge.

When President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Executive Order on March 14, 1903 -- creating Pelican Island Refuge -- he might not have envisioned the diversity of land and wildlife the Refuge System would one day protect. But he clearly understood the importance of that first step.

Teddy Roosevelt was an avid hunter who spoke eloquently on behalf of conservation when he said, “We face the use of the great fundamental sources of wealth of this nation,” he said. “Conservation is the chief material question that confronts us – second only to the great fundamental questions of morality.”

By the end of his presidency, TR had created 18 national monuments, 13 national forests, five national parks and protected a crater lake, a rain forest, a petrified forest, cliff dwellings, skyscrapers of sequoia stands, canyons – and much more.

But “nearest to his heart” -- according to biographer Edmund Morris – were the 16 refuges he created.

Overview of Refuge System

· Today – with more than 540 refuges and 40 wetland management areas on over 95 million acres – the Refuge System is the steward for America’s wild heritage. We support over 700 species of birds, 220 mammal species, 250 reptiles and amphibians and more than 1,000 fish. Nearly 260 threatened or endangered species are found on refuges.

· We have a wildlife refuge in every state in the Union, and one about an hour’s drive from nearly every major metropolitan area in the country. We will host more than 30 million visitors this year, including tens of thousands of anglers and hunters. Yet, we may be America’s best-kept secret. We’re hoping that you help us change that.

History and Philosophy of Refuge System

· When the Refuge System began, simple preservation was at the heart of our goals. In the System’s early years, our people mainly posted boundary signs, maintained law and order on the scattered refuges, and -- every few years -- counted wildlife.

· Decades ago, we thought it was enough if we could protect habitat at great places like Wichita Mountains, National Bison Range, Aleutian Island, Malheur, Bear River, Sheldon and the Upper Mississippi.

· We soon learned that more needed to be done. So the Refuge System -- with seed money from Congress, with the Duck Stamp to help raise funds, and with the Civilian Conservation Corps -- began a crusade on behalf of waterfowl and other wildlife. We began to restore habitat.

· Indeed, the Refuge System showed the nation – and perhaps the world – how to accomplish habitat restoration in places like the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, Klamath Basin and on scores of prairie refuges from North Dakota to Texas.

· Conservation of migratory birds has most often been the central connecting theme of the Refuge System. In fact, we have more than 200 refuges established for migratory birds. About 50 species of waterfowl and other migratory game birds have been the Refuge System’s priorities since the 1930s.

· Today, our Refuges continue to meet the mandates of the Refuge Improvement Act of 1997: To ensure the health and integrity of our lands for the next generations of Americans. And to offer compatible, wildlife-dependent recreation – that is, hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, photography, environmental education and wildlife interpretation. We invite you to come out and see how we’re doing. Because we believe we are conserving the best of America’s wildlife heritage – and doing it at bargain basement prices.

Refuges’ Economic Impact

· For just 3-dollars and 96-cents per acre – about the cost of a Big Mac and large fries – the Refuge System is preserving for all time a diversity of wildlife and wild places unequaled anywhere in the world.

· And we’re stimulating the economy in the process. In 1995 -- when we recorded six million fewer visits than today – Refuges generated more than 162 million dollars in job income and 401 million dollars for local economies.

Tour Of Refuges

· So, what do we offer you, the media? Great stories, great pictures, great people to talk to. You can see and hear some of the world’s most amazing spectacles against the backdrop of breath-taking scenery.

· Go to White River Refuge in Arkansas to hear the deafening chatter of a million mallards among the bottomland hardwoods. Thousands of sandhill cranes converge against the backdrop of the Magdalena Mountains at Bosque del Apache Refuge in New Mexico. Watch more than 300-thousand Canada geese returning at dusk to the huge marsh at Horicon Refuge in Wisconsin. Refuges offer an ongoing show – and not-to-be-believed stories.

· The Refuge System has more than 11-thousand archaeological and historical sties. The cultural resources that people left behind help us understand their relationship with natural resources – much as Lewis and Clark’s journals did. You can learn a new twist to American history at a wildlife refuge.

· CBS Sunday Morning often ends its program on a National Wildlife Refuge –
This morning, it was moose at the Yukon Delta refuge.

· ESPN – for one – agrees about story potential. The cable giant began covering the Refuge System in 1998 – shooting video on just a few refuges.

· Since January – in honor of the Refuge System’s Centennial -- the network has been airing weekly, two-minute vignettes in a series called “A Century of Conservation.” The stories – filmed on location -- bring the awesome beauty of Refuges into three million homes. This month, ESPN is airing segments on the National Bison Range, Kodiak, Upper Mississippi and Becharof refuges.

· Just what did ESPN find? Let me take you to a few refuges.

Big Muddy

· Just down the road from here – in Columbia, Missouri – you’ll find Big Muddy Refuge, established in 1994. Now more than 10-thousand acres, the Refuge is strung -- like pearls -- along 367 miles of the Missouri River between Kansas City and St. Louis.

· I have a certain personal attachment to Big Muddy – since I supervised this Refuge and others in the region when I was Region Three Director.

· This is the land documented by Lewis and Clark – but the Missouri River, called “Big Muddy because of its silt – is vastly different than it was 200 years ago.

· Historically, the Missouri was a slow-moving, shallow river with braided channels. Lewis and Clark didn’t float up the Missouri – they pulled and poled their boats. Then, the river was a haven for wildlife.

· Today, the river is channelized. It is controlled by levees, dikes and other containment structures. It is deeper and faster -- more navigable – but it is not better for wildlife. The Refuge is trying to turn back the hands of time, working with landowners who want to preserve their land for wildlife and for the future. Already, we have been startled – and pleased – to see the amount of wildlife that has returned.

· Big Muddy Refuge is completely open to fishing and hunting. The deer and turkey hunting is terrific. People who know how to catfish are pulling out tremendous catches. I’ve seen catfish in excess of 80 pounds. The Refuge is truly a trophy fishery.

· Last Saturday, the Refuge again held a Kids Fishing Day for disadvantaged youngsters. Working with the Columbia Boys and Girls Clubs, the Refuge taught kids who had never before held a fishing rod. It was thrilling to see their faces when they got a catch.

· With the Refuge’s help, Wildlife Forever and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources recently received a one million dollar NAWCA grant – that’s North American Wetlands Conservation Act. The money will fund a new state park, about 1-thousand acres – directly across from the mouth of the Missouri River, near the land where the Lewis and Clark party camped in the winter of 1804. The park will restore the area to native grasses and trees, with the Refuge helping to plan that restoration.

· Now venture northwest to one of our largest refuges for more story and photo opportunities.

Charles M. Russell NWR

· The Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge -- about 150 miles from Billings, Montana -- is remote, vast and spectacular. At 1.1 million acres, it is once-in-a-lifetime adventure, running 125 miles up the Missouri River. Just imagine, on the Refuge, you can see the land just as Lewis and Clark saw it 200 years ago. Elk, mule deer, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, sage and sharp-tailed grouse and bald eagles – they all make the Refuge home.

· Come to the Refuge in late May or early June, and you might find as many as 1,000 anglers on any given day – many of them looking to land a paddlefish, which can run to150 pounds. In fact, the paddlefish population on the Charles M., Russell Refuge is the largest known population in the United State -- large enough that we have a sustainable sport fishery.

· If you don’t want paddlefish CMR is nationally known for its trophy walleye fishery. You can also fish for northern pike. Boating and fishing are permitted on the Missouri River and Fort Peck Reservoir.

· The Refuge allows hunting for whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, coyotes, upland game birds, waterfowl and mourning doves.

· But it’s the archery bull elk hunt that draws international attention and about 3-thousand hunters. This year, the hunt will be held from September 6 through the first week in October.

· Elk can be found on half a million acres of the Refuge. Our management polices ensure that we maintain a balance in the age and gender ratio of our elk.

· For the first time this year, the Refuge – in partnership with the Montana Wildlife Federation and the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission -- has gotten 15 hunting permits for a Youth Elk Hunt for youngsters, ages 12 to 14. This mirrors a Kids Fishing Day, held early in summer in partnership with a local chapter of Wildlife Unlimited. We know there is no better way to build enthusiasm for the outdoors than by teaching the young.

· At the same time, the Refuge reaches out to people who don’t hunt or fish by providing spectacular wildlife viewing areas. In the fall, several hundred elk bugle and fight, going through a mating ritual that makes them look like honeymooners. By the way, people can see this rite of nature without ever getting out of their cars – but instead taking the 20-mile, self-guided auto loop.

· While driving or walking, people can spot some of the 60 species of mammals and more than 235 species of birds that have been seen on the Refuge.

· Refuges are for fish and wildlife and people!

Bombay Hook Refuge

· No story at the Charles M. Russell Refuge? Then travel east to Bombay Hook Refuge on the western shore of Delaware Bay, just outside of Smyrna, Delaware. Bombay Hook, established in 1937, didn’t start out as an “urban” refuge. But it has grown into one, sitting, as it does, just two hours from Washington, DC, or Baltimore and a 45-minute drive from Philadelphia. About 170-thousand people visit the Refuge each year. Let me tell you why.

· The Refuge’s 16-thousand acres support the largest concentration of wintering greater snow geese in the continental United States. During the Fall migration, you will see 100-thousand snow geese and an average of 25-thousand ducks.

· Go there in May, and you can see millions of horseshoe crabs lining the shores, laying billions of eggs that attract tens of thousands of migrating shorebirds – red knots, ruddy turnstones, dunlin, sandpipers and more.

· Deer and waterfowl hunting are popular. We have blinds in the marshes and field. We opened Canada goose blinds two seasons ago when the Atlantic Flyway was re-opened in Delaware. Or stop by on October 25 this year, when the Refuge hosts the annual Fall Waterfowl Festival.

Don Edwards San Francisco Bay

· On the other coast, our largest urban refuge – the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay Refuge, covers more than 23-thousand acres across three counties at the southern end of the Bay. Surrounded by more than 7 million people, it is home to 227 species of birds. More than half-a-million shorebirds make use of its mud flats and salt ponds.

· Better yet, more than 850-thousand people visit the Refuge each year. A public fishing pier is accessible for wheelchairs. Hunting for waterfowl is very popular.

· Right now, the Refuge is working on the largest wetlands restoration project west of the Mississippi: With the $20 million from four foundations – Hewlett, Goldman, Packard and Moore – plus corporate and other funding, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the State of California were able to acquire salt ponds formerly owned by Cargill. The partnership will free up 10-thousand acres, most to be restored to wetlands and some to be retained for saline ponds important to certain species.

· Just weeks ago, about 80 scientists from a variety of organizations participated in a one-day workshop to help us identify information crucial to the restoration work. By the way, the foundations gave an additional 5 million dollars for the restoration work.

The Story of Our Volunteers

· In fact, people make the best Refuge stories. First, it’s the people who work for the Refuge System. Paul Kroegel – who became the first Refuge manager at the first Refuge -- petitioned Teddy Roosevelt as a private citizen to establish Pelican Island Refuge. He went to work at Pelican Island for a dollar a month, providing his own shotgun and boat for patrol duties. People of his ilk are still in the employ of the Refuge System.

· Perhaps the most important people who work for the Refuge System don’t get paid for it – but reap benefits that are even more valuable. A group of duck hunters in Alabama traveled to Washington and convinced Congressional leaders to establish Eufaula Refuge in 1964 as an overlay for a Corps of Engineers’ water project. Members of the Izaak Walton League petitioned Congress to establish the 250-mile-long Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

· Today, about 40-thousand people are members of the 230 Friends groups that support our Refuges with their energy, their ideas, their time and their financial resources. We couldn’t operate as effectively without them.

· CARE – the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement – is a coalition of 20 conservation and recreation organizations dedicated to ensuring that the Refuge System has the resources it needs to protect the resources that America treasures. Their fight continues.

· On our 540-plus Refuges, visitors can see for themselves the connections between people and wildlife, habitat and land management. Through your articles, people can begin to appreciate that each Wildlife Refuge is part of a never-ending national legacy of healthy fish, wildlife and plant resources. These are treasures we must safeguard for the generations yet to come.

· We look forward to seeing you fish, hunt – or just interview folks – at a Refuge near you.