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CAPITOL FLYER
Tuesday, November
1, 2005
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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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Table of Contents:
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Final
Votes on Arctic This Week and Next Week!
This
week the Senate will vote on a Budget Reconciliation bill that includes
language allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
A vote on the bill is expected Thursday, November 3 in the Senate.
The House will take up Budget Reconciliation and Arctic drilling
next week, starting November 7.
With
Arctic Refuge drilling included in both the House and Senate budget
reconciliation bills, the only way to prevent drilling in the refuge
is to vote down the budget reconciliation measure. This is the final
vote that will determine if the Arctic Refuge is opened to destructive
oil and gas drilling.
The
National Wildlife Refuge Association (NWRA) encourages you to contact
your Senators and Representative again and urge them to vote against
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. You can take action
using the latest alert by going to http://refugenet.e-actionmax.com/showalert.asp?aaid=1584
or by visiting www.refugenet.org
and clicking on "Take Action." A Senate-specific alert is currently
up, with a House-specific alert going up for next week.
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House
Passes Bill Approving Construction of Oil Refineries on National
Wildlife Refuges
The
House passed a bill just before the Columbus Day weekend 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
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." While national
wildlife refuges and other public lands are eligible for consideration,
national parks, designated wilderness areas and national monuments
would be off-limits.
The
Gas Act passed the House by a razor-thin margin of 212-210 after
the House Republican leadership held the vote open past the allotted
time to rally enough support.
Similar
refinery legislation was recently considered in the Senate, but
failed to pass out of the Environment and Public Works Committee
when Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) joined committee Democrats in
voting against the bill. Although that legislation did not include
the language that would allow refineries on national wildlife refuges,
the provision could have been added if the House and Senate bills
were conferenced together.
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Resources
Committee Passes Bill Flouting Refuge Improvement Act
In
May of this year, the House Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries
Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans held a hearing regarding access
to national wildlife refuges for special interest groups, such as
Ham radio operators and model airplane enthusiasts.
Despite
testimony submitted by NWRA and other prominent national conservation
organizations opposing legislative efforts to circumvent the 1997
Refuge Improvement Act (Improvement Act), the House Resources Committee
passed H.R. 1183 on October 19.
H.R.
1183, sponsored by Representative Nick Rahall (D-WV), requires the
Secretary of the Interior, through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS), to provide public access to, use of, and recreational opportunities
at the Navassa and Desecheo national wildlife refuges, located in
the Caribbean and near Puerto Rico, respectively.
The
bill allows public access to the two island refuges regardless of
cost to the FWS, public safety considerations, or wildlife and habitat
needs. The bill goes against the Improvement Act, an "organic" act
passed by Congress with an overwhelming vote fewer than 10 years
ago.
The
Improvement Act designates six priority public uses of the Refuge
System, referred to as the "big six:" hunting, fishing, wildlife
observation, wildlife photography, environmental education and environmental
interpretation. All six of these activities are designated as "wildlife-dependent"
recreation. To comply with the Improvement Act, activities other
than the big six on refuges must, "in the sound professional judgment
of the [FWS] Director," not interfere with or detract from the fulfillment
of the Refuge System mission or the purposes of the refuge.
The
FWS has already found public access to Navassa and Desecheo incompatible
due to safety concerns regarding unexploded ordnance, a lack of
law enforcement capability and biological impacts, among others.
H.R.
1183 sets a dangerous precedent, allowing politically connected
user groups to gain access to sensitive wildlife areas that the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has deemed incompatible.
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Hurricane
Supplemental Funding Update
As
previously reported in Capitol Flyer, hurricanes Katrina
and Rita caused severe damage to refuges in the Gulf Coast region.
Estimates of the damages to refuges from the combined storms exceed
$200 million; this represents over half of the Refuge System's total
annual operating budget.
Although
Congress has already passed two emergency supplemental appropriations
bills, those bills focused on immediate humanitarian needs, primarily
funding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and military.
The Bush Administration sent a third supplemental request to Congress
October 28 that includes funding for refuges.
Unfortunately,
the Administration's emergency supplemental request is only $61
million and only addresses restoration and repair costs. According
to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, these costs alone totaled
approximately $152 million between the two hurricanes. Further,
funding for natural resource needs and humanitarian assistance to
FEMA by the FWS are not accounted for in the Administration's request.
The
Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) and the NWRA
are working with the Congress to ensure adequate funding for refuges
is included in the emergency supplemental funding bill for storm
recovery. With an extremely low number proposed by the administration,
adequate funding will be difficult to obtain.
Damage
estimates from Hurricane Wilma, which recently tore its way across
Florida, have not yet been tallied.
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Senate
Confirms New FWS Director
The
Senate confirmed by unanimous consent Friday, October 7, President
Bush's choice for director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Dale
Hall took over the FWS after serving 27 years at the agency, most
recently as the Southwest Regional Director. Hall replaced Steve
Williams, who resigned in March to head the Wildlife Management
Institute.
Prior
to his position in the Southwest FWS office, Hall was a Deputy Regional
Director in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as an Assistant Regional Director
in Portland, Oregon. Hall's career started in 1978 in the ecological
services division of FWS. He also supervised the FWS office in Texas
for four years. For his dedication to the FWS through years of service,
he was honored with the Department of the Interior's Meritorious
Service Award.
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Contractor
Says Rocky Flats Cleanup Is Finished
The
contractor hired to clean up the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons
plant declared the $7 billion, 10-year project completed October
13, a major milestone in the conversion of the site to a national
wildlife refuge.
However,
it could be months before the site northwest of Denver, CO, is opened
to the public, because federal regulators must certify it as safe.
The Energy Department has 90 days to accept the project and can
ask the contractor to address any concerns. After that, the Environmental
Protection Agency and state officials must verify that the work
meets various guidelines.
Parts
of the Rocky Flats site will eventually be opened to the public
as a wildlife refuge, but some areas where the contamination was
worst will remain off-limits.
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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
(RAN). 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.
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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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