Over the years some Presidents have been exceptionally supportive of our national wildlife refuges and the National Wildlife Refuge System. We wanted to take the time today on President’s Day to thank those that stood for our nation’s wildlife!
Thank you, Teddy Roosevelt, for starting the National Wildlife Refuge System on March 14, 1903! Between then and March 4, 1909, he established the first 51 National Wildlife Refuges. Ken Burns likes to call the National Park System “America’s Best Idea”. We think the National Wildlife Refuge System is America's Even Better Idea!
Thank you, Franklin Roosevelt, for signing the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act (the Duck Stamp Act) on March 6, 1934. Between 1934 and 2009 sales of “Duck Stamps” provided more than $500 million to purchase land for NWRs. Under FDR 160 new NWRs were established throughout the U.S.
Thank you, Dwight Eisenhower, for establishing the Arctic National Wildlife Range (now the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) in 1960! First set aside by Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Arctic National Wildlife Range in 1960, this is the United States' only conservation unit that encompasses an entire Arctic ecosystem. When President Eisenhower acted, he had the wisdom and foresight to include the entire ecosystem, both north, and south of the Brooks Range, including the biologically rich Coastal Plain, which is essential to the integrity of this ecosystem. The Coastal Plain is the heart of this wild Arctic ecosystem, supporting the 197,000-animal Porcupine Caribou Herd, millions of migratory birds, and a full-complement of large predators, such as wolves, grizzly bears, and polar bears.
Thank you, Jimmy Carter, for signing the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980. This act added to or created 16 NWRs in Alaska.
Thank you, George H.W. Bush, for signing the North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) and establishing 41 new refuges. Many NAWCA funded projects have added or improved habitat on refuges.
Thank You, Bill Clinton, for signing the National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act in 1997. For almost a century, the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System had been managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under a variety of laws without an "Organic Act" or comprehensive legislation spelling out how it ought to be managed and used by the public. On October 9, 1997, President Clinton signed the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997. The Act amends the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 in a manner that provides an “Organic Act” for the Refuge System. It was passed to ensure that the Refuge System is managed as a national system of related lands, waters, and interests for the protection and conservation of our Nation's wildlife resources.
Thank you, George W. Bush, for establishing three marine monuments that protect some 125 million acres of habitat, history, and beauty in America’s Pacific territorial waters. The Marianas Trench, Pacific Remote Islands, and Rose Atoll marine national monuments are a treasure of coral reefs, whales, sea turtles, dozens of bird species, hundreds of varieties of fish, the deepest spot one can go without burrowing into the planetary crush, and weird thermal formations that support the toughest life forms on Earth.
Thank you, Barack Obama, for expanding Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument from 89 million to 373 million acres, creating the largest protected area on planet Earth. Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument encompasses two national wildlife refuges: Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge and the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
Thank you to our former Board member and current member of the FWS's Heritage Committee John Cornely for helping to put together this piece.