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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15186-2001Feb1.html

Refuges' Resurgence Faces Uncertainty=20
Bush Commitment to Wildlife Havens at Issue=20
By Michael Grunwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 7, 2001; Page A03=20



SEBASTIAN, Fla.


President Theodore Roosevelt established America's first national =
wildlife refuge here in 1903, protecting a five-acre spit of sand called =
Pelican Island. Plume hunters had been decimating the island's brown =
pelicans, whose feathers were all the rage for women's hats. The =
refuge's first manager, who was paid $1 a month for his trouble, used to =
sail to the island with his shotgun to chase poachers away from his =
beloved birds.


America now has more than 500 national wildlife refuges, covering an =
area the size of Montana and preserving habitat for more than 250 =
endangered species. But historically, refuges have been the poor =
relations of environmental policy, struggling to compete with national =
parks and forests for money and attention. As locals like to point out, =
Pelican Island is still managed by one man with one boat, even though =
the refuge has grown a thousandfold.


Today, all that is changing. Congress is pouring money into Pelican =
Island -- to buy land in danger of development, to restore degraded =
habitat and, finally, to hire three more staffers. And while America's =
first refuge was an obvious target for largess with the system's =
centennial celebration coming here in 2003, refuges nationwide are =
getting help. A surprising bipartisan consensus has emerged on Capitol =
Hill -- fueled by a muscular coalition of 18 national groups, ranging =
from the Wilderness Society on the left to the National Rifle =
Association on the right -- that the system has been neglected for too =
long. The groups point out that whether you want to watch wildlife or =
shoot wildlife, you can't do it if the wildlife isn't there.


The multimillion-dollar question is whether the recent push to revive =
refuges will continue, a question that President Bush and Interior =
Secretary Gale A. Norton have yet to answer. Bush has pledged to protect =
endangered species and national parks as well as private property =
rights, but his only references to refuges were his promises to allow =
oil drilling in the largest one, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in =
Alaska. In her confirmation hearings, Norton called herself a =
"passionate conservationist" and suggested that the Clinton =
administration had neglected the parks, but she didn't mention refuges =
either.


"This could be a great opportunity for the new administration," said =
Rollin Sparrowe, president of the Wildlife Management Institute and =
founder of the 18-group coalition, the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge =
Enhancement (CARE). "There's been real progress in the last few years, =
but there's still a long way to go. We'll see what happens."


The 93-million-acre refuge system is the world's largest and most =
diverse collection of land reserved for wildlife protection, covering =
prairies and tundra, deserts and forests, seashores and rivers. And in =
recent years, spurred by the CARE coalition's lobbying, Congress and the =
Clinton administration paid much more attention to it. "We're all like =
terriers on their heels: You can't shake us off," said NRA conservation =
director Susan Lamson.


In 1997, Congress required a review of non-wildlife-dependent activities =
such as grazing, logging, drilling and snowmobiling at all refuges. It =
has also passed laws to help coordinate the system's 28,000 volunteers =
and to address an $800 million backlog of maintenance projects.


The politicians also have backed up their measures with money. The =
annual refuge budget has jumped 50 percent, to $281 million, since 1997, =
plus a record $109 million for land acquisition this year. The funds =
have helped restore a failing dike at an Ohio refuge, survey endangered =
ocelots at a Texas refuge and upgrade a septic system that was spewing =
sewage into a Washington refuge. Meanwhile, the downgrading of =
non-wildlife activities has led to bans on grazing at 10 western refuges =
and the expulsion of houseboats from an Arkansas refuge, among other =
measures.


"For a long time, our managers had to use a bubblegum-and-baling-wire =
approach," said Dan Ashe, the chief of the refuge system. "Now we're =
trying to do things right. . . . Don't get me wrong: We still have some =
refuges in crisis."


In fact, in a 1999 survey of refuge managers, 91 percent said their =
refuges were understaffed. Many refuges also lack such basic services as =
maps, brochures and restrooms. And the lack of resources is taking a =
toll on flora and fauna, too. The National Audubon Society will release =
a report today titled "Refuges in Crisis," highlighting threatened =
sanctuaries such as the Sonny Bono Salton Sea refuge in California, =
where so many birds are killed by water pollution that the refuge =
operates an incinerator, and the Blackwater refuge on Maryland's Eastern =
Shore, where non-native rodent species have destroyed 7,000 acres of =
marshland. Scores of refuges are desperate for clean water; in the =
Klamath Basin, several refuges are literally drying out.


"Thousands of uncontrolled threats . . . are destroying habitat and =
harming wildlife on hundreds of national wildlife refuges across the =
country," the Audubon report warns.


There was only one threat to Pelican Island when Roosevelt visited, but =
it was serious: Hunters were massacring the pelicans. So Roosevelt asked =
an aide if there was any law to prevent him from declaring the island a =
federal sanctuary. The aide said no.


"Very well, then I so declare it," the president replied.


No one wears pelican feathers anymore, and no one hunts on Pelican =
Island. The island is off limits to everyone but the birds, although =
much of an adjacent barrier island has been added to the refuge and =
opened to the public. Still, the wildlife service calls Pelican Island a =
"Refuge at Risk," and Audubon included it on its list of the top 10 =
endangered refuges.


Erosion has whittled the island to half of its original five acres. On =
the barrier island, exotic species such as the Australian pine and =
Brazilian pepper are crowding out native trees. And developers are =
gobbling up waterfront land all around the refuge -- then building fancy =
condominiums and country clubs marketed for their proximity to the =
natural oasis that Roosevelt preserved in 1903. "Now, almost 100 years =
later, Marsh Island will become a sanctuary for 31 families and =
exquisite homes," the brochure for one subdivision proclaims.


That, say the refuge's many defenders, is not what Roosevelt had in =
mind. The spread of development -- and the herbicides and storm runoff =
that accompany it -- is polluting the lagoon in which Pelican Island =
sits, threatening the 30 species of birds that visit the rookery. The =
population of endangered wood storks in the area has plunged 75 percent =
in the last 30 years.


"Developers are clearing everything," said refuge manager Paul Tritaik, =
who also runs the nearby Archie Carr refuge without help. "If we can't =
get our hands on land, it gets overrun."


In today's overheated real estate market, it costs the government about =
$70,000 an acre to get its hands on the land Tritaik has in mind. But =
it's finally happening. This year, thanks in large part to the Clinton =
administration and Rep. David Joseph Weldon (R-Fla.), Pelican Island =
received $6 million to buy new land, about 5 percent of the national =
acquisition budget. Over the last decade, the wildlife service has =
preserved about 700 acres around the refuge. And the refuge's annual =
operating budget has jumped to $225,000, which may not sound like much, =
but it was zero when Tritaik arrived. Jamie Clark, the outgoing head of =
the Fish and Wildlife Service, pumped even more money into Pelican =
Island from her discretionary fund.


So now Tritaik is restoring a silted-in dike. He is replacing exotic =
vegetation with live oaks, red bays and gumbo limbos -- known around =
here as tourist trees, because they turn red and peel in the summer. He =
bought a tractor, a mower, a sprayer, a 24-foot motorboat. He has plans =
for a boardwalk, an observation tower, maybe even a visitor center. The =
island has a new wave break to prevent erosion, and this week, a =
volunteer bucket brigade is anchoring the shoreline with about 250 tons =
of fossilized oyster shell and native grasses. The Army Corps of =
Engineers is studying the possibility of raising the lagoon bottom to =
provide even more protection.


On a recent afternoon, the island was covered with so many roosting =
white pelicans it looked like it was slathered in spackle. "It's a =
perfect example of how we're trying to turn this system around," Ashe =
says.


The new administration's commitment to the nation's Pelican Islands =
remains unclear. Norton has vowed to make conservation her top priority, =
but she is known as a strong advocate of logging, grazing and mining =
interests on public land. John Turner, a moderate who led the wildlife =
service under President Bush's father, was denied a return engagement =
after vocal protests by western property-rights activists. Theodore =
Roosevelt IV, who cited Pelican Island in his GOP convention speech, has =
already criticized the new administration's direction on the =
conservation issues so dear to his great-grandfather's heart.


"I'm a Teddy Roosevelt Republican, and I don't like what I see," said =
Ruth Stanbridge, an Indian River County commissioner who has helped lead =
the fight to save Pelican Island.


The first area of potential conflict involves usage. The Clinton team =
generally supported hunting and fishing in refuges -- even the NRA's =
Lamson said it did "a terrific job" of that -- but it was less =
supportive of trapping and vigorously opposed to many =
non-wildlife-dependent activities. Former interior secretary Bruce =
Babbitt, for example, helped scuttle a plan for a titanium mine at the =
doorstep of the Okeefenokee refuge in Georgia and led the fight against =
oil exploration in the Arctic refuge.


Another question mark is the Army Corps, a federal public works agency =
whose leaders have battled environmental officials for years. The =
wildlife service believes many proposed Corps projects -- dredging the =
White River, expanding locks on the Mississippi River, deepening the =
Port of Savannah -- pose serious dangers to refuges.


The final question is money. The CARE coalition believes the refuge =
budget still needs to grow about 75 percent by 2003. But even in an era =
of surplus, generosity has limits. When Babbitt visited Pelican Island =
to propose a billion-dollar land acquisition fund, even Weldon, the =
Republican who secured money for Pelican Island, suggested he was =
getting carried away. "Does the president propose to decrease spending =
for veterans health care, the space program or other environmental =
initiatives to pay for it?" Weldon asked.


Still, Bush has promised to honor Roosevelt's environmental legacy, and =
the refuges do enjoy support from conservative groups such as the NRA =
and Safari Club International.


They also have support from hundreds of grass-roots groups that care =
less about politics than nature.


" 'Conserve' is supposed to be the root of conservative, right?" asked =
Kevin Doty of the Pelican Island Audubon Society. "If protecting land =
for future generations isn't conservatism, I don't know what is."




=A9 2001 The Washington Post Company=20


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<DIV><FONT size=3D2><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A=20
href=3D"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15186-2001Feb1.htm=
l">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15186-2001Feb1.html</A>=
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><FONT face=3DArial size=3D4><STRONG>Refuges' =
Resurgence Faces=20
Uncertainty</STRONG></FONT><FONT size=3D3> <!--plsfield:stop--><BR><FONT =

face=3Darial,helvetica>Bush Commitment to Wildlife Havens at =
Issue</FONT>=20
</FONT></DIV>
<P><FONT size=3D2><!--plsfield:byline--><I>By Michael =
Grunwald</I><BR><!--plsfield:credit-->Washington Post Staff =
Writer<BR><!--plsfield:disp_date-->Wednesday, February 7, 2001; Page A03 =

<BR></FONT></P><!--plsfield:description-->
<P>
<P>SEBASTIAN, Fla.</P>
<P>
<P>President Theodore Roosevelt established America's first national =
wildlife=20
refuge here in 1903, protecting a five-acre spit of sand called Pelican =
Island.=20
Plume hunters had been decimating the island's brown pelicans, whose =
feathers=20
were all the rage for women's hats. The refuge's first manager, who was =
paid $1=20
a month for his trouble, used to sail to the island with his shotgun to =
chase=20
poachers away from his beloved birds.</P>
<P>
<P>America now has more than 500 national wildlife refuges, covering an =
area the=20
size of Montana and preserving habitat for more than 250 endangered =
species. But=20
historically, refuges have been the poor relations of environmental =
policy,=20
struggling to compete with national parks and forests for money and =
attention.=20
As locals like to point out, Pelican Island is still managed by one man =
with one=20
boat, even though the refuge has grown a thousandfold.</P>
<P>
<P>Today, all that is changing. Congress is pouring money into Pelican =
Island --=20
to buy land in danger of development, to restore degraded habitat and, =
finally,=20
to hire three more staffers. And while America's first refuge was an =
obvious=20
target for largess with the system's centennial celebration coming here =
in 2003,=20
refuges nationwide are getting help. A surprising bipartisan consensus =
has=20
emerged on Capitol Hill -- fueled by a muscular coalition of 18 national =
groups,=20
ranging from the Wilderness Society on the left to the National Rifle=20
Association on the right -- that the system has been neglected for too =
long. The=20
groups point out that whether you want to watch wildlife or shoot =
wildlife, you=20
can't do it if the wildlife isn't there.</P>
<P>
<P>The multimillion-dollar question is whether the recent push to revive =
refuges=20
will continue, a question that President Bush and Interior Secretary =
Gale A.=20
Norton have yet to answer. Bush has pledged to protect endangered =
species and=20
national parks as well as private property rights, but his only =
references to=20
refuges were his promises to allow oil drilling in the largest one, the =
Arctic=20
National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. In her confirmation hearings, Norton =
called=20
herself a "passionate conservationist" and suggested that the Clinton=20
administration had neglected the parks, but she didn't mention refuges=20
either.</P>
<P>
<P>"This could be a great opportunity for the new administration," said =
Rollin=20
Sparrowe, president of the Wildlife Management Institute and founder of =
the=20
18-group coalition, the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement =
(CARE).=20
"There's been real progress in the last few years, but there's still a =
long way=20
to go. We'll see what happens."</P>
<P>
<P>The 93-million-acre refuge system is the world's largest and most =
diverse=20
collection of land reserved for wildlife protection, covering prairies =
and=20
tundra, deserts and forests, seashores and rivers. And in recent years, =
spurred=20
by the CARE coalition's lobbying, Congress and the Clinton =
administration paid=20
much more attention to it. "We're all like terriers on their heels: You =
can't=20
shake us off," said NRA conservation director Susan Lamson.</P>
<P>
<P>In 1997, Congress required a review of non-wildlife-dependent =
activities such=20
as grazing, logging, drilling and snowmobiling at all refuges. It has =
also=20
passed laws to help coordinate the system's 28,000 volunteers and to =
address an=20
$800 million backlog of maintenance projects.</P>
<P>
<P>The politicians also have backed up their measures with money. The =
annual=20
refuge budget has jumped 50 percent, to $281 million, since 1997, plus a =
record=20
$109 million for land acquisition this year. The funds have helped =
restore a=20
failing dike at an Ohio refuge, survey endangered ocelots at a Texas =
refuge and=20
upgrade a septic system that was spewing sewage into a Washington =
refuge.=20
Meanwhile, the downgrading of non-wildlife activities has led to bans on =
grazing=20
at 10 western refuges and the expulsion of houseboats from an Arkansas =
refuge,=20
among other measures.</P>
<P>
<P>"For a long time, our managers had to use a bubblegum-and-baling-wire =

approach," said Dan Ashe, the chief of the refuge system. "Now we're =
trying to=20
do things right. . . . Don't get me wrong: We still have some refuges in =

crisis."</P>
<P>
<P>In fact, in a 1999 survey of refuge managers, 91 percent said their =
refuges=20
were understaffed. Many refuges also lack such basic services as maps, =
brochures=20
and restrooms. And the lack of resources is taking a toll on flora and =
fauna,=20
too. The National Audubon Society will release a report today titled =
"Refuges in=20
Crisis," highlighting threatened sanctuaries such as the Sonny Bono =
Salton Sea=20
refuge in California, where so many birds are killed by water pollution =
that the=20
refuge operates an incinerator, and the Blackwater refuge on Maryland's =
Eastern=20
Shore, where non-native rodent species have destroyed 7,000 acres of =
marshland.=20
Scores of refuges are desperate for clean water; in the Klamath Basin, =
several=20
refuges are literally drying out.</P>
<P>
<P>"Thousands of uncontrolled threats . . . are destroying habitat and =
harming=20
wildlife on hundreds of national wildlife refuges across the country," =
the=20
Audubon report warns.</P>
<P>
<P>There was only one threat to Pelican Island when Roosevelt visited, =
but it=20
was serious: Hunters were massacring the pelicans. So Roosevelt asked an =
aide if=20
there was any law to prevent him from declaring the island a federal =
sanctuary.=20
The aide said no.</P>
<P>
<P>"Very well, then I so declare it," the president replied.</P>
<P>
<P>No one wears pelican feathers anymore, and no one hunts on Pelican =
Island.=20
The island is off limits to everyone but the birds, although much of an =
adjacent=20
barrier island has been added to the refuge and opened to the public. =
Still, the=20
wildlife service calls Pelican Island a "Refuge at Risk," and Audubon =
included=20
it on its list of the top 10 endangered refuges.</P>
<P>
<P>Erosion has whittled the island to half of its original five acres. =
On the=20
barrier island, exotic species such as the Australian pine and Brazilian =
pepper=20
are crowding out native trees. And developers are gobbling up waterfront =
land=20
all around the refuge -- then building fancy condominiums and country =
clubs=20
marketed for their proximity to the natural oasis that Roosevelt =
preserved in=20
1903. "Now, almost 100 years later, Marsh Island will become a sanctuary =
for 31=20
families and exquisite homes," the brochure for one subdivision =
proclaims.</P>
<P>
<P>That, say the refuge's many defenders, is not what Roosevelt had in =
mind. The=20
spread of development -- and the herbicides and storm runoff that =
accompany it=20
-- is polluting the lagoon in which Pelican Island sits, threatening the =
30=20
species of birds that visit the rookery. The population of endangered =
wood=20
storks in the area has plunged 75 percent in the last 30 years.</P>
<P>
<P>"Developers are clearing everything," said refuge manager Paul =
Tritaik, who=20
also runs the nearby Archie Carr refuge without help. "If we can't get =
our hands=20
on land, it gets overrun."</P>
<P>
<P>In today's overheated real estate market, it costs the government =
about=20
$70,000 an acre to get its hands on the land Tritaik has in mind. But =
it's=20
finally happening. This year, thanks in large part to the Clinton =
administration=20
and Rep. David Joseph Weldon (R-Fla.), Pelican Island received $6 =
million to buy=20
new land, about 5 percent of the national acquisition budget. Over the =
last=20
decade, the wildlife service has preserved about 700 acres around the =
refuge.=20
And the refuge's annual operating budget has jumped to $225,000, which =
may not=20
sound like much, but it was zero when Tritaik arrived. Jamie Clark, the =
outgoing=20
head of the Fish and Wildlife Service, pumped even more money into =
Pelican=20
Island from her discretionary fund.</P>
<P>
<P>So now Tritaik is restoring a silted-in dike. He is replacing exotic=20
vegetation with live oaks, red bays and gumbo limbos -- known around =
here as=20
tourist trees, because they turn red and peel in the summer. He bought a =

tractor, a mower, a sprayer, a 24-foot motorboat. He has plans for a =
boardwalk,=20
an observation tower, maybe even a visitor center. The island has a new =
wave=20
break to prevent erosion, and this week, a volunteer bucket brigade is =
anchoring=20
the shoreline with about 250 tons of fossilized oyster shell and native =
grasses.=20
The Army Corps of Engineers is studying the possibility of raising the =
lagoon=20
bottom to provide even more protection.</P>
<P>
<P>On a recent afternoon, the island was covered with so many roosting =
white=20
pelicans it looked like it was slathered in spackle. "It's a perfect =
example of=20
how we're trying to turn this system around," Ashe says.</P>
<P>
<P>The new administration's commitment to the nation's Pelican Islands =
remains=20
unclear. Norton has vowed to make conservation her top priority, but she =
is=20
known as a strong advocate of logging, grazing and mining interests on =
public=20
land. John Turner, a moderate who led the wildlife service under =
President=20
Bush's father, was denied a return engagement after vocal protests by =
western=20
property-rights activists. Theodore Roosevelt IV, who cited Pelican =
Island in=20
his GOP convention speech, has already criticized the new =
administration's=20
direction on the conservation issues so dear to his great-grandfather's=20
heart.</P>
<P>
<P>"I'm a Teddy Roosevelt Republican, and I don't like what I see," said =
Ruth=20
Stanbridge, an Indian River County commissioner who has helped lead the =
fight to=20
save Pelican Island.</P>
<P>
<P>The first area of potential conflict involves usage. The Clinton team =

generally supported hunting and fishing in refuges -- even the NRA's =
Lamson said=20
it did "a terrific job" of that -- but it was less supportive of =
trapping and=20
vigorously opposed to many non-wildlife-dependent activities. Former =
interior=20
secretary Bruce Babbitt, for example, helped scuttle a plan for a =
titanium mine=20
at the doorstep of the Okeefenokee refuge in Georgia and led the fight =
against=20
oil exploration in the Arctic refuge.</P>
<P>
<P>Another question mark is the Army Corps, a federal public works =
agency whose=20
leaders have battled environmental officials for years. The wildlife =
service=20
believes many proposed Corps projects -- dredging the White River, =
expanding=20
locks on the Mississippi River, deepening the Port of Savannah -- pose =
serious=20
dangers to refuges.</P>
<P>
<P>The final question is money. The CARE coalition believes the refuge =
budget=20
still needs to grow about 75 percent by 2003. But even in an era of =
surplus,=20
generosity has limits. When Babbitt visited Pelican Island to propose a=20
billion-dollar land acquisition fund, even Weldon, the Republican who =
secured=20
money for Pelican Island, suggested he was getting carried away. "Does =
the=20
president propose to decrease spending for veterans health care, the =
space=20
program or other environmental initiatives to pay for it?" Weldon =
asked.</P>
<P>
<P>Still, Bush has promised to honor Roosevelt's environmental legacy, =
and the=20
refuges do enjoy support from conservative groups such as the NRA and =
Safari=20
Club International.</P>
<P>
<P>They also have support from hundreds of grass-roots groups that care =
less=20
about politics than nature.</P>
<P>
<P>" 'Conserve' is supposed to be the root of conservative, right?" =
asked Kevin=20
Doty of the Pelican Island Audubon Society. "If protecting land for =
future=20
generations isn't conservatism, I don't know what is."</P>
<P>
<P></P><!--plsfield:end-->
<P>
<CENTER>=A9 2001 The Washington Post Company </CENTER>
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