More Funding for Wildlife Refuges is Needed, But Midwesterners Won’t Wait

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Why Orvis is Committed to Conservation and Public Lands Access for All

A Q&A with vice chairman David Perkins on Montana’s public lands riches, the fascinating science of conservation, and why giving back to groups like the TRCP is just good business sense

We feel pretty lucky to have a great partner in The Orvis Company—these guys obviously love hunting and fishing as much as we do, but they’ve also built their business model around giving back to the resources that support our best days afield. And, no matter where you shop for your gear, the folks at Orvis believe in your ability to access public lands.

That’s why this month for our Public Lands Challenge, Orvis will match every new donation to the TRCP dollar for dollar. And, if you’ve donated before—we appreciate it, by the way!—they’ll also match any increase to your previous gift, doubling your impact for public lands access and enhancements.

DAVE_DOGS_blog — Dave Perkins, Vice Chairman, Orvis. Image courtesy of Orvis.

David Perkins, vice chairman of The Orvis Company, explains why this effort is important enough to spend more than 5 percent of their pre-tax profits on conservation efforts, and what makes him #PublicLandsProud.

TRCP: Orvis has a donated more than $20 million to conservation since its inception—why is the company so committed to conservation values and how do you engage your customers in the process of giving back?

David Perkins: Quite simply, our bottom line depends on sportsmen and women enjoying the natural resources in our country, and organizations like the TRCP have led the way in proving that if we’re not actively working to enhance habitat or protect our access to public lands, we could lose it. It’s a personal commitment to conservation, but it’s also just good business.

TRCP: What is your earliest memory in the outdoors, and when was your first aha moment about our responsibility to the places we love to hunt and fish?

DP: When I was about ten years old, my father taught me that in order for us to hunt ruffed grouse, like I loved doing, there needed to be early successional forest—the kind of young trees that grow back after a clearing effect, like a fire. I remember being so surprised, since it seemed counterintuitive. By cutting, you actually create habitat for these birds. That stuck with me. I think, since then, I’ve always been fascinated by conservation science and how different species interact with each other and the environment. As hunters and anglers, we’re a part of that. So, people need to be educated, and we all have to be willing to give back to sustain the things we enjoy.

TRCP: Why this issue? What makes you #PublicLandsProud?

DP: Public lands are our largest landscape, and not everyone can afford to access private lands. We have to safeguard those opportunities. I hunt public lands in Montana, and enjoy the state’s generous public stream access, and that makes me #PublicLandsProud. But, it’s a cycle: If people can’t access these lands, they can’t use them and appreciate them, so we’ll have fewer people to fight for them.

Keep the cycle of support for public lands going, and help us guarantee quality places for all Americans to hunt and fish. Donate by November 30, and double your impact.

Thanks, Orvis!

by: Julia Peebles

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The communities around these five National Wildlife Refuges won’t let their public lands fall into disrepair—they’re stepping up to make conservation happen

The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) spans more than 150 million acres in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and with 337 refuges open to hunting and 276 boasting great fishing opportunities, these federal lands are a piece of our nation’s unique and complex public lands system. Despite the value of our public lands, gifted to future generations by people like Theodore Roosevelt and celebrated by sportsmen and Americans of every stripe, the agencies that work to maintain and restore habitat in parks, forests, and refuges have been systematically underfunded by Congress, fueling discontent with federal land managers.

However, when I recently visited five refuges in the Midwest with the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) Coalition, I saw collaborative attempts to close the gap created by lack of funds. Local communities weren’t resentful of the backlogs or shortfalls—they were stepping up to help.

These partnerships illustrate the power of public lands to bring people together, and the resulting enhancements are providing habitat connectivity between private and public lands and improved outdoor recreation opportunities that help drive local spending.

Here’s what cool, collaborative conservation looks like:

Prairie meets pavement. One of our nation’s newest refuges, the Hackmatack NWR in Ringwood, Illinois is in the process of conserving and connecting critical wetland, prairie, and oak savanna habitat in the greater Chicago, Rockford, and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. This refuge is mainly funded by the Friends of Hackmatack and partners, like the local Audubon and Ducks Unlimited chapters, and without this financial aid the refuge staff would not be able to conserve habitat for 109 species in the area. Friends of Hackmatack and on-the-ground nonprofits coordinate on restoration projects that enhance monarch butterflies and other pollinators’ habitat, too.

Private landowners, partners, and public dollars unite. Once the site of Aldo Leopold’s vacation home, the Leopold Wetlands Management District in Portage, Wisconsin honors the father of wildlife management by safeguarding 12,000 acres of Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs). The WPAs are areas where habitat is restored using funds from the sale of the Federal Duck Stamp to restore critical wetland and grassland habitat for migratory birds. The community plays a supportive role in maintaining and conserving these lands, as well. With help from the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, private landowners can receive financial and technical assistance to improve waterfowl habitat on their own land adjacent to the refuge. Traveling with the CARE Coalition, I was fortunate enough to be welcomed by landowners Dave and Shelly, who showed us habitat improvements on their hundreds of acres of property. They explained how the Leopold Wetlands Management District’s fire management team schedules controlled burns to restore lupine vegetation for Karner blue butterflies, an endangered pollinator species, and to provide cover for upland game birds, such as pheasant.

Understaffed, but rallying on. The Necedah NWR in Tomah, Wisconsin hosts stopover habitat for migratory birds, including mallards, northern pintails, and other waterfowl species. While great jobs are available, many positions remain vacant at the refuge due to lack of funds. The current staff conducts critical wetland projects that enhance habitat for these birds. They’re hurting for additional staff, but they’ve done a fantastic job providing hunting and fishing services for the local community, including whitetail, waterfowl, and wild turkey hunts. The refuge also hosts the national Junior Duck Stamp contest where youth can submit their artwork and possibly have it displayed on the five-dollar stamp. While designing the stamps, children learn about wetlands and waterfowl conservation.

Trout Unlimited restoration project in Bloomington, Wisconsin.

You break it, they fix it. During our time at the Upper Mississippi River NWR in the La Crosse, Minnesota, we saw the damage created by the Army Corps of Engineers through the lock and dams and dredging projects. The refuge staff is working on restoring the wetlands back to their original state by flooding the river and removing invasive species. The dredging of the Mississippi River in Winona, Minn., decreases sediment, but the Gulf Coast feels the burden because lands in Louisiana and other Gulf states are eroding. The importance of funding restoration projects in the river is critical for about 45 percent of the world’s canvasback duck population and for fisheries located in the Gulf of Mexico.

Vandalism creeping in. The Upper Mississippi River NWR is a great example of where people can exercise their right to access public forests, grasslands, and wetlands, even if they live in a populous city, Minneapolis. Another example, the Minnesota Valley NWR, provides education and access opportunities for Bloomington, a suburban area around the Twin Cities. Unfortunately, the refuge is understaffed and has difficulty keeping up enough of a presence to prevent vandalism, which also contributes to maintenance backlogs. Pollution, such as litter, is also a conservation challenge here, so volunteers and partners help fill the void by providing additional hands in restoring habitat.

While these collaborative efforts between local and federal agencies and organizations are something to celebrate, they can only do so much for the National Wildlife Refuge System without adequate funding. The NWRS needs more funding to help broaden collaborative efforts and not fatigue partners. When our public land managers see budget cuts, our hunting and fishing opportunities are on the chopping block. Congress has until December 9 to figure out the full funding picture for 2017 or punt these decisions to the next Congress. Whatever they decide, we’ll continue pushing for better investments in conservation as the cornerstone of our proud public lands traditions and the outdoor recreation economy that supports local spending.

by: Julia Peebles

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November 14, 2016

Glassing the Hill: November 14 – 18

The TRCP’s scouting report on sportsmen’s issues in Congress

The GOP sweeps D.C. With election results in, Republicans will hold the White House and majority in both chambers beginning next Congress. While Senate Republicans maintained their majority, things will be a little tighter in the 115th Congress, with Republicans holding 51 seats to the Democrats’ 48 seats. The Louisiana runoff is still being decided.

With turnover comes a shift in Congressional party leadership. In the next Congress, Senate Democrats will see a shift in leadership, but majority leadership will remain unchanged after a closed-door vote this week. Democrats postponed their elections until later this month.

Committee chair and ranking member seats in both chambers are also up for grabs. Both parties will make their picks in separate steering committee meetings in December. We’re keeping an eye on committees that deal with conservation funding, energy development on public lands, and more.

Here’s who’s vying for open spots:

Senate Minority Leader: Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is retiring at the end of the 114th Congress, and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will likely hold that position after the Senate Democratic Caucus votes on Wednesday.
Senate Minority Whip: Also on Wednesday, Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is expected to run against Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in a potentially highly competitive race. The minority whip is the second highest minority ranking.
Senate Appropriations Committee: We suspect Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will replace ranking member Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) when she retires.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: Senator Thomas Carper (D-Del.) is likely to replace ranking member Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is expected to succeed Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.).
House Energy and Commerce Committee: Chairmanship will be up for grabs, as Congressman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) reaches his term limit. Reps. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.), and Joe Barton (R-Texas) are being considered to replace him.
House Appropriations Committee: Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) may replace Chairman Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) when he reaches his term limit at the end of the year.

BLM_AZ_Bob_Wick — Image courtesy of Bob Wick/BLM.

Meanwhile, funding is a big question during lame duck season. As of Wednesday, November 8, Congress is sitting in a lame duck—the period that occurs after an election but before newly-elected representatives begin their terms—and the budget is going to be a critical item on the agenda. The current short-term continuing resolution holds spending at fiscal year 2016 levels, but it ends on Friday, December 9. As of Election Day, the odds are now longer for an omnibus funding agreement for the rest of fiscal year 2017—it seems increasingly likely lawmakers will pass an additional continuing resolution to maintain current funding levels through February or March. This allows President-elect Trump an opportunity to influence funding and policy priorities when he takes office.

Sage grouse conservation is still in the crosshairs. “The National Defense Authorization Act” (NDAA) continues to be negotiated in conference, and still includes Rep. Rob Bishop’s (R-Utah) sage grouse provision that would halt conservation plans for the birds’ habitat on federal lands. The Senate-passed NDAA does not include a similar provision, and derailing any attempts to block the federal conservation plans is one of TRCP’s top policy priorities. The ‘big four’ (Chairmen John McCain and Mac Thornberry and Ranking Members Jack Reed and Adam Smith) are expected to resume negotiations this week.

But the Everglades may still get a much-needed boost. Senate and House public works and infrastructure staff have been working to combine their respective versions of “The Water Resource Protection Act” (WRDA) over the past month, resolving differences and creating a single piece of legislation. Both versions of WRDA included provisions to authorize $900 million in funding for the Central Everglades Planning Project and projects that use naturally-occurring infrastructure, such as marshes and wetlands. Additionally, lawmakers may decide that WRDA is the vehicle to provide emergency relief funds to combat lead-contaminated water in Flint, Michigan, in which case it will become a must-pass bill.

by: Kristyn Brady

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November 13, 2016

Congress Fails Sportsmen on Many Conservation Priorities in Final Hours

Everglades restoration can begin, but provisions to improve fish habitat, wetlands health, and access to hunting and fishing get left behind again

Today, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act awaits the president’s signature, the final step needed to authorize $1.9 billion in restoration projects to help reverse longstanding habitat and water quality issues in South Florida, while moving water south. This should be celebrated as a major win for anglers, guides, and other local businesses that rely on healthy fish habitat.

But in almost every other way, lawmakers overpromised and under delivered on the pending legislation important to hunters and anglers in the 114th Congress. Bipartisan support for provisions that would improve fish habitat, wetlands health, and public access across the country as part of a larger energy modernization bill brought the Sportsmen’s Act closer to the finish line than ever before. But it was not enough to finally do right by America’s sportsmen after attempts in three consecutive Congresses.

“For six years, or longer, we’ve needed this policy support for the very infrastructure of conservation and access, which keeps rural America in business during hunting and fishing season,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We owe a debt of thanks to senators who voted 97-0 to move conservation forward with the energy bill, but sportsmen and women should be angry and frustrated that good things like this can’t get done in the end.”

While major opportunities were lost by failing to authorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, National Fish Habitat Conservation Act, and Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act—a critical conservation tool for Western lands—there was also a disappointing last-minute addition to the water projects bill that would weaken protections for salmon and other fish.

“We are deeply disappointed that language was added to the bill that diverts water away from fisheries that are already struggling, puts wild salmon in jeopardy of extinction, and targets other sportfish for eradication,” says Scott Gudes, vice president of government affairs with the American Sportfishing Association. “Senators Barbara Boxer, Maria Cantwell, and all the Northwest U.S. senators, are to be commended for their efforts to defeat this last-minute water grab, which redirects water to agriculture and undercuts environmental protection for fisheries. Unfortunately its passage creates a significant threat to fishing communities, anglers, and the sportfishing industry in the state.”

The TRCP opposed the drought provision airdropped into final negotiations and was supportive of a provision to promote use of natural infrastructure, like wetlands, reefs, and dunes.

In a major defensive victory, language that would have undercut sage grouse conservation was removed from the final conference report of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) signed last week. And a continuing resolution passed in the wee hours of Saturday morning will keep the government funded through April 28, 2016 at decent levels for conservation. But additional threats to protections for sage grouse, headwater streams, and BLM backcountry lands could be yet to come in the new Congress, with the possibility of cuts, riders, and budget reconciliations.

Follow along with the TRCP in 2017, as we work to highlight the relevance of hunters and anglers to their elected officials in Washington and advance conservation in America.