EIS to be Prepared for Road Through Alaska Refuge

The Fish and Wildlife Service has announced plans to prepare an environmental impact statement for a land exchange associated with construction of a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge and wilderness area.

The road – under consideration for more than a decade - would connect the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay, located on Cold Bay in the eastern Aleutian Islands.

"The exchange would add 56,393 acres to the Izembek and Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuges, designate 43,000 acres as wilderness, transfer 1,600 acres of refuge lands on Sitkinak Island to the State, and create a 206-acre, 9-mile corridor through Izembek Refuge upon which the road would be constructed," according to a FWS press release.

"Scoping comments will be accepted through the scoping period which will extend through the last of the planned public meetings," according to Bruce Woods, with the FWS. "The meetings have yet to be scheduled so it's impossible to set a closing date as yet."

A notice of intent to prepare the EIS was recently published in the Federal Register.

Maps courtesy of the Alaska region office, FWS.

New Facility at Audubon Refuge to be Energy Efficient and Bird-Safe

A new administrative office and visitor facility planned for Audubon National Wildlife Refuge near Coleharbor, North Dakota will be energy efficient and built in a manner so it is also safe for migratory birds.

Concept elevations for Audubon National Wildlife Refuge Office and Visitor Facility. Image courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“This facility will be a prime example of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and will strive for the gold certification level, which incorporates many environmentally sustainable construction methods including the use of solar energy, vertical axis wind generation, geothermal heating and cooling system, and the use of many recycled materials,” according to federal officials.

The building design has also been modified to address the possibility for any bird strikes to occur.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in conjunction with our design/build team have discussed the issue of bird collisions and have created a facility as bird-safe/friendly as we feel possible, while maintaining our gold LEED certification,” said Jackie Jacobson, Outdoor Recreation Planner at the refuge.

“Our team has already made changes to this facility in order to avoid potential bird collisions. Some of these changes include lowering the lobby (initial design had more of a glass tower lobby), removing cupolas that contained glass windows, breaking up the roof line, utilizing vertical axis wind turbine rather than a horizontal blade, and installing horizontal blinds on windows so glass face is more noticeable.”

“The building will be constructed in an open grassland area away from woodland areas (our current facility is amongst several shelterbelt areas where we do have many species of birds utilizing this habitat - this building will be demolished, reducing impacts we currently have here).”

“The newly constructed visitor center will allow staff to build a stronger and more expansive environmental education and visitation program for the public,” according to officials. “An exhibit hall will house dioramas, murals, and hands-on features that focus on the importance of wetlands and grasslands for migratory birds and other wildlife. An educational classroom will provide a means for gathering youth and adults to increase their knowledge about the functions and values of these important habitats, prior to visiting the Outdoor Wildlife Learning Site, which is connected to the building via a trail system.”

“The administrative office will house fifteen permanent employees and up to 25 seasonal employees. The additional space will allow for expansion of youth employment through the Youth Conservation Corp program and Student Temporary Education Program which provide opportunities for young adults to gain experience in environmental stewardship and explore careers with the Service.”

“A primary objective of the visitor center at Audubon will be focusing on these important wetlands and grasslands and the tremendous benefits they offer to wildlife,” said Lloyd Jones, refuge manager at Audubon NWR, which has about 29,000 visitors each year.

The new facility - to be built using $6.1 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - will be “designed and built by Keplin/Gracon JV from Rolette, North Dakota. Design will begin in June 2009 and construction will conclude in November 2010.”

Recovery and Reinvestment Act Provides $200 Million for Refuge Improvements

Funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 will soon be put to use improving numerous federal wildlife refuges across the United States.

Funding totals by category for ARRA allocation. Image courtesy of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

There was $280 million allocated for “830 projects to build visitors centers, improve infrastructure, and bolster conservation at national wildlife refuges and hatcheries across the country,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, announced on April 26. “Projects include $115 million for construction, repair and energy efficiency retrofit projects at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facilities, and $165 million for habitat restoration, deferred maintenance and capital improvement projects.”

Of this total, $200,925,000 will be spent on refuge system projects, according to agency officials.

“The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is a tremendous opportunity for us to make significant gains in wildlife conservation, facility improvements, ‘green’ construction, and the next generation of conservation leaders through youth employment,” said Gregory Siekaniec, assistant director for the Refuge System. “We will be completing projects that provide wildlife values, create jobs, are completed within the allotted time, and help us achieve some of our conservation goals and objectives much sooner that we had anticipated.

Benefits to the refuges and the millions of people which use these areas each year will occur by providing “enhanced visitor experiences, restored and enhanced wildlife habitats, reduced carbon footprint, leadership by example in green construction, youth employment in conservation, and work for American citizens,” he added.

There were funds allocated to refuges in each of the United States of America. Examples of the millions of dollars allocated to particular states include:

Alaska: 10,081,000; including Alaska Maritime, Izembek, and Kenai national wildlife refuges

California: 22,357,000; Don Edwards San Francisco Bay, Lower Klamath, and Sacramento NWRs

Colorado: $9,380,000; Alamosa and Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWRs

Hawaii: $8,636,000; Hakalua Forest, Hawaiian Islands, and Kilauea Point NWRs

North Carolina: $10,904,000; Mattamuskeet, Pea Island, and Pocosin Lakes NWRs

North Dakota: $8,399,000; Audubon and J. Clark Salyer NWRs

New York: $10,604,000; Long Island or Shawanguk Grasslands NWRs; at the latter refuge, wetlands will be restored by removal of runways and taxiways

Tennessee: $12,617,000; Chickasaw, Cross Creeks, Reelfoot and Tennessee NWRs

Texas: $16,629,000; Hagerman, Laguna Atascosa, Lower Rio Grande Valley and McFaddin NWRs

Washington: $14,408,000; Nisqually, Turnbull and Willapa NWRs

Note: There are other typically other refuges within each state that will receive funds in addition to those listed.

Funding in three categories will provide distinct benefits, Siekaniec said. He also indicated how projects were selected.

Facilities

“This is an opportunity to construct some of the much needed visitor facilities that we have been interested in for quite some time. We can build using a standard design, green energy technology, strive for LEED certification, vacate costly leases in some cases that free up operating funds, reduce our maintenance backlog in some cases by building new, and provide lasting value to the American public through visitor service programs and more efficient management of refuge resources. In most cases we should be able to demonstrate a move towards reducing our overall carbon footprint as well.”

“Construction projects were identified from a known list of needed visitor and administrative facilities using the general guidance of providing lasting value to the American people, can be completed with the allotted window, creates jobs via contracting with private firms, and does not incur large operations and maintenance needs in the future.”

“Maintenance projects were selected from the backlog of deferred projects that are supported by our tracking of facility and infrastructure needs. Annually we identify new projects and incorporate a certain dollar value into a 5 year plan that is used as a budgeting tool.

Habitat

“This is a tremendous opportunity to complete some of the larger habitat projects that we typically cannot afford with annual appropriated funding.”

“Habitat projects are from both the deferred list if they are infrastructure needs such as dike rehabilitation, water control structures, fencing for land protection etc. (capital improvements), and from the refuge operation needs list if they are restoration of tidal marsh, remove predators from nesting islands, restore grassland habitats, install irrigation system to produce forage on the elk refuge in lieu of feed supplements, or ‘new’ projects that do not have a deferred element to them.”

Energy

“We had no inkling that an opportunity to get serious about alternative energy would be forthcoming. Many refuges have been investigating the options in wind, solar, and geothermal energy but were moving slowly because you can only do so much with the annual appropriation.”

“Green energy projects were a combination of deferred maintenance needs and a call for innovative and new ideas to reduce our carbon footprint and incorporate alternative energy practices into our facility operations.

Opportunities for National Refuges

“Congress has provided the National Wildlife Refuge System with an opportunity to assist with the economic recovery of our nation with much needed on-the-ground conservation and facility improvement projects. It’s now up to us to meet the expectations of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. I’m looking forward to projects getting under way and to an enhanced refuge system that continues to provide lasting value for America.”

“Projects will get started within the next couple of weeks as we allocate the funding to the Regional Offices across the country,” Siekaniec said.

Funds provided to the other bureaus of the Department of Interior were:

• Bureau of Reclamation: $ 950,000,000
• National Park Service: $750,000,000 on nearly 800 projects
• Bureau of Indian Affairs: $ 500,000,000
• Bureau of Land Management: $ 320,000,000
• United States Geological Service: $140,000,000

Overall, the Department of Interior received $3 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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This article was first posted at www.bloggernews.net

CCC Projects of the 1930s Provide Long-term Benefits to Valentine Refuge

Projects completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid-1930s are still providing benefits at Valentine National Wildlife Refuge in the sand hills of Nebraska.

When a CCC camp was started in Cherry county during the depression of the 1930s, the men given jobs to improve the refuge started many projects to establish this refuge. Crews were also active at 31 camps at other refuges.

Valentine migratory bird refuge was created by an executive order of August 4, 1935. CCC camp No. 753 with 200 men, was active in April 1835, as approximately 60,000 acres of ranch-land was being purchased - using Duck Stamp funds - to establish and develop the refuge. Additional acreage was later added to create a refuge with nearly 70,000 acres, including many of the prominent lakes of the region and property that had been part of the renowned Hackberry Hunt Club and other sportsman clubs where numerous shootists gathered to celebrate and harvest waterfowl and other game birds abundant about the lakes.

Particular projects, mentioned in news of the mid-1930s, were:

• "The CCC boys have collected more than a ton of flower, grass and other seeds and have sown 215 acres to cover and food plants. In addition, more than two million trees and shrubs have been moved and planted in strategic spots.
• "Forty-five miles of truck trail make points within the refuge easier of access.
• "New fencing around nesting areas prevents livestock from damaging both the nests and cover.
• "New fencing extends more than 100 miles in and around this refuge in the Nebraska sandhills and the boys have marked 183 miles of the boundary.
• "Eighteen miles of telephone line have been completed and 10 wells, including pumps and pump houses, are now available for use.
• "Fire fighting for which the CCC boys must be ready, has been facilitated by 152 miles of fire breaks."
• "Excavation, channel clearing, construction of cattle guards and special gates along the refuge boundaries are some of the additional activities that have employed the time of the camp.

"Such a record, coupled with the achievements is noteworthy of special praise. Migratory and nesting waterfowl, as well as other wildlife at Valentine are finding the improved area increasingly attractive," said Dr. Gabrielson, chief of the U.S. Biological Survey. "Emergency funds for acquiring and developing this and other areas and the help of the CCC have helped advance the wildlife restoration program that only 5 years ago was but a dream."

"CCC boys developing the Valentine Lakes Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in Cherry county, Nebraska, are making an invaluable contribution to the national wildlife restoration program," said Gabrielson in an April 1, 1938 article in the Valentine Republican. "His congratulations to the camp personnel came on the fifth anniversary of the CCC."

CCC Camp No. 753 was phased out in December 1936, but some additional work was done by men that were part of the Works Progress Administration.

Work done by the CCC crews has continued to provide benefits for the refuge through the subsequent decades.

"We are still using some of the buildings the CCC constructed including the refuge office at Hackberry Lake, a storage shed, barn, and residences," said Mark Lindvall, current manager of Valentine National Wildlife Refuge. "A few of the water control structures are still in use, and assist with water management for birds" and to help maintain the fisheries resource.

"The boundary fence built by the CCC secured much of the refuge," Lindvall said. "Some of the fence built is still used although much has been repaired or replaced."

Funding current CCC-type projects would be beneficial to the refuge.

"We have some projects that we could do, such as control of invasive plants, that would benefit long term management," Lindvall said.

Coalition Urges Congress to Fund Jobs for Conservation Projects

More than thirty conservation groups comprising the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (C.A.R.E.) - representing more than 14 million Americans - have asked members of Congress to “support funding for habitat conservation and associated green infrastructure within the economic recovery package being considered by Congress and the incoming Administration.”

Example of a project that could be accomplished on a refuge, in this case, at Tamarac NWR in Minnesota. Fish and Wildlife Service photograph, courtesy of the National Wildlife Refuge Association.

One billion dollars in funding is being requested for use by the Department of Interior and U.S. Forest Service, which includes the Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Agriculture and Corps of Engineers, and other federal agencies.

The “recommendations represent a unique consensus among a wide range of organizations specifically aimed at habitat-oriented projects that benefit fish and wildlife while stimulating local economies, particularly through job creation,” according to a letter sent to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, and Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader. “Most of these programs and projects would be initiated and jobs created within 3-6 months, with the goal of completing obligations within one year.”

The groups estimate nearly 170,000 jobs could be created if the money was provided.

The plan for creating jobs on national refuges, would invest, for example:

• $443 million to combat invasive species and restore native habitat, creating 5,644 jobs
• $243 million to improve energy efficiency, creating 5,103 jobs
• $201 million in new green construction, creating 5,025 jobs
• $60 million to transition to renewable energy sources, creating 1,260 jobs

Another example of a project that could be accomplished on a refuge, in this case, at Tetlin NWR in Alaska. Fish and Wildlife Service photograph, courtesy of the National Wildlife Refuge Association.

Facts sheets for California, Florida, Hawaii, Washington and Wisconsin summarize how funds could be used in each state, and potential projects.

“With at least one national wildlife refuge in every state, the National Wildlife Refuge System conserves and restores vital habitat for fish and wildlife. In doing so, wildlife refuges offer significant economic benefits by attracting 40 million visitors annually, who spend more than $1.7 billion each year, resulting in employment for more than 27,000 Americans. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a plan that would put nearly 20,000 people to work throughout the country on shovel-ready projects for habitat restoration in as few as 90 days,” the C.A.R.E. proposal stated.

Other features of the proposal are defined in detail in a 14-page proposal which includes particulars of how funds would be utilized.

Supporters of the proposal are being asked to support this initiative by contacting members of their Congressional delegation, writing letters to editors of local newspapers, and by urging their friends to help spread support for these green jobs.

Some of the groups comprising C.A.R.E. are the American Bird Conservancy, Everglades Foundation, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Refuge Association, The Nature Conservancy, The Wilderness Society, The Wildlife Society, and Wildlife Management Institute.