Daily Archives: May 3, 2016

Gina McCarthy: NWF Conservationist of the Year

 

The National Wildlife Federation to Honor Administrator McCarthy and Four Others with National Conservation Achievement Awards

By Miles Grant

As part of its 80^th anniversary celebrations, the National Wildlife Federation will recognize five notable individuals for their outstanding contributions to wildlife conservation at the Conservation Achievement Awards.

“These individuals have all made remarkable efforts towards our shared goal of protecting America’s natural heritage,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “It is dedicated people like these who will help us maintain healthy wildlife populations in the future. We are particularly honored to recognize Gina McCarthy as the ‘Conservationist of the Year’ for her tireless efforts over the past three decades to protect America’s air, water and wildlife.”

A luncheon event was held April 14th in the same historic room the organization was founded, the Grand Ballroom at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The following three individuals were honored:

Gina McCarthy – Conservationist of the Year: Gina McCarthy has served as the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since July 2013 and she has been a leading advocate for common-sense strategies to protect public health and the environment. During her tenure, McCarthy has taken the President’s call to act on the climate and made it one of her top priorities for the EPA, most notably through the Clean Power Plan and the Clean Water Rule. She also spearheads the agency’s commitment to addressing environmental justice concerns and to making a visible difference in communities. Over her 30-year career, she has worked at both the state and local levels on policies regarding economic growth, energy, transportation and the environment. For example, McCarthy oversaw the development of the first mercury and air toxics standards which delivered huge protections to wildlife like the bald eagle, as well as public health benefits for many Americans.

Lowell E. Baier – Jay N. “Ding” Darling Conservation Award: Lowell Baier is an attorney, entrepreneur, conservationist, historian, and author. Baier’s passion for the outdoors began on his family’s Indiana farm and Montana ranch. After co-founding Wild Sheep Foundation and being active in the Boone and Crocket Club, Baier led President George H.W. Bush’s wildlife conservation agenda, and he has advised all three successive administrations on wildlife issues. Baier has led the creation of natural resources and wildlife conservation Ph.D. programs at five universities. He led a national campaign to raise $6 million to purchase the last remaining piece of privately held land that was Theodore Roosevelt’s historic Elkhorn Ranch, adjacent to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Baier recently authored Inside the Equal Access to Justice Act: Environmental Litigation and the Crippling Battle over America’s Lands, Endangered Species, and Their Critical Habitat and he is at work on Voices from the Wilderness: A Biography, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Baier presently serves on the President’s Leadership Council of the National Wildlife Federation and works with a number of other conservation groups.

Martha Darling – National Conservation Achievement Award: Over the past two decades, Martha Darling has picked up where her relative and National Wildlife Federation founder Ding Darling left off: Building power and clout for the National Wildlife Federation. Now part of the President’s Leadership Council – comprised of the NWF’s most generous donors and ardent supporters – Martha also helped resurrect the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund; bringing her political passions to the national advocacy scene. Through her leadership, the NWF Action Fund has provided vital support to wildlife champions on Capitol Hill, worked with NWF’s state affiliates on ballot measures, and continues to grow its grassroots efforts.

At a reception that night at the Stewart R. Mott House, the National Wildlife Federation honored two congressional partners with National Conservation Achievement Awards for their work with NWF over the past year. Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) was recognized for his leadership advancing reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act and for protecting, defending and securing funding for public lands. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) was recognized for his leadership championing legislation to protect the Boulder-White Clouds, which resulted in the federal protection of more than 275,000 acres of prime hunting, fishing and wildlife habitat in Idaho.

The organization will announce additional Conservation Achievement Award winners at the National Wildlife Federation’s 80th Annual Meeting in June in Estes Park, CO.

Don’t let Congress stall united public land management

By Steve Williams

Reno Gazette-Journal

Managing hundreds of millions of acres of public land owned by every American is no small task. People have competing interests and every American, whether they work for the oil and gas industry, raise livestock, hike, hunt, or simply enjoy open spaces has a say in how that land is managed.

In 1976, Congress adopted the Federal Land Policy and Management Act to provide guidance to the Bureau of Land Management for use of public lands. That law directs the BLM to provide for “multiple use,” defined as “The management of the public lands and their various resource values so that they are utilized in the combinations that will best meet the present and future needs of the American people.” FLPMA does not mandate that every use be accommodated on every acre; rather, it calls for balancing public demands and providing for a mix of land uses – including active development, passive use and protection. That rule has served America well for over 40 years.

Meyer warns against sales of public lands

Rick Olivo

Ashland Daily Press

The head of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation warned Wednesday that there is an increasingly strong movement in the United States to sell off federal lands such as National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, Bureau of Land Management lands and National Monuments.

According to WWF Executive Director George Meyer, while here has long been pressure from oil, gas and mining interests to wrest away control of federal lands, especially in the West, in the last few years, this effort has gained substantial support, becoming an issue in the presidential election campaign.

Meyer said the campaign has the support of the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and has even resulted in a current proposal to sell off the fourth most popular national wildlife refuge, Vieques, an unspoiled gem of sea and shoreland created from a former U.S. Navy Base and established in 2002. Located in Puerto Rico, a number of Congressional Republicans have advocated selling off the refuge for commercial development and using the proceeds to help pay off Puerto Rico’s $70 billion in debt.

Meyer also said, in a related matter, that House Committee on Natural Resources chairman Rob Bishop, a Utah Republican, has refused to allow a vote on renewal of the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund. The fund uses royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling to protect public lands and to promote outdoor recreation.

Meyer said the two issues should be of deep concern to Wisconsin residents who have drawn great benefits from both public lands and the Land and Water Conservation fund.

Meyer noted that the WWF was made up of 195 groups of sportsmen and women in the state, and is a part of the National Wildlife Federation.

“We are supporting them on this issue, but our citizens have a major interest on this issue,” he said.

Meyer recalled the “Sagebrush Rebellion” of the 1970s as one chapter of the effort to obtain control of federal lands, and said the presidential election has given the push to remove the lands from federal control and into private hands.

“Ted Cruz has put out an ad in Nevada very specifically saying he would sell off the federal lands,” Meyer. “His aides qualified that saying he would sell off all lands except for national parks and military reservations, but that leaves the refuges, monuments, forests to be sold off.”

He noted that when votes to sell off public lands have taken place in Congress, both Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson and fellow Republican Seventh District Congressman Sean Duffy have voted in favor of the proposals.

“We are facing a very serious situation,” he said. “We are trying to get the word out to sportsmen and others, because this is bigger than sportsmen.”

Meyer said the federal lands are an important legacy for all of the citizens of the United States.

“The sale of federal lands in the West or in Puerto Rico would be a terrible precedent for the future potential sale of federal lands in Wisconsin,” Meyer said. “Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin citizens and visiting tourists use federal lands in Wisconsin every year. Federal lands are a major component of Wisconsin’s economically important tourist industry.”

Closely related to this issue, Meyers said, was Congressman Bishop’s intransigence in refusing to allow the Land and Water Conservation Reauthorization Bill to come to a vote.

He noted that through another mechanism, the act has been reauthorized for three years.

“The senate has permanently reauthorized it, and now it’s got to go to the House of Representatives,” Meyer said. “That is where Congressman Duffy could really help out to get permanent reauthorization.”

Meyer noted that Duffy has not come forward with a position on the bill, and he urged Wisconsin residents to contact Duffy’s office, asking for his support.

“Senators (Ron) Johnson and (Tammy) Baldwin ultimately voted for it, and Congressman Duffy needs some encouragement,” he said.

Meyer emphasized that the Conservation Fund was not paid for by taxpayer dollars but by oil and gas royalty revenues.

“The principle of this is that U.S. citizens are selling off federal resources and the royalties form these sales are being plowed back into natural resources accessible to the public,” he said.

The payback to Wisconsin has been huge, Meyer said.

“Over the last five decades, Wisconsin has received $212 million that has been used for hundreds of state and local parks; and projects such as the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, the Ice Age and North Country National Scenic Trails, the St. Croix National Scenic River and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

Funds from the Conservation Fund have also been used to support the Wisconsin Forest Legacy program that buys land from Wisconsin industrial forests seeking to sell their properties, as well as obtaining conservation and public access easements on more lands when they are transferred to other private companies.

“Wisconsin has received $21,500,000 for this purpose,” Meyer said. “It results in continued public land for recreational use, continued sustainable forestry practices and keeping these lands as working forests.”

Meyer called Wisconsin’s public lands vital to the state’s economy

“The U.S. Census Bureau reports that annually 2.9 million people participate in hunting, fishing, trapping, wildlife watching and other recreational pursuits in the states, contributing $3.9 million to the state economy,” he said.

Meyer said that resolutions in support of retaining federal lands has passed at the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation’s annual meeting on April 8-9, while a resolution opposing the sale of federal public lands was easily adopted at the Dane County Conservation Congress’s April 11 annual meeting.

“It will pass the state meeting in a couple of weeks overwhelmingly,” Meyer predicted.

Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors recognizes Steve Williams for his service on Board of Directors

Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors announced today that Steve Williams has stepped down from their Board of Directors.  Williams played a critical role in creating the organization in 1999 while serving as Secretary of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks by creating a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters.  He continued to serve the organization by joining the board of directors in 2006 when it spun off as an independent non-profit organization. Williams, a former Director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been president of the Wildlife Management Institute since 2005.

According to Mike Christensen, Executive Director of Pass it On, it was Williams’ vision and passion that enables the organization to become established. “Mr. Williams was the first person we reached out to, asking him to serve on our board,” stated Christensen. “He has been there with us since the beginning and we are appreciative of all that Steve has brought to the table, helping us grow to the organization we are today.”

“It has been a privilege serving on the Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors board of directors,” stated Williams. ”Mike’s leadership and commitment to youth is unparalleled and the program deserves someone who can commit more time.  I am proud of our accomplishments and look forward to a great future for Pass It On.”

Ryan Bronson, chairman of the board of directors for Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors also praised Williams decade of service.  “Steve’s participation with this mentoring organization has been an inspiration to me and I will miss his steady hand and sage advice,” Bronson said.  “Our board of volunteers truly appreciate his contributions.”

Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors partners with state fish and wildlife agencies, conservation organizations and youth organizations to give at-risk children outdoor opportunities they would not have had otherwise.  “Too many children today never get the chance to experience the great outdoors we all know and love.  When you hear a youngster say they’ve never seen a cow or been on a dirt road, you know we have to step up our efforts to get these children outdoors,” stated Christensen.

About Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors is a Wichita, Kansas-based national organization dedicated to providing children with mentors who will share with them the experiences of traditional outdoor activities. The heart of the group’s mission is to give children opportunities to connect with nature that they more than likely won’t have without a mentor showing them the way. Partnering with organizations with like-minded conservation and youth participation efforts like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Pheasants Forever, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Delta Waterfowl, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the National Wild Turkey Federation, among others, volunteers with a passion for the outdoors can give a child the chance to go fish, hunt, or simply spend time in the fields with a caring adult. For more information about Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors, please visit http://www.outdoormentors.org.