Defenders Magazine

On the Ground: Refuges at Risk

by Krista Schlyer

© D. Robert and Lorri Franz

Perched on a snag jutting out from the surface of the Rappahannock River in northeastern Virginia, a bald eagle clutches a fresh catch. Tightening its grip, it catches the wind with immense wings and soars along the pale yellow face of Fones Cliffs—joining a dozen other eagles in the clear June sky.

This untrammeled spot in a place that shelters as many as 400 bald eagles should have national wildlife refuge written all over it. “This obviously is a high priority for protection, but very little of it is protected,” says Joe McCauley, manager of the surrounding Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

Though Fones Cliffs sits within the boundary of this refuge, it remains private land—some of which may soon be the site of a housing development. The story reads the same all over this refuge, with habitat for a diverse community of wildlife—from migrating waterfowl to songbirds and wood frogs—falling to a rising tide of development. A perpetual funding squeeze has also left the refuge scrambling for loose change to protect whatever it can—which is currently about 7,700 acres.

For the past six years the president and Congress have withheld money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund—a fund fed by receipts from offshore oil and gas leases. This money was supposed to purchase land and conservation easements for this refuge and many others.

For the Rappahannock refuge, the situation is dire, as there is a scarcity of healthy habitat in this congested region. At its inception in 1994, the refuge was directed to purchase about 20,000 acres of land within a 270,000-acre boundary along the river. The only limiting factors were funding and the availability of willing sellers.

“Right now we have more willing sellers lined up than we have funding available,” says McCauley. “As a matter of fact, we haven’t received a Land and Water Conservation Fund appropriation since 2002.”

The federal government’s shortchanging of the conservation fund has left the refuge grossly unprepared to compete with developers in a real estate market that has risen sharply in the last decade—a reality that has left the refuge nearly two-thirds short of its land goal more than a decade after its establishment.

For this reason, the Rappahannock refuge has been included on Defenders of Wildlife’s fourth annual list of the nation’s most endangered national wildlife refuges. Since 2004, Defenders has picked 10 refuges within the roughly 540-unit refuge system that are most threatened by pollution, development, global warming and a host of other issues.

This year’s list is focused on threats that should have been unthinkable given the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, according to Noah Matson, Defenders’ vice president for land conservation. Congress passed this act to relieve a list of ailments dragging the refuge system down. But 10 years later, this system of land for wildlife remains besieged by a host of problems.

“A decade ago this sweeping legislation was supposed to reform the system and while some good things have been accomplished, the system as a whole continues to crumble before our eyes. We’re actually shutting down refuges because we don’t have enough money to keep the doors open,” says Matson.

In addition to the Rappahannock River refuge, the refuges most troubled by the failure to implement the 1997 law are:

Yukon Flats: Situated at the northernmost stretch of the Yukon River in Alaska, this refuge provides nesting grounds for millions of waterfowl—one of the highest densities on the continent. But plans for oil and gas development on refuge land would destroy thousands of acres of pristine habitat.

Pea Island: This 13-mile-long stretch of sand between the Atlantic Ocean and Pamlico Sound in North Carolina offers shoreline habitat for 365 species of birds. State officials are pursuing a bridge- and road-building project through the refuge that would be severely detrimental to wildlife.

Lower Rio Grande Valley: This Texas refuge is home to the endangered ocelot and an astonishing 513 species of birds. The Department of Homeland Security’s plan to build a border wall through the refuge will cut off migration routes for the ocelot and eliminate access to water sources for many refuge species.

Hailstone: This refuge in central Montana supports thousands of migratory ducks, including gadwalls, canvasbacks and mallards. Runoff from surrounding agriculture fields has created a salt concentration in the refuge’s reservoir that can be deadly for birds. 

Trempealeau: Thousands of wood ducks, warblers, butterflies and other wildlife depend on this Wisconsin refuge. But a lack of funding and inadequate staffing has left the refuge at the mercy of invasive plant species, which have consumed up to 90 percent of the forest understory.

Nisqually: This Washington refuge provides a home for endangered Chinook salmon, harbor seals, Pacific tree frogs and an array of other wildlife. Due to a $45 million budget shortfall for the state’s refuges, Nisqually’s important education and outreach programs have been slashed.

Cape May: This New Jersey refuge protects an internationally significant refueling ground for migratory shorebirds such as the imperiled red knot. Lack of funding for law enforcement staff has let this refuge be overrun by illegal use of off-road vehicles.

San Luis: Located in the San Joaquin Valley of California, this refuge complex protects a crucial stopover on the Pacific Flyway. But demand for water due to development, drought and global warming has left the refuge struggling to find adequate water resources.

Rhode Island: Some 300 species of birds can be found at this refuge complex, including the elusive harlequin duck, loons, eiders and snow buntings. But a funding crisis has forced it to close visitor center doors, shelve plans for land acquisition and scale back education programs.

“These threatened refuges and those throughout the refuge system provide habitat critical to hundreds of vulnerable species, such as the Florida panther, whooping crane, ocelot and the bald eagle. Their future depends on following through with Congress’ best intentions to safeguard the system,” says Matson.

To this end, Defenders is asking Congress to ensure that all refuge uses are compatible with wildlife conservation, that the biological integrity, water quality and water quantity of the refuge system are maintained, and that the refuge system expand to conserve at-risk ecosystems.

“We need to get it right with the refuge system. This is a national treasure,” Matson says. “There are so many threats to wildlife from global warming to development—we have to preserve our backbone of wildlife protection.”