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POLICY SUMMARY: 

habitat, wildlife and wildlife refuges and endangered species


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Brink of Extinction: California Condor
California Condor                                    © Chris Parish

(courtesy The Peregrine Fund)
 
FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS






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General


The right of all species of plants and animals to survive should be respected, as well as their contributions to our environment and the benefits they bestow on succeeding human generations.  Man should not relate all things to himself and his benefit.  [Res. 21, 1990]

Nature corridors, consisting of linear open space, should be established to link parks, forests, and unfragmented nature so as to protect ecological and biological diversity and preserve nature in and around cities.  [Res. 9, 1991]

These biological corridors are needed to allow the proper exchange of genes between various populations of wild animals and plants.  Without this exchange, small, isolated populations may become inbred, especially of large animals.  As the climate changes and development accelerates, these corridors will become critical.  In California, efforts are underway to protect such a corridor between the Sequoia National Forest and the Los Padres National Forest in the vicinity of the Tejon Ranch, where easements are being purchased from willing sellers to maintain the biological integrity of this land.  This approach should be supported.  [Res. 13, 2008]

The protection accorded to threatened and endangered species under the 1973 federal Endangered Species Act should not be diminished through subsequent revision.  Once these species become extinct, they cannot be brought back.  Saving the habitat for all flora and fauna is a necessity.  [Res. 24, 1990]  The Endangered Species Act should not be weakened in any way; it does not hamper true progress, nor should "property rights" supersede the rights of wildlife.  [Res. 18, 1995]  It should not be weakened administratively or legislatively [Res. 7, 2003]   In fact, that Act should be improved by putting greater emphasis on the habitat of affected species (not just on the species itself), by providing an "early warning" approach (instead of just emergency-room treatment), and by furnishing incentives to private land owners to become involved in solutions.  In this way, the Act can incorporate the latest scientific knowledge.  [Res. 15, 1997]

Changes in sec.7 of ESA to weaken the independent review requirement should not be made and should be strongly opposed.  Under this requirement, agencies proposing to grant a permit or use federal funding and which might impact the habitat of a listed species must  first obtain an independent and expert review by the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service.  The proposal would terminate the requirement if these agencies have not completed their review within 60 days.  [Res. 14, 2008]

The Defense Department should not seek exemptions from environmental laws that apply to it.  There is important habitat on the 20 million acres that it administers.  There is no evidence that such laws are interfering with military readiness.  Current law already allows case by case exceptions.  Laws such as the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Superfund should continue to apply to it.  [Res. 19, 2003]

The integrity of the dolphin-safe label on cans of tuna fish should be maintained.  The Commerce Department should not allow this label to be put on cans of tuna that were caught by means that involved chasing and encircling dolphins.  In any event, Congress should assure that the integrity of this label is maintained.  [Res. 8, 2003]

Authorities should prevent underwater noise which is so intense as to damage marine mammals.  Nations should exercise their authorities toward this end within their exclusive economic zones (EEZs) and the International Maritime Organization should do this on the high seas.  U.S. environmental laws which guard against this danger (e.g., Marine Mammal Protection Act and NEPA) should not be weakened.  [Res. 9, 2003]

Leases for agriculture within National Wildlife Refuges should be phased out.  Until ended, only organic farming there should be permitted, with an immediate ban on the application of pesticides and herbicides in such refuges.  [Res. 4, 1998]

Authorities in metropolitan regions should be encouraged to establish programs to protect open space, natural areas, forests, wetlands, wildlife habitat and riparian corridors threatened by development.  As these regions grow, they need to protect significant natural areas within their boundaries.  Volunteer effort to assist these programs should be welcomed.  [Res. 9, 1992]

Areas scientifically defined as wetlands should be protected from development because of their many values, including maintaining water quality, as well as their increasing scarcity. Federal and state legal protection of them must not be weakened.  [Res. 14, 1991]

The habitat of America's estuaries should be restored in a coordinated manner, with assured funding, in recognition of the fact these estuaries are among the most productive natural systems on earth.  [Res. 27, 1999]

While Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs)  can be used validly to assist the recovery of endangered species, such plans must not relieve land owners of obligations for mitigating impacts beyond what is  foreseen under the plan, nor ask the public to pay for additional habitat protection that may be required.  Such plans must be based on sound prediction models, with no gaps in needed data.  Plans that have the kinds of flaws found in the HCP proposed by Plum Creek Timber Company in the Washington Cascades (which include lack of specified riparian protection, dramatic reduction in nesting habitat for spotted owls, fragmentation and reduction in late-successional forests, and no attention to the effects of wildland fires) must be revised and amended to cure deficiencies. [Res. 12, 1996]

Commercial game farms should be eliminated because wildlife raised in them are more prone to developing severe diseases, which can be introduced in the wild and pose a threat to wild populations.  Moreover, such game farms undermine the idea that wildlife are public property.  States such as Wyoming and Montana no longer allow such game farms. [Res. 5, 2004]  Ethical and responsible hunters will not want to resort to such "hunting preserves." No more permits should be issued in states such as Idaho for such game farms, selling them should not be permitted, double fencing should be required around those still in existence, steps should be taken to phase out those still in existence, and the Fish and Game agency should be given jurisdiction of them. [Res. 9, 2006]

Citizens concerned with the conservation of natural resources should form caucuses at the state level to lobby for appropriate legislation and policy affecting the outdoors, including sportsmen and women.  They need to have a strong, unified voice.  They should strongly oppose developments on wild lands that would adversely affect wildlife and its habitat, including fisheries.  The Federation specifically supports formation of such caucus in Idaho.  [Res 6, 2004

Specific Habitats

The corridors along which wildlife such as deer and elk migrate in the Rockies should be identified, mapped and protected, providing "Corridors for Life" for these animals.  [Res. 10, 1995]

Permission should not be given by the BLM to the Division of Wildlife Service in the Department of Agriculture to shoot predators, such as coyotes, from the air (aerial gunning) in Wilderness Study Areas because that practice is contrary to the wilderness ethic, is costly and not defensible on any grounds.  Instead ranchers could be reimbursed for documented losses of sheep.   Funding should also be curtailed for such aerial gunning.  [Res. 14, 2001]

The prime habitat for the desert tortoise found in the Paradise and Superior valleys in the western Mojave Desert, which supports the minimum number necessary to maintain the genetic health of the species (10,000 tortoises), should be protected against expansion of Fort Irwin, or any new military activity, that would threaten the survival of the tortoise found there.  Existing lands in Fort Irwin ought to be better utilized instead.  [Res. 19, 2000]

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power should be held to its commitment to recreate riparian, desert habitat along 60 miles of the Owens River so as to benefit thousands of migrating songbirds and waterfowl and should not be permitted to build a pumpback station there with a capacity that exceeds 50 cfs (it originally agreed to this limitation to prevent excessive pumping and de-watering, but now wants to expand its capacity to 150 cfs).  [Res. 17, 2001]

Shallow flooding should be pursued as a management obligation by the city of Los Angeles at Owens Lake--to the maximum extent possible-- both to reduce the dust hazard and to create habitat for thousands of nesting and migrating shorebirds (such as the snowy plover).  Creation of this habitat should be an express obligation, not merely a secondary benefit of dust control.  Growing salt grass to (a type of managed vegetation) to control dust is far less beneficial.  [Res. 18, 2001]

The Bolsa Chica wetlands (approximately 1200 acres) near Huntington Beach, California, which provide vital habitat for the Pacific Flyway and are the home to at least five endangered species of birds, should not be developed for housing and should instead be firmly protected (as could be accomplished through the work of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust).  [Res. 16, 1996]

The 139 acre Ballona Wetlands near Marina del Rey in Los Angeles County, California should not be developed for housing but instead should be acquired by the Fish and Wildlife Service, with its ecosystem (the largest wetland system in that county) restored.  [Res. 17, 1996]

The biologically fragile condition of San Francisco Bay (with 90% of its tidal wetlands now destroyed by fill) should not be made worse by adding two square miles of additional fill to accommodate longer runways at San Francisco's international airport, which could further constrict tidal action and injure habitat for aquatic animals, plants, birds and fish (including spawning herring and endangered salmon).  [Res. 15, 2000]

The habitat for the bull trout along the Jarbidge River in Nevada must be protected.  Only a trail, not a road, should follow along it from the Pine Creek Campground to the boundary of the wilderness area.  The Forest Service should prepare an environmental impact statement before it construction (of a trail or road) is attempted, including an alternative that would restore the habitat for the trout.  [Res. 8, 2002]

Habitat for the pronghorn antelope in the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in northern Nevada is being degraded by a buildup of more than 1000 wild horses and burros, with springs, streams and riparian zones suffering.  These should be removed in a humane way as specified in the Wild Horse and Burro Act.  This will allow the habitat that the pronghorn need to flourish once again.  [Res. 6, 2008]

Plans to develop an observatory on Mt. Graham near Tucson, Arizona should be dropped because of their adverse effects on critical habitat of the Mt. Graham red squirrel (a relict stand of ancient spruce and fir), as well as on habitat for 20 endemic species found there and on sites that are sacred to the San Carlos Apache Indians living nearby.  Funds for this observatory should not be forthcoming from the National Science Foundation, nor should Congress exempt this or any other site from the need to comply with all environmental and historic preservation laws.  [Res. 20, 1997]

Roads along the edge of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area that have been closed to protect calving grounds for elk and migration routes for deer and elk should not be re-opened nor paved.  [Res. 23, 1997]

The eight million-acre Red Desert and Great Divide region in Wyoming, administered by the BLM, should be protected.  This area harbors the nation's largest desert elk herd, a 50,000 antelope herd (the largest migratory game herd in the lower 48 states) and over 350 species of wildlife.  It includes the largest active sand dune system in North America and sites of cultural and historical significance, as well as value as wilderness.  Plans put forth by the BLM in 2004 failed to protect this area, known as the "wild heart of the west."  The Federation instead supports the alternative plan for managing the area put forth by the Citizens and Wildlife group.  Moreover, it recommends that environmentally or culturally sensitive are there should be withdrawn from industrial uses and dedsignated as Wilderness Study Areas, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, or otherwise protected.  This would include crucial range for oil, gas, or coal-bed methane, the leases should be bought back or exchanged.  Otherwise, the least damaging type of drilling should be used.  [Res. 7, 2004]

Steps must be taken to reverse the decline of the Northern Spotted Owl (NSO), which has lost 60-80 % of its old-growth habitat in the Pacific Northwest.  It was supposed to have been protected under the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan, but it has continued to decline.  The Bush administration has alleged that that this is because of competition from the Barred Owl and has proposed alternate plans calling for another 25% shrinkage in habitat.  Until there is better research on the role of the Barred Owl, primary emphasis in the ESA Recovery Plan should be placed on preservation/restoration of habitat for the NSO.  [Res. 1, 2008]

Federal programs must be established to protect species and populations of salmon in the Northwest from extinction.  Needed are adequate supplies of water and mitigation programs to reverse the decline in fish populations and restore river and wetland habitat.  The common threat to the salmon is human activity, hydropower, navigation, mining, logging fishing, and urban growth.  [Res. 37, 1991]  Federal agencies should undertake technical studies on the best way to restore runs of salmon and steelhead (the need for this was cited particularly on the Upper Columbia River and its tributaries).  [Res. 5, 1993]

To pave the way for recovery of these salmon stocks, clear cutting should cease within watersheds supporting salmon (on both public and private lands), polluted waterways must be cleaned up, the dams that most obstruct salmon passage should be removed, and international agreements must be negotiated between the U.S. and Canada to reduce over-fishing and better regulate fishing to protect Pacific salmon.  [Res. 2, 1997]  Efforts to implement such an agreement must put emphasis on conserving the species, with its genetic diversity, and also develop a mechanism to resolve disputes.  [Res. 20, 1998]

The four dams on the lower Snake River generate a small amount of  energy and facilitate heavily subsidized barging transportation.  There are cost-effective options for clean, affordable energy, and rail transportation can supply transportation needs in place of barging.  Removal of the dams would allow the 140 miles of the free-flowing Salmon River to supply prime habitat for recovered runs of salmon on the Snake system, as well as revitalize the economy of central Idaho.  These dams now have eliminated 90 percent of the salmon and steelhead runs in the Snake River basin, which includes the Salmon River in central Idaho.  [Res. 17, 2005]  Removal of these dams will also allow salmon and steelhead to once again ascend up the Snake River and into head-water streams that extend into northern Nevada (the Owyhee, the Bruneau, Jarbidge, and Salmon Falls Creek).  Representatives of Nevada should be able to work with northwestern states to restore these lost salmon runs.  [Res. 7, 2008]

More vigorous action should be taken to restore the thirteen stocks of salmon in the northwest that are either threatened or endangered, and all the streams that can be restored as salmon habitat should be considered as critical habitat under the ESA.  The 2817 miles of streams that can be restored should be considered to be critical habitat.  [Res. 15, 2005]

The fish runs on the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula need to be restored through removal of the Elwha and Glines dams so that spawning areas can function again and not be blocked (which also will free Olympic National Park from a non-conforming development).  [Res. 8, 1993]  Not only should Congress authorize the removal of these dams, but it should also appropriate the funds needed to actually remove them, as well as restore the related ecosystems and their salmon spawning areas.  [Res. 15, 1996]

Kiwanis Ravine in Seattle (next to Discovery Park), which harbors a valuable rookery for blue herons as well as other birds, is a "critical habitat area" and should be given added protection by having its land acquired and put in public ownership.  [Res. 2, 2001]

Public officials should provide the means to put the forested upland at 34th Avenue N.W. in Seattle in public ownership to better protect the nursery waters for fish in the Salmon Bay Waterway.  [Res. 3, 2001]

Wolves should be reintroduced into the habitat of Olympic National Park, where they were once a native species.  [Res. 22, 1999]

Human use of the Dungeness Spit National Wildlife Refuge in the state of Washington should be restricted, as proposed by the Interior Department, to better protect the habitat there for over 250 species of birds and fifty species of mammals.  Unrestricted recreational use of this area could have a detrimental impact on wildlife.  [Res. 11, 1996]

A fully-funded, permanent, year-round rescue tug should be stationed at Neah Bay to improve the capability of dealing with major oil spills in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and limiting damage to marine ecosystems.  [Res. 33, 2001]

A plan should be developed by federal and state authorities to ensure healthy populations of pelagic sea birds in Puget Sound, which have been declining precipitously in numbers because of the destruction of marine habitat, boating activities, and being caught as bycatch in fishing nets.  [Res. 21, 1999]

Federal and state agencies must take action to stop the decline of the southern, resident killer-whale population (orcas) in Puget Sound.  Only 79 survive.  The National Marine Fisheries Service should give gthe population status as endangered and should step up enforcement of its fisheries regulations to assure an adequate supply of fish for the orcas.  Both that agency and the state should make sure that limitations are observed on how closely vessels may approach orcas.  The state should also more strictly enforce limitations on the release of toxic effluents into Puget Sound.  Finally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency should establish and enforce acceptable noise levels in the marine environment.  [Res. 3, 2002]

A recovery plan must be put into effect to rescue the Strait of Georgia (between Vancouver, B.C. and Vancouver Island) from over-fishing and other impacts which have caused the decline in populations of ling cod, rockfish and other species.  Fishing for these species should be closed; "no take" reserves established, and funding for scientific research there increased (to no less than $5 million annually). [Res. 6, 2001]

An "International Stewardship Area" should be established in the Orca Pass area between Canada's Gulf Islands and the San Juan Islands in the U.S., which is one of the most biologically rich and sensitive marine regions in the world.  In that area various steps must be taken:  pollution must be prevented; specific zones must be given higher levels of protection; the status of species and their health must be measured and reported on; and steps taken to restore, sustain and protect habitats and key species.  [Res. 34, 2001]
 
Recovery efforts for the restoration of the Northern Rockies gray wolf should go forward on a broader basis than just the territory within Yellowstone National Park.  [Res. 12, 1992]

Wildlife corridors for species such as elk and deer should be established to reduce mortality from roadkills, and the Federation particularly supports efforts in Idaho to establish such corridors between places such as Harriman State Park and other habitat they utilize being promoted by the Idaho Wildlife Association.  [Res. 4, 2004]

Federal recovery plans for the grizzly bear should not allow virtually uncontrolled destruction of the bear's habitat (e.g., drilling, timbering, road construction, etc.).  Moreover, the recovery zone lines should be based on maps of areas bears use rather than on political lines, provide for linkages between areas bears use, permit few roads near national parks and wilderness areas, and should set human-caused mortality at zero.  [Res. 14, 1992]
 
States should change their game laws to disallow hunting bears with dogs, the use of food baiting to draw bears so that they can be shot, or hunting female bears in the spring, when they are pregnant and/or are feeding cubs.  [Res. 21, 1995]

Care must be taken to make sure that elk raised in captivity by farmers, that may be cross bred with Scottish red deer, do not escape to adversely affect stocks of wild elk, thereby transmitting disease and producing further cross-breeding.  [Res. 13, 1994]

All wolves, bear and other predators in Alaska ought to be left alone and not be subject to takes in various forms (including shooting, trapping, snaring, etc.) to better protect biodiversity and assure continuation of a healthy, functioning ecosystem that is naturally balanced, with complete populations of wild predators. [Res. 4, 1993]

Laws should be enacted in Canada (including provinces such as British Columbia) to protect endangered species  and to preserve all indigenous wildlife.  These laws need to be effective and be based on science, not politics.  All critical habitat for species listed as endangered should be protected to enable them to complete their life cycles on all lands within Canada.  [Res. 38, 2001]

The province of British Columbia should reintroduce a moratorium on hunting grizzly bears and adopt a zero tolerance for all those human actions that cause mortality of these bears.  Performance standards for the protection of habitat for grizzly bears there should be at least as stringent as those in force in the United States. Authorities in British Columbia should cooperate with those in the United States to protect grizzly bears.  [Res. 39, 2001]

Provincial and local governments in British Columbia should take steps to protect the ecological values of the Boundary Bay ecosystem, which is a vital link in the chain of stopover points on the Pacific Flyway.  The migratory species that rely on this habitat should not be imperiled through the construction of power plants that would degrade air quality and increase greenhouse gasses.  [Res. 40, 2001]


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