On Wednesday, President Barack Obama nominated Sally Jewell, CEO for the outdoor outfitter REI, as successor to Ken Salazar as Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.  Conservation groups, senators and Western energy producers alike praised the selection as a smart choice to do everything from protecting land, connecting kids to nature, addressing climate change, creating jobs and increasing development.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. Flickr photo by DaveTBear

Hopefully future Secretary Jewell will accomplish that vision by heeding the words of  former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who spoke this week at the National Press Club on the importance of restoring a true balance of conservation and energy development on public lands.

“On Equal Ground”

At the press conference, Sec. Babbitt praised the “excellent record” of Pres. Obama and Sec. Salazar, citing accomplishments like new vehicle fuel efficiency standards, doubling the production of renewable energy, protecting the Grand Canyon from uranium mining, creating an innovative management plan for Alaska’s Arctic Reserve, and more. But he also called on the Obama administration to improve his public lands conservation legacy in the second term by putting conservation on “equal ground” as energy development.

Babbitt compared the number of acres of permanently protected land under Obama to the last few presidents. The number has drastically declined during Obama’s tenure. Meanwhile, Babbitt noted, “the pace of oil and gas leasing on public lands has continued at a high rate.” While Secretary Babbitt acknowledged that energy development is an appropriate use of public lands, but clearly demonstrated the current imbalance of conservation and development, skewed heavily in favor of oil and gas drilling.

To restore this balance, Babbitt is calling on Interior (and thus future Sec. Jewell) to recommit to conservation. For every acre of land leased to oil and gas, Babbitt proposed, the administration (and Congress) should protect a new acre of land for conservation. He also urged President Obama to use his existing authority to designate new special places such as National Monuments or Wildlife Refuges in order to spur action from Congress. Capitol Hill needs a wake-up call — the 112th Congress is the first since WWII that did not designate even an acre of federal wilderness. Protecting the outdoors is not a radical idea. A new “State of the Rockies Conservation in the West” poll from Colorado College shows the overwhelming support of Western voters for protecting land and water and opposed the idea of turning public lands over to states and private interests.

“Where is the Balance?”

Former Secretary Babbitt is right: renewing the commitment between America and protection of the great outdoors will continue to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy our country’s proud outdoor heritage and wildlife.  The Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development (SFRED) coalition, a group led by National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, advocates for this same balanced approach on public lands, taking into account the cumulative impact to fish, wildlife habitat and water resources as well as hunting and fishing opportunities.

Drilling operations across tens of thousands of acres of the Roan Plateau on the Western Slope of Colorado. Flickr by SkyTruth

Fortunately, perseverance and citizen action eventually pays off when it comes to conservation on public lands.  Just this week the Colorado Bureau of Land Management decided to withdraw proposed oil and gas leases that include big game habitat and trout fisheries along the North Fork of the Gunnison River.  The decision followed protests and letters from hunters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts concerned about selling leases using a 23-year-old resource management plan.

I do not envy Sally Jewell’s new job, but it is a critically important position that will shape the future of this country’s energy and conservation future.  Forget criticism from special interest groups: Jewell will have her hands full tackling climate change, figuring out ways to deal with potentially devastating budget cuts, protecting new landscapes despite Congressional inaction and finding ways to preserve clean air, water and wildlife.  It may still be the honeymoon period, but I am confident that she is up to the task.

 The Department of the Interior is facing devastating budget cut proposals from Congress.  If we expect Sally Jewell to be able to move conservation forward, she needs the resources to do her job.  Take action by sending a message urging Congress to not let the budget crisis devastate wildlife.

Gray wolves (Flickr/Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary)

First, the good news: The deal includes an extension through the end of 2013 for both the production tax credit (PTC) for onshore wind energy and the investment tax credit (ITC) for offshore wind energy. The wind energy industry had been laying off workers as the tax credits twisted in the wind.

“It’s great to see bipartisan cooperation to extend these critical incentives for America’s fast-growing wind energy industry,” says Adam Kolton, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s National Advocacy Center. “This is exactly the kind of smart, targeted investment that can grow our economy, strengthen our energy security, and protect people and wildlife from the worst impacts of climate change.”

The deal contains some good incentives for low-carbon transportation. As the Washington Post Wonkblog’s Brad Plumer reports, there are tax credits for taking public transportation to work, buying electric scooters, and repairing railroads.

But the bad news is that Congress punted on planned “sequestration” - automatic cuts to discretionary domestic spending, including a range of programs that protect America’s wildlife, public lands, and clean air and water. Congress voted to put off the fiscal cliff’s 8.2%, across-the-board cut for two months. Learn more about how those cuts could impact your community at NWF.org/FiscalCliff.

And that’s just one of several potential fiscal pitfalls on the horizon. Along with the sequestration, the budget continuing resolution is running out, and the federal budget is bumping up against the debt ceiling. All pose a potential challenge in that they’ll be fodder for hard-line extremists to demand more cuts to domestic discretionary programs, including bedrock conservation investments. As the National Wildlife Federation has detailed in previous times of gridlock, a government shutdown wouldn’t just mean shuttered National Parks – it would be a polluter holiday.

Congress also included an extension of the Farm Bill, one that doesn’t measure up in the eyes of the National Wildlife Federation. “Passing a nine month extension delays much needed reforms and cuts a key incentive program for farmers wanting to implement conservation measures on their land,” Julie Sibbing, NWF’s director of agriculture and forestry programs, said in a statement today. “America’s farmers, taxpayers and wildlife deserve more than this Band-Aid fix.”

The deal also doesn’t take on tax incentives for dirty energy, as Big Oil will continue to get billions in taxpayer subsidies.

Take Action

Previous budget cuts have already sliced  to the bone on the vital conservation programs that protect our nation’s endangered species, national wildlife refuges, and natural resources. Ask your members of Congress to protect critical conservation programs in any budget deal.

In case you haven’t been convinced by our blogs on how the fiscal cliff would harm Wildlife Refuges, public lands, hunting and fishing, and wetlands, among other programs, take a look at this infographic on how badly the fiscal cliff could harm just one state: Ohio, home to much of the fragile Great Lakes region.

For NWF’s latest fiscal cliff materials, see NWF.org/FiscalCliff.

Don’t let our budget crisis hurt the Great Lakes! Do your part today to protect our wildlife and natural resources.

This week Congressional leaders are working with the White House behind closed doors to come up with a budget deal to avoid the “fiscal cliff” — and may be considering including a Farm Bill with subsidies that reward people for destroying wetlands and causing soil erosion. 

Don’t let special interests use backroom deals to undermine common sense conservation provisions that protect streams, wetlands and grasslands.

Pintail ducks in flight (Photo: USFWS Pacific)

Farm Bill Must Not Cave to Special Interests

Up until now, conservation has been an important part of the federal Farm Bill.  Conservation programs have protected wildlife by providing farmers and other private landowners incentives to set aside land for wildlife, such as grasslands, wetlands and stream corridors — and landowners have been required to protect wetland habitats and control against serious soil erosion as a condition of receiving subsidies.

If special interests get their way in the fiscal cliff deal, taxpayer dollars will be used to reward the destruction of millions of acres of wetlands and reward farming practices that lead to worsened soil erosion–choking streams with silt and harming fish.

Help Stop the Destruction of Wildlife Habitat

Right now, we can stop lawmakers from using the fiscal cliff as an excuse to subsidize the destruction of Prairie Pothole wetlands where Northern Pintail ducks breed.

Urge President Obama to ensure that any final Farm Bill he signs include conservation measures that were voted on by the Senate. Failure to include these conservation provisions could lead to a massive destruction of important habitat for the Northern Pintail duck.

Urge President Obama to protect our remaining prairie wetlands for northern pintails.

Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Fund

Many of North Americans’ favorite fish—rainbow trout, smelt, striped bass, bonefish,  scamp, Alabama cavefish, snapper, black grouper, yellow perch, blackspotted stickleback, flounder, monkfish, and gefilte, to name a few—will be at risk if the sequester budget cuts go into effect. National Wildlife Federation’s four million members love to fish. And fishing and hunting are on the rise: according to the 2011 national survey released by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, there has been a 9% increase in hunters and an 11% increased in anglers over the last five years.

Protect America’s fishing legacy!
Photo: Colorado Division of Wildlife

The WSFR exists thanks to two pieces of legislation: the 1937 Pittman Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, which put an excise tax on sporting guns and ammunition in order to fund wildlife restoration, and the 1950 Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act, which applied the same principle to fisheries restoration. Together, the two funds offer one of the most successful examples of the “user pay/user benefit” principle: the funds come entirely from a modest excise tax on fishing and hunting equipment, and are distributed to states by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to be used for conservation projects that enhance wildlife recreation and hunting and fishing opportunities.  Nevertheless, these funds already reserved for conservation will be subject to deep and catastrophic cuts under sequestration.

A Legacy of Conservation

The WSFR has had perhaps more impact than any other single conservation program. The flexible distribution of the funds means that states have considerable agency in deciding how best to use them, and WSFR has been used for an incredible variety of conservation programs. Over the past 75 years, it has helped restore countless wildlife populations and habitats, supported outdoor recreation and education program, and assisted states in acquiring delicate wetlands.

In 2012, the WSFR gave out about $720 million to states for conservation and restoration programs, funding that is crucial to the day-to-day operation of state fish and wildlife agencies.

Under sequestration, however, spending by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Fund will be cut by a total of $65 million—funds that would otherwise go towards restoring critical wildlife habitats and fisheries.

What is more, the continued funding of sportsmen-valued programs like the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program is incredibly important to our economy:  in 2011, over 37 million hunters and anglers spent $90 billion in recreational expenditures nationwide.  The recent sportsmen’s poll released by National Wildlife Federation showed that, regardless of political affiliation, America’s sportsmen are committed to conservation programs like WSFR.

At a time when climate change was almost completely absent from the presidential election , it is more important than ever to fight for the crucial conservation programs we rely on to protect wildlife for our children’s future. Click on the button to contact your Senators and Representatives today to let them know that sequestration will have a huge impact on the conservation programs you care about, and urge them to work towards a balanced approach to raise revenue, reduce the deficit, and prevent these cuts. 

If only our lobby day was this fun.
Photo: Susan McElhinney/NWF

• Further cuts to the National Wildlife Refuge System—already operating on a budget of just $3.24 per acre—will result in closed refuges and lost revenue, among other impacts.

• The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program, which provides crucial funding for preventing wildlife from becoming endangered, will be cut by about $5 million, leaving only $56 million to protect wildlife in all 50 states.

• The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has provided funding for countless National Parks, wildlife refuges, and other public lands, will be cut by about $20 million, almost certainly delaying or halting crucial conservation projects.

• The Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Programs and Management funding, which supports a variety of environmental protection and restoration programs—including critical Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act protection programs—will be cut by $220 million, undermining fundamental federal regulation and putting our access to clean air and water at risk.

• The Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program, which makes investments in clean energy essential to our nation’s environment and economy, will be cut by $148 million.

• The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Funds—which are used to support wildlife and fisheries conservation—will be cut by $34 million and $31 million respectively, endangering countless species and restricting the activities of the 37 million hunters and anglers who contributed $90 billion to our economy in the past year alone.  These come from a trust fund paid into by sportsmen for sportsmen via an excise tax on fishing, hunting, and boating equipment; that even funds already reserved for conservation are subject to deep cuts demonstrates the fundamental unfairness of sequestration.

Very rarely are our legislative fights this black and white: we compromise, we battle over minutiae, we strive to see strong conservation policies implemented, yet so often settle for good enough.  In this case, however, our message is crystal clear: the sequestration cuts cannot happen.

Here in D.C., NWF’s crack team of conservation advocates is doing their best to put pressure on Congress. But we need your help and your voices—act now by contacting your Senators and Representatives today to let them know that sequestration will have a huge impact on the conservation programs you care about, and urge them to work towards a balanced approach to raise revenue, reduce the deficit, and prevent these cuts.

Since starting at NWF’s D.C. office in September, I’ve come to enjoy visiting Capitol Hill: testing which offices have the best local souvenirs (personally, it’s a close call between Alabama’s peanuts and Pennsylvania’s Hershey chocolate), which offices feature the most surprising wall décor (a polar bear skin and a functioning canoe are just the tip of the iceberg) and get the most into the holiday spirit (currently, the office of Guam’s at-large congressional district is putting everyone else to shame). But my favorite part is knowing that I am speaking on behalf of the over 4 million gardeners, hikers, boaters, sportsmen, and wildlife enthusiasts that are members and supporters of NWF.

Last week, Rep. Rob Bishop (UT) and Rep. Steve Pearce (NM) sent a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, claiming that selling off public land and taking more public land for drilling will help solve our budget crises. This isn’t a unique idea—Paul Ryan’s House-passed budget proposal also calls for selling our public land to the highest bidder.

It’s true that Congress will need to come up with ideas on how to reduce our deficit, but selling cherished parks, forests, and wilderness isn’t the right one. Auctioning away America’s natural wonders is a reckless endeavor that will only hurt local economies, destroy wildlife habitat, and obstruct access to millions of people who enjoy hiking, fishing, hunting, and exploring our country’s public lands.

Whether its through direct jobs, tourism, or gear for outdoor activities, public lands pump billions of dollars into our economy. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, the outdoor recreation economy supports 6.1 million direct American jobs and $646 billion in direct consumer spending each year.

Public lands also provide critical wildlife habitat and are necessary for cleaning our air, providing clean water, and sequestering carbon pollution. Sacrificing these things now is a short sighted move that will hurt future generations.

Polar bears in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge // Susanne Miller/USFWS

Reps. Bishop and Pearce’s proposal to take over public lands for drilling is out of touch with American voters, including individuals that hunt, fish, and recreate on our public lands:

• A recent poll found that sportsmen prioritize protecting public lands above energy production. Given a choice between protecting America’s public lands and prioritizing the production of oil, gas and coal, 49 percent want to protect public lands and just 35 percent choose fossil fuel production.
• Another post-election Zogby poll found that independent voters favor wind and solar over fossil fuels by a 4-to-1 margin: 48 percent pick renewable energy while only 11 percent prioritize more oil and gas drilling on America’s public lands.

Tackling our budget is a serious issue — but it shouldn’t lead to the destruction and disappearance of our public lands. Congress should work together to protect programs that safeguard our air, water, and wildlife while finding a balanced approach to the deficit.

Do your part—ask your Members of Congress to preserve funding for our public lands and wildlife conservation programs.

A report released today by the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), a diverse coalition of sporting, conservation and scientific organizations representing 15 million Americans, warns that unless Congress abandons the automatic “sequestration” cuts scheduled to occur in January, the Refuge System could be forced to close refuges and eliminate popular recreational opportunities which many communities depend upon as economic drivers.

Evidence of sea level rise at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. Photo taken in early spring of 2012 — before Hurricane Sandy. Credit: Bentley Johnson

1. Closed refuges and visitor centers;
2. Loss of hunting and fishing opportunities;
3. Volunteers turned away;
4. Lost revenue to local economies;
5. Increased poaching, vandalism and drug smuggling;
6. Lost opportunities for birding and wildlife watching;
7. Spread of invasive species;
8. Halted habitat restoration and fire management;
9. Delayed response to natural disaster devastation; and
10. Terminating a newly initiated inventory and monitoring program.

Already we are seeing wildlife refuges struggle to keep up with existing challenges, such as sea level rise and damage from extreme weather as a result of climate change (check out this story from the Washington Post on how Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on East Coast refuges). Any further cuts will leave refuge managers with hard decisions and no-win scenarios. Refuges aren’t alone: the conservation of wildlife and America’s public lands in general (including National Parks) is at risk.

Banking on Refuges

Wildlife refuges don’t just provide habitat for migratory birds or endangered species: they are drivers for our economy.

“The 560 national wildlife refuges that make up the 150-million-acre Refuge System generate more than $4.2 billion annually for local economies and create nearly 35,000 U.S. jobs annually.” says David Houghton, President of the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Chair of the CARE coalition.

Connecting People to Nature

Much of this economic activity is generated by the refuge system’s nearly 45 million visitors each year.  Activities like wildlife-watching, hunting, fishing, photography, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and environmental education programs may be curtailed if America’s refuges go over the Fiscal Cliff.  As Larry Schweiger, National Wildlife Federation’s President & CEO, gave a sense of urgency to the sequestration situation after the CARE report was released:

“Wildlife refuges give Americans fantastic opportunities to get outside and connect with nature as well as providing critical habitat for wildlife, which is vital in a warming world. Continued investment in our refuges will also drive our recreation economy through activities like hunting and fishing. The CARE coalition’s Fiscal Cliff report details the potentially devastating consequences to America’s wildlife refuges if our elected leaders do not put aside differences and agree on a budget solution. It’s critical that we all work together to conserve and protect wildlife for future generations.”

You can make a difference to help prevent the budget crisis from devastating wildlife and our shared National Wildlife Refuge System by clicking on the link and sending a message to your elected official now.

To learn more about the sequestration process AND look at adorable wildlife photos at the same time, check out this blog post in which wildlife complain about the fiscal cliff budget cuts: http://bit.ly/T5qywI

Brought to you by National Wildlife Federation.

It’s time to talk about

Photo by Theodore Mattas

In the summer of 2011, the federal government very nearly defaulted on its loans.

Photo by Nathan Meadows

It was.  So the President and Congress reached a deal: Congress agreed to increase the debt ceiling  (and prevent the government from defaulting on their loans) in return for a guarantee that the federal deficit would be reduced. A bipartisan

Photo by NSF

made up of six members of the House and six of the Senate—with each delegation evenly split between Democrats and Republicans—was formed to figure out a plan.

But things didn’t work out quite as they hoped.

Photo by Mike Bender

Yeah, it gets worse. To make sure they reached a deal in time, the

Photo by NSF

put a failsafe in place: if Congress failed to enact a bill reducing the deficit by January 15, 2012, a series of automatic spending cuts—called “sequestration”—would begin in 2013.

Photo by Vishal Bhav

But Congress DID fail to reach a deal.

Photo by James Turner

 And now unless Congress acts before January 2, mandatory spending cuts will slash $109 billion from the next year’s budget and $1.2 trillion over the following nine years.  This will have a devastating impact on key conservation programs and the wildlife and ecosystems they protect.

Photo by Mary Ellen Carter

I know. It’s a mess.

What’s worse, these cuts will have a disproportionate impact on conservation programs cherished by all those who enjoy access to our rich natural resources.

Many of these programs are already

Photo by Scott Landseidel

Like the EPA’s Environmental Programs and Management funding—crucial to Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act protection programs—which would be cut by $220 million.

And the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants program, which provides crucial funding for preventing wildlife from becoming endangered, and which could be cut by about $5 million, leaving only $56 million to protect wildlife like:

Photo by Bala K. Srivinas

Photo by Gregory J. Fisher

Photo by USFWS

in all 50 states.

Funds that are supposed to be dedicated to restoring land, water, and wildlife resources—like the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which stands to be cut by about $20 million, and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Fund, which would be cut by $65 million—will be 

Photo by Christine Haines

with everything else that’s being cut, endangering the conservation of critical wildlife habitats.

Tax breaks for oil aren’t affected, yet millions of dollars that protect clean air and water, wildlife conservation, alternative energy subsidies, and environmental remediation programs will be slashed.

Photo by Corel

I wish I was, believe me.

What is particularly awful about the sequestration cuts is that federal departments and agencies have no discretion about where to make the cuts: non-defense discretionary spending—which encompasses virtually all environmental programs—is subject to a cut of 8.2% at the program level.

Photo by Christopher Willis

OK, so the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, say, has a whole array of programs they fund, like the Multinational Species Conservation Fund and the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund. In this case, they can’t decide to keep the Multinational Species Conservation Fund intact and cut the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund by 16.4%; every program must be cut by 8.2%.

Photo by Dave Menke/USFWS

Basically,

Photo by Adam Davis

A TON.

Photo by Neil McCulloch

Not so fast!

Tell Congress to:

Photo by Adam Davis

on partisan bickering, and to

Photo by Howard Sheridan

Photo by Joe Robertson

To come up with a balanced approach to raise revenue and reduce wasteful spending to save the programs American wildlife (and people) count on to ensure clean air and water and habitats.

Because

Photo by Brett Klaproth

Do you really want to sequester that face?

Protect ocelots and more endangered wildlife by telling your members of Congress to preserve funding for vital conservation programs.

Action alert updated 11/20/12.