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Subdivisions in Elk Grove, California, encroach on Stone Lakes NWR. The development below the curved road was built within the refuge acquisition boundary. | Photo by USFWS 100-year floodplain, the Stone Lakes NWR provides vital feeding and resting grounds for migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway and protects habitats that are rapidly disappearing in California’s Central Valley: grasslands, wetlands, riparian, oak forest, and agricultural lands. In the 10 years since the refuge was established, nearby Sacramento and its surrounding counties have grown at staggering rates—up to 20 percent annually. As what was once open country around the refuge lands fills with tract houses and strip malls, Stone Lakes NWR is struggling to | ocated in the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta and the — Figure 6 Subdivisions in Elk Grove, California, encroach on Stone Lakes NWR. The development below the curved road was built within the refuge acquisition boundary. | Photo by USFWS 100-year floodplain, the Stone Lakes NWR provides vital feeding and resting grounds for migratory birds on the Pacific Flyway and protects habitats that are rapidly disappearing in California’s Central Valley: grasslands, wetlands, riparian, oak forest, and agricultural lands. In the 10 years since the refuge was established, nearby Sacramento and its surrounding counties have grown at staggering rates—up to 20 percent annually. As what was once open country around the refuge lands fills with tract houses and strip malls, Stone Lakes NWR is struggling to | ocated in the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta and the

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Refuges Have Proved Their Value— Now, They Need Our Help

Built within the Stone Lakes NWR acquisition boundary, this clubhouse is part of a subdivision known as Stone Lakes Community. Such development is threatening to stymie the refuge’s attempts to connect isolated parcels and eventually acquire its planned total of 17,600 acres. | Photo by Evan Hirsche Activities occurring beyond the refuge borders pose many threats to the refuges—yet, these lands are key to the Refuge System’s success in ensuring the future of America’s wildlife. The answer is not to circle the wagons. Instead, the refuges must reach out to surrounding communities and andowners and encourage land uses that will enhance— not threaten—the wildlife protections provided by the Refuge System. Private lands are estimated to protect rough- y one-half of the most important wildlife habitat in the United States. It’s imperative that private landowners get involved and make a commitment to conservation. While the refuges serve as biological hubs of protec- tion, lands outside refuge borders buffer the refuges from development and also provide additional resources for

New housing development runs right up to the Stone Lakes NWR boundary. The land to the left of the road is the refuge. | Photo by Evan Hirsche

When the Selendang Ayu crashed, it split in half, spilling 335,000 gallons of crude oil and 60,000 tons of soybeans. | Photo by Michael Edenfield

Spilled soybeans block access to the feeding grounds of crested aukletts and other species at Alaska Maritime NWR. | Photo by USFWS “We had loss of human life, substantial environmental injury, and costs of two hundred million dollars or more,” says Rick Steiner, professor, University of Alaska Marine Advisory Program, and Partnership facilitator. “For a few million dollars, we could have prevented this catastrophe.”

These desert bighorn sheep could lose their water supply to a rapidly growing Las Vegas. | Photo by USFWS In the quest to find ever more water for Las Vegas, the Southern Nevada Water Authority has obtained a permit

The thousands of tundra swans that winter at Pocosin Lakes NWR would be threatened by noise and possible collisions with aircraft using the proposed landing field nearby. | Photo by Pocosin Lakes NWR What’s more, birds often leave the refuge to feed in

FA-18 Super Hornets like this one would make more than 31,000 practice landings a year near Pocosin Lakes NWR. | Photo by U.S. Navy

Horicon NWR’‘s birds would be threatened by dozens of 400-foot-high turbines at a proposed wind farm nearby. | Photo by Jack Bartholmai

Sacramento National Wildlife Complex is surrounded by rice fields. | Photo by USFWS In the spring, rice growers flood their fields and then plant the rice seed. Beginning in late summer, the farmers begin to drain the water from the fields in preparation for a fall harvest. Historically, the farmers would burn their fields after the harvest was completed to remove the rice stubble and minimize the risk of plant disease. But in the early 1990s, in response to air quality problems, California

Louisville Swamp in the Minnesota Valley NWR would have faced a heavy-metal rock music amphitheater. | Photo by Rick Schultz Opposing the project were the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, township governments, businesses, and a coalition of conservation organizations led by the Friends of the Minnesota Valley. This coalition mounted a vigorous cam- paign, including community organizing, legal action and a full-page ad in local newspapers urging citizen action. As a result of these efforts, large numbers turned out for the public hearing and spoke against the construction of the amphitheater, citing the impact of the noise and light pol- lution, and the increased human and vehicular traffic.

The National Wildlife Refuge Association and Friends of the Minnesota Valley ran an ad opposing the amphitheater.

Bald eagle nestlings thrive at Lake Umbagog NWR. | Photo by USFWS/Bill Hanson FPL The refuge partners hope to protect additional lands, but “the big obstacle will be money,” says Houghton. “Land may come for sale, but if it’s immediate, what if the federal government doesn’t have the money? Are there state dollars? Private dollars?” Lake Umbagog illustrates the value of respecting diverse interests in protecting habitat for wildlife. The refuge was born of a partnership among the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the states of New Hampshire and Maine, private conservation groups, and timber compa- nies.

Businesses, government and conservationists are working together to protect land at Tensas River NWR. The refuge is home to black bears and other wildlife. | Photo by Lindsay Coldiron/Tensas NW A similar arrangement launched a brand new refuge in northwest Louisiana. Red River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 2002 with 600 acres purchased by The Conservation Fund with help from Entergy. Entergy refor- ested the land with 180,000 native trees and funded an

Ranchers and conservationists are working together at Red Rock Lakes NWR to protect land and wildlife, such as these moose, both on and off the refuge. | Photo by Evan Hirsche FWS is currently authorized to purchase easements on 42,000 acres around the refuge and has obtained ease-

Ecotourism thrives at Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR. Prize money from a local photo contest supports protection of adjacent lands. | Photo by USF\ Increasingly, ecotourism is becoming a “bright spot” for this and other economically depressed areas. The refuge safeguards this treasure by working with a wide range of partners to obtain and connect tracts of habi- tat. Because much of this region is in agricultural produc- tion, the refuge has a cooperative farming program that replants farmland to native habitat. Currently, the refuge manages 115 tracts totaling 90,000 acres, and these tracts complement adjacent lands managed by the state, Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, private landowners,