Mississippi River Wild (MRW) is a group of citizens dedicated to preserving and protecting the natural resources of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Mississippi River Wild’s objectives are to:

* Enhance and preserve fish and wildlife habitat

* Increase public awareness and support of the refuge

* Advocate sound policy and adequate funding for the refuge

* Provide educational opportunities for all ages and cultures

* Promote volunteerism and partnerships to assist refuge staff

* Assist the FWS in implementing refuge goals and objectives

* Encourage diversity of native species and habitat

* Encourage responsible recreation within the refuge

Posted on December 22, 2011 by kenvisger

In a once-in-every-five-year-or-so event, snowy owls of the Arctic have been winging into the Lower 48 and turning heads.  The nearly two-foot-tall, predominantly white owls —Harry Potter’s Hedwig was a snowy — are hard to miss.  Most snowy owls normally live year-round in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other sites north of Alaska’s Brooks Range; a few overwinter in the Northern Plains and New England.  But last fall they were spreading across the U.S in great numbers.

Sharp-eyed folks at the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex report sightings there.  Other sightings come from as far east Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts and as far south as Kansas.  Snowies also were spotted in Connecticut, New York, Maine, Vermont, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and Washington state.

Why do snowy owls sometimes fly south en masse?  Snowy owls’ favorite prey are small rodents called lemmings, which are notorious for boom and bust population cycles.  Biologists think the owls’ “irruptions” south from the Arctic occur when lemmings are in short supply.  Sightings of snowy owlers in the Lower 48 ere compiled on a  map from reports on eBird and state bird listservs.

Unlike many other owls, snowies are active in the daytime.  They tend to perch at high points overlooking open sites such as beaches and airports.  Exhausted from their long flights, some starve if prey is scarce.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has more information on snowy owls.

Photo: Pat Gaines, Creative Commons

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Diverse Wildlife, Conservation, Sporting Coalition Applauds Senate’s Recognition of National Wildlife Refuges and Their Economic and Recreation Value

Posted on October 8, 2011 by kenvisger


Washington, DC—The U.S. Senate has passed a resolution designating the week of October 9-15 as National Wildlife Refuge Week. National Wildlife Refuge Week is celebrated every year on the second full week of October and was commemorated by the Senate for the first time in a historic resolution last year. First initiated under President Bill Clinton, Refuge Week is a celebration of our national wildlife refuges and America’s majestic wildlife heritage. The resolution (S.R. 288) passed last night by unanimous consent and recognizes the importance of America’s 553 National Wildlife Refuges and 38 Wetland Management Districts to wildlife and habitat conservation, recreation, and the economy, and affirms the Senate’s intent to manage refuges and the wildlife they protect for future generations. The Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), a coalition of conservation, sporting and scientific organizations that advocates for the National Wildlife Refuge System, praised the Senate action and the bill’s sponsors.

“At a time when the Refuge System faces serious funding and staffing shortfalls, we’re grateful to Senators Coons, Sessions and Cardin for leading a bipartisan group of colleagues to call attention to the importance of America’s National Wildlife Refuges,” said Evan Hirsche, President of the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Chair of the CARE coalition. “America’s refuges are the world’s premier system of lands and waters protected to conserve wildlife and habitat, but they are also a sound taxpayer investment, returning an average of four dollars to local economies for every dollar spent in economic activity.”

Refuges also provide vital “ecosystem services” to local economies, helping clean our air and waters, providing game for food and serving as important buffers from storms. Studies estimate that refuges return over $875 for every $1 appropriated. In addition, our Refuge System provides incomparable recreation opportunities for millions of visitors each year, including more than 2.5 million hunters, 7 million anglers, and 28 million wildlife watchers as well as students and photographers.

The bill’s cosponsors are a bipartisan group. They include the original sponsors—Chris Coons (D-DE), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)—and 11 cosponsors: Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Patty Murray (D-WA), Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tom Udall (D-NM), Scott Brown (R-MA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Thad Cochran (R-MS), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

The Senate resolution highlights:

  • The broad scope of the 150-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which includes 553 refuges and 38 wetland management districts, found in every state and territory of the U.S.;
  • The economic contributions of refuges, whose 45 million annual visitors contribute nearly $1.7 billion to local economies and support tens of thousands of local jobs;
  • The ecological and wildlife diversity found in the Refuge System, which protects temperate, tropical, and boreal forests, wetlands, deserts, grasslands, arctic tundras, and remote islands, and provide habitat for more than 700 species of birds, 220 species of mammals, 250 species of reptiles and amphibians, and more than 1,000 species of fish;
  • The importance of refuge volunteers and more than 220 refuge Friends groups, who contribute 1.4 million volunteer hours the equivalent of 665 full-time employees—to the Refuge System each year.

# # #

The Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE) is a national coalition of 21 wildlife, sporting, conservation, and scientific organizations representing a constituency numbering more than 14 million Americans. CARE has been working since 1995 to help the National Wildlife Refuge System fight a serious funding crisis.

American Birding Association • American Fisheries Society • American Sportfishing Association • Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies • Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation • Defenders of Wildlife • Ducks Unlimited • Izaak Walton League of America • Marine Conservation Institute • National Audubon Society • National Rifle Association of America • National Wildlife Federation • National Wildlife Refuge Association • Safari Club International • The Corps Network • The Wilderness Society • The Wildlife Society • Trout Unlimited • U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance • Wildlife Forever • Wildlife Management Institute
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