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Defenders Magazine
On the Ground: America's 10 Most Endangered Refuges
Ever heard of Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge?
Unless you’re from North Dakota, you probably haven’t. This federally protected, 27,000-acre swath of prairie wetlands plays a vital role in sheltering mallards, swans, snow geese, sandhill cranes and legions of other birds. But, disturbingly, it is imperiled by pollution from coal-burning power plants— earning it a spot as one of America’s 10 most endangered wildlife refuges in a new report from Defenders of Wildlife.
The report, the first of a planned annual series, aims to draw attention to our nation’s wildlife refuges and the perils they face. Although there are nearly 540 refuges across the country—and together they cover an area about the size of Montana—few people know about them.
“Wildlife refuges are one of the best-kept secrets in the world," says Lynn Greenwalt, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency that runs the refuge system. “But unless we learn to care about these places enough to support them, they’ll go the way of the passenger pigeon."
The first refuge was created by President Theodore Roosevelt on Florida’s Pelican Island in 1903. Today, there is at least one such federal wildlife haven in every state. These refuges are crucial to hundreds of varieties of wild animals and plants—including more than 170 imperiled species. Yet, except for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the controversial attempts by Congress and the Bush administration to open it to oil and gas drilling, these havens and the challenges they face often go unnoticed.
To address that problem, Defenders’ staff looked at refuges across the country, and chose 10 that are both acutely endangered and fixable. In addition to Alaska’s Arctic and North Dakota’s Lostwood, the list consists of:
Cabeza-Prieta, Arizona. This 860,000-acre swath of desert on the U.S.-Mexico border is one of the last strongholds of the endangered Sonoran pronghorn. Cross-border traffic is causing habitat damage in this fragile environment.
Delta, Louisiana. The coastal wetlands in this refuge are home to thousands of wintering migratory birds. But they are also home to nearly 180 active oil and gas wells that contaminate the marshes and fragment the habitat.
Desert, Nevada. A four-refuge complex covering more than 1.5 million acres, Desert is home to bighorn sheep and endangered fish. But the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s plans to drill for groundwater may drain the refuge’s lifeblood.
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay, California. The country’s largest urban wildlife refuge protects what is left of the bay’s original salt marshes and their associated bird life. But invasive species, habitat loss and an unrealized restoration plan imperil this refuge.
Klamath Basin, Oregon and California. A series of six refuges along the Klamath River protect wetlands crucial to 80 percent of the migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway. But wildlife and habitat take a back seat to farming in the basin.
Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas. A haven for birds, butterflies and bats, as well as endangered ocelots and jaguarundi. But development, pollution, water shortages and a lack of federal funding for land acquisition are putting this refuge at risk.
Pocosin Lakes, North Carolina. The ponds, swamps and forests of this vast refuge offer crucial shelter to waterfowl, songbirds and red wolves. The refuge is facing dual threats from a massive chicken farm and a proposed landing field for fighter jets.
Upper Mississippi River, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. Stretching along more than 260 miles of the Mississippi, this refuge safeguards more than 130 types of fish. But water pollution, water control structures, mercury contamination, habitat loss and invasive species are threatening to overwhelm the area.
“These 10 refuges are all at a crossroads," says Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of Defenders and a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “We need to take action now to safeguard each of them for the future, and to ensure the entire refuge system fulfills its promise as anchorpoints of biological diversity."
