For more than a century, America’s hunters, anglers and explorers of the outdoors have been among the first to warn the nation of threats to the great landscapes and wildlife of our continent. And since President Teddy Roosevelt, an avid hunter, established the world’s first wildlife refuge at Pelican Island in Florida, they also have been the first to respond.
Today, climate change poses a new threat to our nation’s land, fish, wildlife and water. And, once again, America’s outdoor enthusiasts are among the first to witness its effects. Hunters are seeing wildlife migration patterns shift because climate change has affected the location and abundance of food supplies; anglers are seeing fish populations dwindle as river and lake temperatures rise; and boaters are seeing rising sea levels overtake wetlands and marshes near coastal communities that are vulnerable to floods and hurricanes.
For too long, the impacts of climate change have been clear to Americans who live and recreate on the land, but nearly invisible in the priorities and policies in Washington, D.C. But now, with a new administration and a growing sense of urgency, it is time for our country to rise to the challenge that climate change poses to the places we love.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently announced that the federal department that oversees one-fifth of the nation’s landmass — including the National Wildlife Refuge System, the National Park System, and the National System of Public Lands — has developed a first-ever coordinated and comprehensive framework for managing the impacts of climate change on America’s water supplies, wildlife and landscapes.
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service plays an important and integral role in the Department of the Interior’s coordinated climate change response strategy.
The service has released a draft Climate Change Strategic Plan focusing on helping fish, wildlife and plants adapt to changing climates. As part of this plan, we will expand efforts to capture and store carbon in the ecosystems we manage, such as in hardwood forests and other natural carbon sinks.
The Fish and Wildlife Service already has made great progress. For example, in partnership with the Conservation Fund, American Electric Power Company, and Entergy Inc., we have developed an innovative carbon sequestration program in the Lower Mississippi Valley that is also restoring native habitats to bolster populations of wildlife and migratory birds. Together we have added more than 40,000 acres of habitat to the National Wildlife Refuge System and reforested more than 80,000 acres, sequestering 30 million metric tons of carbon over the project’s 70-year lifetime.
The service also will help create a network of locally driven, solution- oriented Landscape Conservation Cooperatives that will allow federal, state and local partners to develop shared science capacity to inform conservation actions that help priority species and habitats withstand the impacts of climate change.
These steps represent an ambitious department-wide approach that acknowledges climate change is bigger than any agency or organization. It also needs your support and input. We hope you will learn more about our plan for climate change and give us your feedback at
A crisis, it is said, is an opportunity we can’t afford to waste. Let’s tackle the impacts of climate change. Let’s build a clean energy economy that creates new jobs. And let’s build a conservation legacy for America’s future hunters, hikers, anglers, birders and boaters to enjoy for all time.
Tom Strickland is the Department of Interior’s assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks. Sam Hamilton is U.S. Fish and Wildlife director.
