REPRESENTATIVE ROBIN HAYES AWARDED FOR EFFORTS TO HELP CONSERVE WILDLIFE
Congressional leaders presented with awards during a two-day event to
highlight State Wildlife Grants

WASHINGTON, DC (March 6, 2007) - Last week, Representative Robin Hayes (R-NC) was presented an award for his leadership in championing federal funding for state-based wildlife conservation under the State Wildlife Grants Program. The award, presented at an evening reception, recognizes his role in leading an effort to secure greater funding for the State Wildlife Grants Program, which remains our nation's core program for preventing wildlife from becoming endangered in every state.

Upon accepting the award, Hayes said, "I am pleased to help with garnering greater support on Capitol Hill for this significant wildlife program. It is important to make an effort to conserve our wildlife resources in North Carolina and throughout the nation. The State Wildlife Grants Program is a prime example of how we can work together to ensure our love for the outdoors endures."

The award was presented by Christopher North of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and co-chair of the North Carolina Teaming with Wildlife Coalition. "The State Wildlife Grants program is a proactive, preventative funding vehicle to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered and keep common species common." North said, "this is cost-effective use of taxpayer dollars that benefits both wildlife and people."

From left to right, Larry Schweiger, President and Chief Executive Office for the National Wildlife Federation, Christopher North, Special Projects Director for the North Carolina Wildlife Federation and co-chair for the North Carolina Teaming with Wildlife Coalition, Congressman Robin Hayes (NC District 8), Chris McGrath, Wildlife Diversity Program Coordinator for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and co-chair for the North Carolina Teaming with Wildlife Coalition.

Representative Hayes who is the co-chair of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, and other Members of Congress were honored during the Teaming with Wildlife Fly-In Days, an annual event held by the Teaming with Wildlife Coalition to educate Congress about the State Wildlife Grants Program. Each was honored for their "exceptional leadership in advocating state wildlife conservation funding" and "commitment to America's wildlife (that) will leave a lasting legacy for generations to come."

During the three-day "Fly-In" event, more than 150 conservation leaders from 42 states, including representatives from state fish and wildlife agencies and dozens of other conservation organizations, ranging from environmental and hunting and fishing groups to wildlife-based businesses met with their lawmakers to inform them about the State Wildlife Grants Program. Teaming with Wildlife, a national coalition of 5,000 conservation-minded organizations and businesses, works to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered by supporting increased state and federal funding for wildlife conservation.

"State agencies leverage State Wildlife Grants funding to help restore habitat, reintroduce wildlife, and work with private landowners to help keep wildlife from declining,´ said Ed Parker, president of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and Bureau Chief of the Bureau of Natural Resources for the Connecticut Dept. of Environmental Protection. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is the perfect adage for this program. This is a wise use of taxpayer dollars that delivers on-the-ground results for wildlife."

The State Wildlife Grants Program provides federal money to every state and territory for cost-effective conservation aimed at preventing wildlife from becoming endangered. This program continues the long history of cooperation between the federal government and the states for managing and conserving wildlife. Funds appropriated under the State Wildlife Grants Program are allocated to every state according to a formula based on each state's size and population.

The President's Budget is calling for $69.5 million in 2008 for State Wildlife Grants, an increase from last year's final appropriation of $67.5 million, but the Teaming with Wildlife Coalition feels this number remains well below the amount it will take to conserve the nation's wildlife and their habitats. The coalition has called for $85 million, recognizing that this also is too low. Already, the coalition is working to help wildlife agencies secure additional funding through several recently-introduced climate change bills. These bills would, in part, fund the Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program of the Pittman-Robertson Act.

Despite historical successes in bringing many wildlife species back from the brink of extinction, other species have continued to decline as evidenced by the staggering numbers listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. State hunting and fishing license dollars, federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear, and motorboat fuel taxes have provided the backbone for funding the nation's state wildlife conservation programs over the past century. However, there has always been a gap in funding for species that are not hunted or fished. State Wildlife Grants has provided state fish and wildlife agencies with the resources they critically need to fill that gap.

To learn more about the Teaming with Wildlife Coalition, visit statewildlife.nwf.org/nc or www.teaming.com

Get Out! Bats need all the sleep they can get
Winston Salem Journal

Friday, February 23, 2007
By Lisa O'Donnell

JOURNAL COLUMNISTCRANBERRY - Icicles, stretching several feet, hang like fangs at the mouth of the old Cranberry Iron Mine.

Tucked away in a mountain about 30 miles southwest of Boone, the mine is cold, dark and abandoned, the type of place that Voldemort might call home.

But for more than 1,000 bats, the mine is a safe and cozy winter retreat.

Earlier this month, on quite possibly the coldest day of the year, in quite possibly the coldest pocket of the state, some folks from the state's Teaming with Wildlife Coalition led a tour into the mine to observe some of the hibernating bats.

What Gives?: A biologist wakes a small brown bat in the old Cranberry Iron Mine. (Journal File Photo)

The coalition, which is part of a national network, is made up of about 145 organizations and agencies trying to prevent the state's wildlife from becoming endangered.

In 2001, Congress asked states that wanted to receive wildlife grants to come up with an action plan. The states decided to concentrate on non-game species that are not threatened or endangered.

"Once a species reaches a critical point, the cost of recovery is so much more than preventing it from declining in the first place," said Christopher North, the special-projects director for the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, which is a member of the state's Teaming with Wildlife Coalition.

Media tours

Part of North Carolina's action plan includes giving media tours of some of the habitats that the coalition is working to protect so that people can see how their tax dollars are being spent.

Coalition members have led tours to see flying squirrels and rare green salamanders.

Scott Bosworth, a wildlife biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, led the tour into the Cranberry mine.

Why the fuss over a species that many of us fear is going to suck our blood and give us rabies?

The rabies fear is unfounded, Bosworth said. A person in North Carolina has a better chance of getting rabies from a raccoon, skunk or fox, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Bats play a crucial ecological role. They disperse seeds and eat an enormous amount of insects. A nursing female might consume almost her entire body weight in insects in one night.

Bosworth spends much of his time nosing around mines and caves in the western part of the state monitoring the bat population.

The Cranberry mine, a massive cavern with six levels and a network of accessible and inaccessible corridors, is one of the most important stops on his rounds.

The mine opened in 1829 and became a major iron producer for the Confederacy during the Civil War. It closed in the early 1940s and turned into a hangout for locals.

Area bats that hibernate in the winter, instead of migrating south, discovered it, too. The mine became a favorite hibernacula (a hibernating spot for bats) for several of the state's bat species.

Of the 17 bat species in North Carolina, six of them - the northern long-eared, the eastern small-footed, the big brown, the Virginia big-eared, the little brown and the eastern pipistrelle - have been found in the mine. Most of these are common and widespread bats. The Virginia big-eared is recognized by the federal government as an endangered species.

Hibernating bats are sensitive to human activity. The ruckus created by beer drinkers and four-wheelers can disturb bats, causing them to expend precious fat stores they need to carry them through winter.

"This was a partying place that was undergoing significant levels of disturbance," Bosworth said.

In 2002, the state stepped in, purchased the mineral rights to the mine, and acquired a 280-acre conservation easement to protect the bats. It later installed a 15,000-pound steel gate that bars people - but not bats - from exploring beyond the first 200 yards of the mine.

For our visit, Bosworth unlocked a bar from the gate, which created a small opening for us to slip through. With headlamps illuminating our path, we stuck mostly to the old rail line, the mine's main corridor. Occasionally, we walked over heaps of rubble to explore narrow corridors or wandered into enormous side caverns with 30-foot ceilings.

I expected to see colonies of dangling bats. Instead, Bosworth pointed to individual bats, slumbering in crevices and drill holes in the pocked walls and ceiling.

We hovered around the bats when we found them and some took pictures. But we couldn't mill around them long. Our bodies could raise the temperature around the bat by one or two degrees, which is enough to bother the bat, Bosworth said.

A disturbed bat has room to find another sleeping spot in the mine, which is another reason why it is so important for the state's bat population. "There's great potential for this to be one of the best hibernating spots in Western North Carolina," he said.

It is also unusual for a hibernacula to house six bat species, Bosworth said. However, he and other biologists didn't find one of the six - the Virginia big-eared bat - during a recent survey.

That's not cause for alarm, he said. Since 1992, the number of Virginia big-eared bats found in the mine has ranged from 0 to 10. Bosworth is hopeful that these bats will eventually find the mine now that gates have been installed.

After gates were put up in a cave at Grandfather Mountain, the population Virginia big-eared bats soared from 20 to about 500 in a 20-year period.

• Lisa O'Donnell can be reached at 727-7420 or atlo'donnell@wsjournal.com.

North Carolina Leaders Take a Stand for Wildlife

Nobody likes to see another species of wildlife listed on the Endangered Species List.  The United States now has over 1,200 plants and animals on the federal Endangered species List.  With more in the pipeline the cost of recovery is getting larger and larger.  The amount of federal dollars needed to protect and restore these species is far greater than would have been required to prevent their decline in the first place.  Also, many wildlife species will continue to decline in the future unless resources are provided for proactive, on the ground efforts within each state. 

With pressure from North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF) and others from the wildlife conservation community the State Wildlife Grants program was created in 2002 and provides federal funds to assist every state wildlife agency in conserving wildlife and wildlife habitat. It is the nation’s core program for preventing wildlife species from becoming endangered.  It has proven to be a proactive, preventative funding vehicle that has benefited, not only wildlife, but humans as well by providing a healthy level of biodiversity in our environment and our recreational activities.

NCWF is advocating for the appropriate funding level of the State Wildlife Grants program, mobilizing the wildlife enthusiast community in North Carolina, and assisting the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission in educating the public about the wildlife conservation projects that benefit from these funds.  NCWF will work to ensure these funds are increased every year to best accommodate wildlife needs.  Adequate and consistent funding is essential to fulfilling the shared federal and state responsibility for our nation’s wildlife.

These species of wildlife benefit from the State Wildlife grants program in North Carolina:

·        Bog turtle populations are uncertain and viewed to be at critical levels. 

·        Population studies have shown declines in the gull-billed tern, the black skimmer, and the common tern.

·        American oystercatcher and Wilson’s plover have been deemed high priority by state biologists. (More information is needed for many beach nesting birds before conservation tools can be implemented to restore and protect the beaches that provide these birds with places to raise their young).

·        The peregrine falcon, northern flying squirrel, and bat populations need to be monitored to provide accurate data concerning the need of restoration and protection of their habitats.

In the past North Carolina has received $1.4 million but with good support from Congress we may see an increase.  There are 7 in the United State House and 1 in the Senate from North Carolina that support an increase for the State Wildlife Grants program; they are Rep. GK Butterfield (D-NC 1), Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC 2), Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC 7), Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC 13), Rep. David Price (D-NC 4), Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC 12), Senator Richard Burr who also supported this program when he was in the house.

Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC 8) led the way by starting the support letter to increase funding for fiscal year 2006 because it “provides state’s, territories, the District of Columbia, and Indian tribes with the resources they need to implement strategic, effective wildlife conservation programs aimed at keeping wildlife from becoming endangered.”  Rep. Hayes also received a wildlife conservation award this year from the Teaming With Wildlife coalition representing over 3000 entities across the nation that support a fund for wildlife conservation, outdoor recreation, and education in every state.

These monies will directly benefit the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and allow them to evaluate the conservation needs of many wildlife species. Some of these new projects include a reptile and amphibian research and conservation project, piedmont songbird surveys, urban wildlife management planning, rare small mammal research, western region bird and mammal monitoring, beach nesting bird reproduction research, a stream restoration coordination plan throughout the state, and wildlife conservation education.

Congress has approved $68.5 million for the State Wildlife Grants program.

In a flurry of voting before Congress recessed in August 2005, they passed the final Dept. of Interior spending bill for the next fiscal year starting October 1, 2005. The State Wildlife Grants program ended up at $68.5 million, simply splitting the difference between the House and Senate versions ($65 million vs. $72 million). While this does indeed end up being a small cut from last year's $69 million, when put into context, it clearly shows that all of our hard work made a significant difference to allow us to essentially maintain level funding in the face of a terrible conservation budget.

Click here to go read NC's Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation strategy~

For more information about the State Wildlife Grants program please contact Christopher E. North, the Special Projects Director at the North Carolina Wildlife Federation Regional Office.  704-332-5696 or email to chris@ncwf.org