CLIMATE CONSERVATION IN AMERICA

 Nature astounds and inspires us with its diversityof oceans and wetlands, forests and grasslands. These special places play a vital role inthe production of the planet's oxygen, drinking water, and rainfall. They also produce a richabundance of fish, wildlife, and plant species, and sustain our lives and nurture our spirits.Our nation's culture, health, and economic well-being are tied to this interconnectedweb of life. But accelerated global climate change is changing the natural world as weknow it. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conserves our nation's heritage of wild thingsand wild places. This task is made more difficult by challenges such as habitat destruction,fragmentation, invasive species, and water scarcity. Now, worldwide scientific consensustells us that human activity is changing the climate system itself.Some species willadapt successfully to an abruptly warming world, many will struggle, and others willdisappear. Endangered and threatened species now living at the limits of survival are vulnerable.

 As are those living within confined geographic ranges with limited abilities to move rapidlyin response to changing climate. Barriers to migration, increased competition for habitat,and the lack of suitable or available food could make things difficult for species movingto new locations. So as we lose habitat, we may literally losespecies that are found nowhere else." In addition to terrestrial species, aquatic resourcesare declining at alarming rates due to habitat loss, contaminants, invasive species, overexploitation,and most recently, diseases; stresses that are exacerbated by climate change. Increasinghuman population will intensify the competing needs of cities, agricultural areas, and wildlife.In a changing climate, effective management of vital natural resources such as clean waterwill be of even greater importance in the sustaining habitats that support plants, animals,and people. As fish habitats decline, so do the numerous values they provide for natural resources,human health, and a sound economy. Recreational fisheries help generate hundreds of millionsof dollars in local economies throughout this country.

 If climate change diminishes thequality and quantity of our aquatic habitats that will have a profound impact on thesespecial places and the people and wildlife that depend on them." As the nation's principalfederal conservation agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is dedicated to helpingspecies adapt to a rapidly warming climate. Our 8,000 employees specialize in wildlifemanagement and ecosystem dynamics and have an extensive network of partners who workalongside us to protect our nation's fish and wildlife. Dealing with climate changeis not a solitary endeavor. Close collaboration with partners is critical to this process.It requires a landscape conservation approach emphasizing large areas with interconnectedand ecologically functional habitats capable of sustaining many species. In many cases we've actually severed theseconnections with roads, development which these plants and animals can't cross, so wherethese corridors still exist and are intact we want to try to maintain them.

 And wherethey've been severed, we want to try to reconnect them." One expected effect of climate changeis sea level rise. At Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland, resource managersare monitoring climate change impacts using a special climate model that measures theeffects of sea level rise on marshes. "The loss of 8,000 acres of brackish marsh habitathas a significant impact on what's going on out here. These marshes are important to morethan just wildlife. These marshes are critical to not only the local economy, because thesemarshes support the local fin and shellfish industries, they're important to the healthof the Bay, they also provide wildlife viewing opportunities for ecotourism as well as helpto buffer storm effects to the local community. We will continue to lose marsh habitat asa result of sea level rise as well. The model will help us to identify those places wherewe will be able to maintain marshes in the long run and help plan future management activities."Climate modeling is also being used in the Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuge Complexwhere wildlife viewing is a major tourism activity.

 "Our highest priorities right nowfor assessing and adapting to the impacts of climate change would be to take some ofthe large and complicated scientific models that tend to be global and regional in scale,and bring them down to the local level so that we can better predict what the impactsmight be, the time frame in which we can expect those impacts, and what types of strategieswe should implement in order to prepare for the changes that we might see." The impactsof climate change reach far beyond coastal areas. From melting sea ice in the arctic,to water scarcity in the southwest. In the upper Midwest, thousands of shallow wetlandsknown as prairie potholes are remnants of retreating glaciers from the last major iceage. Thousands of waterfowl and other grassland birds rely upon these lands and waters tocontinue self-sustaining populations. The area is home to more than 50% of North Americanmigratory waterfowl with many species dependent on the potholes for breeding and feeding,and thousands of duck hunters and communities rely upon the seasonal activity of waterfowlhunting. As the climate warms, farmers in the region will be able to plants crops farthernorth, converting native prairie and wetlands to agricultural fields.

 The conversion ofvirgin prairie where cattle graze, to planting of row crops will mean more carbon in theatmosphere and loss of wetlands for waterfowl breeding. "If we see a continued conversionof the grassland, loss of the wetlands there's going to be a reduction in the migratory birdproduction on our North American continent. And that's going to have a huge impact onthose that are interested in hunting or those that are interested in bird watching. There'sa tremendous industry associated with tourism and visitation to refuges and other wildlifeareas and the interest obviously is going to go down if there isn't the production there,if there isn't the number of birds there that people are going to be able to enjoy." Understandingthe impacts of climate change on wildlife is critical to developing an effective courseof action. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey along withkey conservation partners have held regional forums to collect information for a varietyof landscapes and inform the service's strategic action plans for climate change.

 The planprovides flexibility for managers to be responsive to evolving science and technology. It alsocalls for training our workforce in the basics of climate change science and adaptive landscapeconservation approaches that will help us succeed in the face of a changing and uncertainfuture. "If we're going to be successful in conserving the nature of America, then wesimply have to understand the causes and the effects of a changing climate system and whatthat means for fish and wildlife populations. The service has a good beginning with ourdrafts for teaching and action plans. But we need to recognize that we can't addresssomething as large and encompassing as climate change from within the footprint of our ownorganization. So we are really dependent on building relationships with partners as wetry to address this challenge. Much like we do in conservation day-to-day but on an evenlarger scale. We need to look for new partnerships with the scientific community and with theconservation community, we need to look for new ways to speak to the public and informthe public about what we're doing and why, and why responding to the changing climateis an important aspect of wildlife conservation." America has faced adversity in the past, fromthe severe droughts of the 1930's to the environmental effects of chemical pesticides, to the ongoingchallenges of recovering threatened and endangered species.

 The warming of the earth could potentiallyhave more far-reaching impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat than any challenge thathas come before. This is why the women and men of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servicehave chosen a career of public service. To deal with issues of consequence and make adifference for our nation. Together with our partners, we will face the challenges of ourtime and change the future for the better. "Our mission is not only protecting the wildlifeand their habitats for present generations, but for future generations and that's reallywhat I feel that I have a responsibility and a stewardship is for looking out for the future.It would be easy for me to put on the blinders and think I'll be here for the next 5 or 10years and that's what I'm going to focus on, but it's difficult for me to do that whenI read about climate change and I have concerns about these species and what kind of a legacycan we leave for our children and our grandchildren. So I think it's really important for us tobe addressing these issues."

Please protect our environment because only we can and we will .