If you disagree with this LAND GRAB, you are waging war on the Environment……. It is – Agree with us or you are harming us, mentality
National Wildlife Federation
Where Does Conservation Funding Come From?
According to the National Wildlife Federation, Much of the nation’s important wildlife habitat is found on private lands. $400 million in federal funds into over $1.3 billion for conservation organizations. Some of the ways that wildlife conservation efforts are funded include:
- Federal budget appropriations
- Clean energy and climate legislation
- Leases for energy production that occurs on public land or offshore
- Farm Bill conservation programs
- Environmental damage mitigation costs
National Wildlife Federation works to make sure the federal budget includes robust funding for wildlife and natural resources through such traditional resource-oriented agencies as Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management, and Forest Service, as well as non-traditional agencies such as the Department of Defense.
NWF also advocates for robust federal funding to priority ecosystem-scale conservation and restoration projects.
Not everything that the National Wildlife Federation has accomplished has taken place recently. Their influence stretches over the entire life of the organization. Major highlights include the 1985 passing of the Conservation Reserve Program which set aside more then 35 million acres of farm land for habitat reclamation (Van Putten 2001).
In its early stages, the federation worked with the American Wildlife Institute to have Congress withdraw a 10% firearms and ammunition tax and, instead, require gun makers to contribute 10% of their annual sales to conservation programs (Luke 2001). Of its most important and influential accomplishments, the National Wildlife Federation helped to author and lobby the passage of the Endangered Species Act.
The National Wildlife Federation often cooperates with other nonprofit organizations to form partnerships for the lobbying of many state and federal environmental and resource conservation laws. The best example is the cooperative effort organized by the federation, of more then 800 local, state, and national organizations, to urge Congress to pass the Land and Water Conservation Fund, using a share of the revenue from offshore gas and oil drilling to fund long-term conservation programs (National Wildlife Federation 2003).
NWF – Financial
The following information is based on NWF’s audited financial statements previous years
Source of Funds
Contributions from individuals 48,129,000
Publications 22,248,000
Contributions from governments, foundations and corporations 16,436,000
Royalties 3,072,000
Other 1,005,000
Investment return -2,788,000
Total Income $88,102,000
Uses of Funds as a % of Total Expenses
Plan to link La, Ark national wildlife refuges
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to expand and link national wildlife refuges in southeast Arkansas and northeast Louisiana, creating an expanse of more than 172,000 acres
NW Region:
http://online.nwf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=CWHnorthwest
This program (37-year-old backyard certification program) mobilizes entire communities around preserving, restoring and creating attractive, low maintenance wildlife habitat in their backyards, places of work, schoolyards, parks and other community spaces.
Communities in Washington (again look up your State)
States with certified backyard habitats
Experts say it’s difficult to assess just how much animals are benefiting from backyard certification programs. Habitat providers “may not, on their balcony, be making a tremendous difference,” Yarrow says. “But when it comes to supporting legislation or policy, they’re going to be informed because they’ve gone through the steps of what it takes to provide wildlife habitat and how important it is.”
To have a community certified automatically, a number of criteria must be satisfied, Wright said. For example, at least 100 homes must be certified, as well as businesses and public spaces. The criteria change according to population. New dwellings must comply with all applicable Federal, State and Local regulations or requirements, and the house location and landscaping must avoid impacts on native wildlife and habitat.
What is Wildlife Management:
The definitions of wildlife management are about as numerous as authors and professional biologists. There are some differences, to be sure, but three common ideas are present in every definition of wildlife management, including:
1) efforts directed toward wild animal populations
2) relationship of habitat to those wild animal populations
3) manipulations of habitats or populations that are done to meet some specified human goals.
Early wildlife biologists viewed wildlife management as the art of making the land produce adequate game for recreational use (hunting, fishing, or trapping). Later definitions emphasized wildlife management as the science of manipulating wild animal populations and their habitats for specific human goals. Current definitions stress wildlife management as applied animal ecology that benefits the habitat and both the wildlife and human populations.
Wildlife management can be a complex process whereby a landowner or biologist:
- conducts habitat and wildlife population inventories and evaluations;
- determines what the people desire from the wildlife resource and superimposes human goals on the natural system based on initial inventories and evaluations.
The eventual outcome in meeting desired management goals is accomplished by:
- manipulating the habitat,
- manipulating animal populations, or
- managing people.
Wildlife management on private lands is largely habitat management for two reasons:
- most private landowners do not control the kind of acreage necessary to totally sustain some wildlife populations (e.g., approximately 1,000 acres are required to effectively manage white-tailed deer) ; and
- private landowners do not have to consider the political and public ramifications of management decisions (as state and federal agencies do).
U N – Agenda21
Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of action to be taken globally, nationally and locally by organizations of the United Nations System, Governments, and Major Groups in every area in which human impacts on the environment.
Experience has shown that sustainable development requires a commitment to sound economic policies and management, an effective and predictable public administration, the integration of environmental concerns into decision-making and progress towards democratic government, in the light of country-specific conditions, which allows for full participation of all parties concerned. These attributes are essential for the fulfilment of the policy directions and objectives.
States have the sovereign and inalienable right to utilize, manage and develop their forests in accordance with their development needs and level of socio-economic development and on the basis of national policies consistent with sustainable development and legislation, including the conversion of such areas for other uses within the overall socio-economic development plan and based on rational land-use policies.
( http://www.un.org/documents/ga/conf151/aconf15126-3annex3.htm )
NWF is a partner within ICLEI who is appointed to represent Countries through NGO to the U.N
PROS
Feeling of going “green”
Supporting Wildlife habitat
Participating in preservation
Young education on responsible management of resources
CONS
U N Land Grab
Property sales blocked by conservation groups or regulations
Property structures, changes, alterations blocked by conservation groups or regulations
Drawbacks on real estate value and saleability
Commercial and small business affected by new regulations on building
Further rules and regulations to follow that cut, change or add to your habitat
“property site” visuals to other properties and home values
Existing ordinances for weeds etc such as, plants “of no value” growing taller than 12 inches on property
No other construction around your property, “without clearance”, indirect affect to other property owners
Related Health Issues
Unwanted “other” wildlife
Human endangerment from wildlife invited into property
Domestic animal endangerment
Certified as Wildlife Habitat, i.e, can’t change, build or alter property
Infestations of structures by damaging bugs on your property or others
Eventuality – No individual private property ownership
Sources:
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/
http://www.moosecove.com/propertyrights/habitat/DCP-061031-Lubec-land-taking.shtml
http://www.nwf.org/en/Wildlife.aspx
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2010-04-22-EARTH_GreenHabitat22_ST_N.htm
http://www.learningtogive.org/papers/paper156.html