WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, October 15, 2009
Watchdog Calls for New Strategy at Interior

Public Meeting Scheduled for October 16
Contact: Mark Salvo (503) 757-4221

PHOENIX - A western conservation organization is calling for the Department of the Interior to adopt a bold new vision to conserve and restore ecosystems and recover sensitive species when it updates its Strategic Plan for 2010-2015. For years DOI has emphasized resource extraction and degrading uses of public lands and resources, but today WildEarth Guardians urged a different course for the nation’s largest land owner and water manager, one that prioritizes habitat conservation, landscape restoration and species recovery on the 500 million acres under Interior’s control.

“The Department of Interior must revise its management priorities to address twenty-first century problems posed by climate change, accelerating habitat loss, and declining populations of imperiled species on public lands,” said Mark Salvo of WildEarth Guardians.

The Department of Interior is required to periodically update its Strategic Plan by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993. The new plan will describe challenges with natural resource management, identify goals for improved stewardship, and set benchmarks for measuring progress and performance. The plan will affect key management agencies under the direction of the department, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation.

WildEarth Guardians urges the Interior Department to chart a new course to address critical management problems on public lands:

1.Develop and institute direction for managing natural resources in the face of climate change.

2.Identify and protect habitat corridors to facilitate adaption by fish, wildlife and plants to climate change, habitat loss and other disturbance.

3.Seek full funding for, and fully implement, the Endangered Species Act.

4.Restrict additional energy development on federal public lands.

5.Prioritize protection of surface waters (rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, seeps, and springs); ensure that water development and use do not imperil aquatic and riparian flora and fauna.

6.Restrict motorized recreation on specially designated public lands and waters.

7.Reduce and eliminate harmful, nonnative species on public lands.

8.Introduce top level predators (e.g., wolves) on appropriate public lands.

“Our recommendations are supported in science, and Interior Secretary Salazar has pledged to uphold science and integrity in his Department. Salazar’s words are a welcome change from the prior administration - now they must be matched with action,” stated Salvo.

WildEarth Guardians is a bioregional organization that advocates for environmental conservation throughout the West. Our work is organized into four programs: Wildlife, Wild Places, Wild Rivers, and Climate & Energy. These programs are both impacted by-and seek to affect-Interior policies and management by its constituent agencies.

The Department of Interior is hosting the second public meeting on the new Strategic Plan in Phoenix on Friday, October 16, 2009. The meeting will be held at the BLM Training Center (9828 N. 31st Avenue) from 9:00am - 12:00pm. Mark Salvo of WildEarth Guardians will attend the meeting and will be available for comment.