Number: 1981-16
WHEREAS, fish and wildlife resources are of inestimable cultural, ecological, educational, esthetic, recreational, and scientific value to the people of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, increased public awareness and the imperatives of environmental legislation have intensified the demands on federal and state fish and wildlife agencies to assess future consequences of a wide range of public and private development activities on fish and wildlife resources; and
WHEREAS, limitations on available resources have, in many instances, prevented federal and state fish and wildlife agencies from creating adequate data bases and assessment systems for implementation of acceptable resource management programs, which has thereby caused the abandonment or curtailment of many socially beneficial resource developments; and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of this Nation to systematically increase its knowledge of fish and wildlife resources so as to enhance the ability of fish and wildlife administrators to make public policy recommendations that provide for the optimum protection of these important natural resources; and
WHEREAS, accumulation of information required for the development and implementation of effective programs for the conservation of fish and wildlife resources is dependent on long-term research studies; and
WHEREAS, academic institutions, with their large array of scientific disciplines and research professionals, are uniquely qualified to conduct long-term research studies on fish and wildlife resources and should be encouraged and assisted by federal and state governments to optimally discharge that obligation; and
WHEREAS, academic institutions are the only major public-service institutions with a mandated research mission that do not have a sustained funding base in direct support of fish and wildlife-related research;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 26-29, 1981, in Norfolk, Virginia, hereby urges the allocation of federal funds to educational institutions in each state to undertake long-term fish and wildlife and habitat research in order to more rapidly expand data bases and improve the management of the nation’s fish and wildlife resources.