Number: 1986-21
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation places high priority on the necessity of conserving, protecting and enhancing wildlife habitat; and
WHEREAS, NWF recognizes the importance of protecting the integrity of the ecosystems of which all living communities are a part; and
WHEREAS, the geographic and political boundaries of most of our National Parks, National Forests and National Wildlife Refuges, and state and federal jurisdictions over important natural resource areas are drawn in ways which do not recognize complete natural ecosystems; and
WHEREAS, the boundaries of many of these resource areas extend geographically into several state and federal management responsibilities beyond their assigned legal boundaries; and
WHEREAS, persistent management conflicts are occurring between the exploitation of natural resources for human uses and the need to protect the integrity of ecosystems within these national interest lands and resources; and
WHEREAS, areas such as Yellowstone National Park, the Chesapeake Bay, the Everglades, the Grand Canyon and the ecosystems of which these and other areas are a part, are experiencing great pressures from resource development and human populations; and
WHEREAS, these geographic and political divisions result in a lack of coordination between various federal, state and local government agencies, natural resource management decisions are often fragmented, and fail to take into account their effect on the overall ecosystem;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation in annual meeting assembled March 20-23, 1986, in Seattle, Washington, will encourage and support in the Congress, state legislatures, wildlife agencies, and federal and state land and resource management agencies policies that respect the ecological integrity of wildlife habitats and that will implement management policies which apply to whole ecosystems; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we recommend that Congress not provide financial assistance or expenditures on federally managed lands for activities that are inconsistent with the proper management of fish and wildlife on those lands unless full mitigation of any losses is provided.