Number: 2005-14
Sierra Bermeja Mountain Range Protection Resolution WHEREAS, the Sierra Bermeja mountain range is one of the most important wintering habitat and stopover sites for neotropical migratory birds in the tropical United States along the North American Atlantic Migratory Flyway; and
WHEREAS, the Sierra Bermeja mountain range is a vital breeding and feeding habitat for 12 endemic bird species which represent 75 percent of Puerto Rico’s endemic bird species, including many other local birds found nowhere else within the United States; and
WHEREAS, the Sierra Bermeja mountain range is habitat to the Puerto Rican Nightjar and the Yellow-Shouldered Blackbird, two critically endangered bird species listed pursuant to the Endangered Species Act; and
WHEREAS, the Sierra Bermeja mountain range is habitat to at least three endemic and endangered plant species, such as Aristida chaseae, Dendrophtora bermejae and Proctor’s vernonia, that help protect the soil, provide food for endemic and migratory birds and furnish cover for wildlife; and
WHEREAS, the Sierra Bermeja mountain range continues to be subjected to intense pressure from residential and tourism development, livestock grazing, fire, dumpsites, ATV and motorcycle activity and illegal hunting that contribute to habitat degradation and an extreme high risk of extinction for some of the endangered species; and
WHEREAS, conservation of the Sierra Bermeja mountain range, which lies on ancient 195 million years old serpentine soils, is still needed to support many endemic and threatened species that depend on this particular type of ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service owns four percent of the Sierra Bermeja mountain range and sponsors research on endangered species such as the Puerto Rican Nightjar; and
WHEREAS, Birdlife International is helping to declare the Sierra Bermeja mountain range an Important Bird Area (IBA) due to its critical international importance;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), at its annual meeting assembled April 1-2, 2005, in Washington D.C., fully endorses the conservation of the Sierra Bermeja mountain range and calls upon Congress and the Commonwealth to dedicate sufficient funding to purchase land and conservation easements from willing sellers, and to enact legislation to better protect the Sierra Bermeja mountain range as identified by its GIS Maps; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NWF urges federal and local governments and agencies to regulate all activities significantly affecting the biodiversity of the Sierra Bermeja mountain range; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NWF urges federal and local governments and agencies to establish collaborative recovery mechanisms to analyze and enhance habitat and consequently existing populations of endangered species.