Number: 2006-12
WHEREAS, the rediscovery of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) in the forests of eastern Arkansas was one of the most important conservation stories of the past decade and has led to one of the highest profile endangered species recovery efforts ever undertaken in the United States; and
WHEREAS, the presence of the Ivory-bill in eastern Arkansas is of historical and ecological significance and is the result of hard-fought battles by Arkansas Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife Federation and many others over the past 30 years, and should be considered a conservation victory of international significance; and
WHEREAS, the majority of the old-growth forest habitat needed to support the Ivory-bill has been altered or destroyed by agricultural development and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ flood-control and water-development projects; and
WHEREAS, the habitat where the Ivory-bill was discovered is recognized by the Ramsar Convention as a Wetland of International Importance; and
WHEREAS, the ecology of the Ivory-bill is still poorly understood; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to promote water development projects in the Lower White River Basin that are expensive, wasteful and threaten to degrade or destroy the wetland forests critical to the Ivory-bill’s recovery; and
WHEREAS, the Ivory-bill and the habitat it relies on is in imminent danger of being impacted by the construction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has ignored their responsibilities outlined in the Endangered Species Act by refusing to conduct an in-depth investigation of the impacts of the Grand Prairie Area Demonstration Project on the ivory-bill and its habitat; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers based their findings that the Grand Prairie Area Demonstration project would cause “no significant impact” to the Ivory-bill on inadequate science completed many years before the bird’s rediscovery; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation has worked for more than five decades to protect endangered species through habitat protection and restoration, species reintroductions, and public education; and
WHEREAS, the National Wildlife Federation promotes a vision that the nation should protect existing ecological treasures, restore damaged ecosystems and re-establish and maintain populations of key species in order to promote an ecologically diverse and economically sustainable Lower Mississippi River Basin; and
WHEREAS, the presence of the Ivory-bill will provide the opportunity for alternative economic development and the diversification of local economies that are now largely dependent on agriculture; and
WHEREAS, the Endangered Species Act, the nation’s strongest wildlife conservation law, is again under assault by special interest groups that want to weaken its key provisions;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its annual meeting assembled March 17-18, 2006, in New Orleans, Louisiana, calls upon the federal government to implement policies and funding mechanisms that will help protect Ivory-bill habitat and promote the reestablishment of the species throughout the forested wetlands of the Lower Mississippi Basin; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls on federal agencies to re-evaluate projects and proposals in the vicinity of the Ivory-bill, including those of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to fully assess potential impacts on habitat and recovery needs for the Ivory-bill; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls on federal agencies and Congress to cease funding for and oppose projects, plans and policies that threaten to degrade habitat for the Ivory-bill, including the Grand Prairie Area Demonstration project and the White River Navigation project; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation calls on Congress to reaffirm the nation’s commitment to conserving endangered species and their essential habitats, to uphold and strengthen the Endangered Species Act, and to oppose efforts to weaken the Act.