National Wildlife Refuge
As National Wildlife Refuge (abbreviated NWR ) are nature reserves in the United States designated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to manage that the Interior Ministry is assumed. The National Wildlife Refuge System consists of over 500 protected areas on land and water, the task of which is to protect and preserve animals and their natural habitats. With a few exceptions, the individual areas have the addition “National Wildlife Refuge”, “Wetland Management District” or “Wildlife Management Area” in their names.
The first National Wildlife Refuge was the Pelican Island NWR on the Atlantic coast of Florida on March 14, 1903 by the then US President Theodore Roosevelt . In 2004, 388,533 km² of land and 184,852 km² of water in 634 administrative units were under the care of the National Wildlife Refuge System , of which 547 were National Wildlife Refuges . There are also over 36,000 small-scale waterfowl sanctuaries, 95% of which are potholes in the prairie states of North and South Dakota , Minnesota and Montana . They have an average size of 36 ha and are the only habitats for many wild animals and resting places for migratory birds in the otherwise intensely agricultural areas . The program for the purchase of these Waterfowl Production Areas is financed by the sale of Duck Stamps , which every hunter must prove for each water bird shot on public land. It has existed since 1934 and has made possible the protection of over 21,000 km² with revenues of over $ 700 million.
Most of the protected areas are accessible to visitors, only a few particularly vulnerable areas are prohibited from entering. In over 300 National Wildlife Refuges , hunting for individual game species was permitted at certain times according to inventory determinations , around 270 NWR allow fishing . Almost 80 wilderness areas are embedded in the Fish and Wildlife Service NWRs , the strictest class of nature reserves in the United States. The wildlife refuges have over 40 million visitors annually.
Two of the largest wildlife refuges, Becharof National Wildlife Refuge and Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge (both in Alaska), were initially designated as National Monuments by US President Jimmy Carter in 1978 and became after massive political criticism from both the state of Alaska and the US -Congress in a total package for the reorganization of all nature reserves in Alaska, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act , 1980 downgraded to the status of Wildlife Refuges.
See also
Web links
- Official website of the National Wildlife Refuge System (Engl.)
- History of the National Wildlife Refuge System (Engl.)