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Subject:

Prez Bush on migratory bird conservation

From:

"Pfaffko, Mary (DDOE)"

Reply-To:

Pfaffko, Mary (DDOE)

Date:

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:08:56 -0400

Last week, President Bush spoke at Patuxent about migratory birds.  Full
transcript below.

 

Mary Pfaffko

Wildlife Biologist

DC Fisheries & Wildlife

District Department of the Environment

51 N Street, NE 5th floor

Washington, DC 20002

202-535-1739 (phone)

202-535-1373 (fax)

9:01 A.M. EDT 

THE PRESIDENT: Listen, thank you all for coming. I appreciate the
hospitality you've shown us here at Patuxent Research Refuge. I want to
thank all the good folks who work here from the Fish and Wildlife Service,
as well as the U.S. Geological Survey. 

One of the things we've discussed here is a significant environmental
challenge we face here in America, and that is birds are losing the stopover
habitats they need and depend on for their annual migrations. And therefore
I've come to discuss a strategy to enhance those habitats, without which
many birds could become severely challenged. 

 
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/images/20071020-2_d-0122-1-
637v.html>
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/images/20071020-2_d-0122-1-
637v.html>
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/images/20071020-2_d-0122-1-
637v.html> To me, this is a national issue that requires national focus. And
so I appreciate very much you all giving me a chance to describe our
strategy and thanks for your -- thanks for working for the country. 

I am proud to be here with Laura, bird-watcher extraordinaire. I appreciate
Secretary Dirk Kempthorne running our Interior Department. I do thank Wendy
Paulson, who's joined us. She's on the board of the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology. Some of the recommendations -- or all the recommendations that
I'm describing today were brought to our attention by Wendy and a friend of
mine from Texas named Rusty Rose, both of whom serve on this important
university lab -- the board of the lab. I appreciate Judd Howell, the
director, who gave us a tour. And Brad, thank you very much for joining us. 

I also want to thank George Fenwick, he's the President of the American Bird
Conservancy, for joining us as well. Appreciate the staff members here who
worked on this initiative. Thanks for your hard work and your -- and
bringing what I believe the American people will find is a commonsense
policy that makes sense for our future. 

I don't know if you know this or not, but each year more than 800 species of
migratory birds brave stiff winds, harsh weather and numerous predators to
fly thousands of miles. Their final destination is the warm climate of the
American south, or the Caribbean or Mexico, where they stay for the winter.
These amazing travelers will then return to their breeding grounds in the
north. And as they span these distances, they fascinate and bring joy to
millions of our citizens. A lot of folks across the country love to watch
birds. 

For these migratory birds, surviving their long journey depends on a
stopover habitat. That basically means they got to find a place to rest, a
safe place to prepare to continue their journey. Unfortunately, expanding
civilization has made it harder for these birds to find places to stop and
to rest. 

And so that's the challenge we face and, you know, one area that -- one
reason we came here is because the National Wildlife Refuges like this one
provide stopover habitat, and they play a really important role in our
conservation efforts. My administration has supported the National Wildlife
Refuge system. We've expanded some of the existing sites, we created 10 new
ones, and we restored and improved hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat
for migratory birds. In other words, we recognize the refuge system is an
important part of preserving our bird populations. 

 
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/images/20071020-2_d-0124-3-
515h.html>
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/images/20071020-2_d-0124-3-
515h.html>
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/images/20071020-2_d-0124-3-
515h.html> And we've set a goal that by the time I leave office we will
improve another 200,000 acres. And I appreciate, Mr. Secretary, you joining
us and committing your Department to achieving that goal. 

In addition to the wildlife refuges, we're also working to improve habitat
for migratory birds in our national parks. We've increased funding. But
we've got a new initiative that I want to -- want the American people to be
aware of, and it's called the National Parks Centennial Initiative. And the
idea is to match taxpayers' money with private donations to the tune of $3
billion, so that we can improve our national parks. And some of that money
is going to go to restoration, to the restoration of a variety of wildlife
habitats, including some that directly benefit birds. 

Improving our nation's long-term protections for migratory birds requires
conservation beyond the boundaries of our national parks and refuges. And so
one of the things this administration has done is to bring together citizens
and private groups and officials from every level of government in the
spirit of cooperation. In other words, we recognize that the federal
government alone cannot provide the habitat necessary for migratory birds.
We call this program cooperative conservation, and part of the emphasis is
to restore critical habitat. 

One of the most important cooperative conservation efforts has been what
they call joint venture programs for water fowl. This program has brought
together federal, state and tribal agencies with private groups and
corporations to improve habitat on private lands. It's worked so well for
water fowl that we're now using it for other migratory birds. We've had --
we have 18 joint ventures now underway, and next year we're going to add
three more to help conserve birds along the Rio Grande corridor, the
Appalachian Mountains and on the Northern Great Plains. 

Here's the way they work. Each venture, joint venture brings together a team
of biologists and land managers -- these are the experts -- and they make --
and then they work with the bird conservationists in a particular region to
design and carry out critical habitat improvement. To enhance habitat
conservation we're going to put forth next week an innovative policy called
recovery credit trading. This policy will provide incentives for landowners
to improve habitat for migratory birds and other species. Landowners can
earn recovery credits for the habitat they improve and then they can sell
those credits. The idea is to provide incentive for our private landowners
to help deal with the concern that I started the speech with, and that is to
make sure there's critical habitat available for migratory birds. 

There's something else we can do. I asked Congress to provide tax incentive
to reward landowners who donate conservation easements. Conservation
easements are a good way to ensure the long-term preservation of habitat.
They allow people to give up the right to develop parts of their land and
then count the value of that right as a charitable contribution. The
proposal would allow good citizens who give these conservation easements --
allow them to deduct a higher portion of the donation from their income
taxes, both in the year they donated and the years that follow. In other
words, this is additional incentives for landowners to become a part of this
comprehensive national strategy and Congress needs to pass this piece of tax
legislation. 

You know, another important measure we've taken is in the conservation title
of the farm bill. This title encourages farmers and ranchers to set aside
critical habitat through a program called Conservation Reserve Program, or
the CRP. And our proposal to Congress as they rewrite the farm bill, we're
asking them to dedicate $50 billion over five years to make sure that this
program continues in effect. The program has been effective for our farmers
and ranchers and, equally importantly, for our bird populations. And my hope
is that Congress recognizes its effectiveness and will continue to fund this
program. 

We're making progress in rural areas, but there needs to be some work in
urban areas. And so we've got an interesting program underway to help five
cities turn parks and local backyards into stopover bird habitats over the
next two years. In other words, what we're trying to do is to make sure that
we have a successful strategy in five cities that could become the blueprint
for cities all around the country. 

Many species of birds live part of their lives here in the United States and
part in Mexico. So we have a strategy to work with Mexico to enhance bird
habitats in their country. I've talked about -- I've talked about this issue
with President Calder n. He shares my concern about making sure there's
critical habitat available for our migratory birds. The Secretaries of
State, Interior and Commerce are working with their counterparts in the
Mexican government. Non-governmental partners are working to undertake
important habitat projects in Mexico as well. 

One of the things we have done is we've identified five priority habitats in
Mexico. We listened to the experts who pointed us to five important areas
and we have provided $4 million to support conservation initiatives there. I
also directed federal agencies to increase our nation's participation in an
international effort to protect coastal and marine migratory birds such as
albatrosses and petrels. Restoring habitats at home and abroad is going to
help us achieve the objectives and goals I have set out, which is providing
critical habitat for migratory birds. 

Our efforts to restore habitats are strengthening bird populations. Since
2004, the Department of Interior has improved the status of five migratory
bird species, and the Department is helping ensure that more than 62 percent
of our nation's migratory bird species are healthy and at sustainable
levels. But that's not good enough -- 62 percent is good, but we can do
better. And so I've asked the Secretary to -- Secretary Kempthorne to focus
on the status of five more species over the next five years. And to achieve
this goal we need good data. I mean, we just don't want to be guessing about
bird populations, we want to measure. And so I've asked the Secretary to
produce a State of the Birds Report by 2009. This report will chart our
progress, it'll identify species that need additional protections, and help
us bring more of America's bird species into a healthy and sustainable
status. 

And Mr. Secretary, I appreciate your commitment. I appreciate the fact that
you understand America's greatness is not measured by material wealth alone;
it's measured by how we manage and care for all that we have been given.
We're people united by our belief that we must be good stewards of our
environment. The cooperative conservation policies that we have put in place
show our commitment to protecting America's migratory birds, conserving the
habitat they depend on and ensuring that generations of Americans will enjoy
the beauty of birds for decades to come. 

I appreciate you all joining me. I want to thank you for your interest. God
bless our country. 

END 9:13 A.M. EDT