[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 37 (Friday, March 7, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ON THE OCCASION OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE 
                        NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES P. MORAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 6, 2003

  Mr. MORAN of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, one hundred years ago this month 
President Teddy Roosevelt set forth a vision and created a program to 
preserve unique and endangered species and the critical habitat they 
needed to survive. Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge was the 
first of what are now 540 refuges and thousands of small prairie 
wetlands managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service. From that first 
refuge, there are now more than 95 million acres of protected habitat 
across the United States.
  Looking back over the past 100 years, much has changed. The United 
States has transformed from an agrarian to a predominately urban, and 
now suburban society. Today, many of these refuges have become islands 
surrounded by human development and infrastructure. The wildlife they 
preserve, the species they protect have truly become refugees from an 
outside world, dominated by human interaction and presence.
  Will they survive the next 100 years? I would like to think so. As we 
move forward, we are developing a stronger appreciation of what we have 
already lost and what more we must preserve. The Mason Neck National 
Wildlife Refuge, which was once in my congressional district, is 
relatively new. It was established in response to the near extinction 
of America's most prized symbol of freedom and independence, the 
American bald eagle. The return of the bald eagles and their subsequent 
recovery is a great success.
  I am proud of my support for the National Wildlife Refuge system and 
particularly proud of the collaborative efforts I and my colleagues in 
Congress and at the local level made to protect more than 800 acres of 
environmentally sensitive land at Meadowood Farms that is adjacent to 
Mason Neck Refuge from development.
  We are still at the early stages of learning how conservation and 
preservation must work over the long term to ensure a species survival. 
Conservation measures must be practiced not just on the refuges but 
outside the refuges as well. Biological corridors linking protected 
areas and critical habitat must be expanded; environmental hazards 
controlled; and a better understanding of how human interaction affects 
wildlife must be appreciated.
  As time marches forward, I am optimistic that this same ethic that 
led to the creation of the first refuge multiplies with each new 
generation to ensure that the refuges of tomorrow and the year 2103 
succeed at preserving what we hold dear today.

                          ____________________