    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [October 20, 2007]
    [Pages 1357-1360]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland
    October 20, 2007

        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.
        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

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    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.
        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 3 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

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    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
    incentives 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 5 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 2 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 this issue
    with President Calderon.
    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. Nongovernmental 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.

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    And so I've asked the Secretary to--
    Secretary Kempthorne to focus on the status of five more species over
    the next 5 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.
        Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. Absolutely.
        The President. 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.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:01 a.m. in the Endangered Crane Complex.
    In his remarks, he referred to Wendy Paulson and Rusty Rose,
    administrative board members, Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Judd Howell,
    Director, U.S.G.S. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center; Brad Burns,
    president, Stripers Forever; and President Felipe de Jesus Calderon
    Hinojosa of Mexico.