Federal budget cuts endanger local wildlife refuge

SUSSEX - When Edward Henry became Refuge Manager for the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge in January 2005, he inherited a staff of five employees, including a law enforcement officer, a maintenance worker and an office administrator. Today, Henry is the remaining full-time employee for the 5,100-acre refuge located off Route 565 and now his position is tenuous at a time when the refuge,which extends into New York State, is looking to add more than 10,000 acres. In June, the Northeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service approved a downsizing plan to manage national wildlife refuges with reduced funding in its 13-state region. Henry has been instructed to find another position in the agency by Dec. 31 as oversight of the refuge will be transferred over 18 months to personnel at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Basking Ridge. Although the budget constraints are being felt at wildlife refuges across the U.S., that hasn’t stopped local interest groups and politicians from taking steps to protect the integrity of the refuge, which is home to 225 species of birds and other animals such as skinks, coyotes and bobcats. “We want Ed (Henry) to stay here because he’s extremely good at working with the public and different organizations to make the refuge work with limited funding,” says Marie Springer, a local resident and founder of the Friends of the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge. During his tenure here, Henry has established joint venture partnerships with several organizations to obtain funding for various projects. Ongoing work with the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority has helped to support restoration of local streams from erosion. In addition, Henry obtained $12,000 in grants to support a wildlife education project with the New Jersey Audubon Society. Henry has also created a joint venture between the refuge and Memphis, Tenn.-based Ducks Unlimited, Inc. to support wetlands and waterfowl conservation within its boundaries. While all of these efforts have helped generate additional funding for the refuge, continuous budget cutbacks are making it harder to provide the staffers needed to manage the land and work with the public, says Bob McDowell, former Director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in New Jersey who helped create the refuge in 1990. “I would hate to see all of these efforts at (the refuge) go backwards,” says McDowell, a resident of Lake Owassa. McDowell expressed concern that the staff at Great Swamp “would be stretched” to manage both refuges. In fact, the Great Swamp staff has to manage three refuges, including the unstaffed Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge in Bruynswick, N.Y., which is located 90 miles from Basking Ridge. Managing two other refuges “is a drain on our resources here,” says Bill Koch, Manager of the Great Swamp/Wallkill River National Wildlife Complex. Before it took over management of the Wallkill River refuge 18 months ago, the Great Swamp staff “was overburdened with work here before,” says Koch. Since then, the additional workload has led some members of his staff to depart for other opportunities. With an 80-minute drive between Basking Ridge and Sussex, the strained Great Swamp staff can only visit the Wallkill River refuge periodically. As such, says Koch, “We won’t be able to do everything that a full-time staff can do there.” Congressman Scott Garrett (R-NJ), a supporter of the Wallkill River refuge, said he is working with Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) to draft a letter to the director of the Northeast Regional Office for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Hadley, Mass. to make a case for maintaining staffs for the Wallkill River and Shawangunk refuges. One of Rep. Garrett’s concerns is a proposal being weighed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to expand the Wallkill River refuge by up to 10,600 acres by adding adjacent land from the Papakating Creek and Beaver Run watersheds. A decision to add that land to the refuge, which should be made by the first quarter of 2007, would more than double the size of the refuge. “It doesn’t make managerial sense for a refuge that’s growing in size to lose all or most of its personnel,” says Rep. Garrett. “It’s another situation where you need people to manage the land,” adds Jeff Parrott, the Mayor of Wantage, who has corresponded with Rep. Garrett on the issue. In the meantime, the Friends of the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge will press ahead with upcoming events, including a ‘Haunted Forest’ tour on Oct. 28 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. to learn about creatures of the night in a “non-scary environment,” says Springer. “The community has to fight for this refuge,” says Springer. “That’s all there is to it.” For more information about the Friends of the Wallkill River Wildlife Refuge, call 973-702-7266, X32 or e-mail to friendsofwallkillrivernwr@yahoo.com.