Top executives from the outdoor recreation, energy,
agricultural, automotive, financial, educational and conservation sectors
accept challenge of finding funding solutions to prevent Endangered Species
Listings
Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass
Pro Shops®, and former Wyoming governor, Dave Freudenthal, today named
20 members of the national Blue Ribbon Panel on Sustaining America’s Diverse
Fish and Wildlife Resources to advance solutions for funding a 21st
century model of conservation. The Blue Ribbon Panel co-chairs, Morris and
Freudenthal, made their announcement during a keynote address at the 2014
Annual Meeting of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies in St. Louis,
Missouri.
The Blue
Ribbon Panelists represent the outdoor recreation retail and manufacturing
sector, the energy and automotive industries, private landowners, educational
institutions, conservation organizations, sportsmen’s groups and state fish and
wildlife agencies. The Panelists will work together over the course of a year
to produce recommendations and policy options on
the most sustainable and equitable model to fund conservation of the full array
of fish and wildlife species.
The Blue Ribbon Panelists on Sustaining America’s Diverse Fish and
Wildlife Resources:
Kevin Butt–General Manager and Chief Environmental
Officer, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, Inc. and
Board Member, Wildlife Habitat Council
John Doerr–President and CEO, Pure Fishing, Inc. and
Board Member, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and the Recreational
Boating & Fishing Foundation
Jim Faulstich–Owner, Daybreak Ranch and Vice Chairman,
Partners for Conservation
John Fitzpatrick–Director, Cornell Lab of
Ornithology and Co-inventor, eBird
Gregg Hill–President and CEO of Exploration and
Production, Hess Corporation
Rebecca Humphries–Chief Conservation
Officer, National Wild Turkey Federation
Dr. Stephen Kellert–Professor Emeritus of
Social Ecology and Senior Research Scholar, Yale University School of Forestry
and Environmental Studies and Board Member, Bio-Logical Capital; Founding
Partner, Environmental Capital Partners
Jennifer Mull–Chief Executive Officer, Backwoods Equipment,
Inc. and Board Chair of the Outdoor Industry Association
John W. Newman–CFO and Treasurer, LLOG Exploration Company,
LLC and Board Chairman, Ducks Unlimited
Margaret O’Gorman–President, Wildlife
Habitat Council (WHC) and Board Member, Stewardship Action Council
Glenn Olson–Donal O’Brien Chair in Bird Conservation and
Public Policy, National Audubon Society (NAS) and Member, North American
Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Council and the Neotropical Migratory Bird
Conservation Act Advisory Council
Collin O’Mara–President and CEO, National Wildlife
Federation
Connie Parker–CEO and Founder, CSPARKERGROUP and Board
Member, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and the Wildlife Foundation
of Florida
Charlie Potter–CEO, Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation and
Founder and Chairman, Great Outdoors, LLC
Lynn Scarlett–Managing Director, Public Policy, The Nature
Conservancy
John Tomke–President, Ducks Unlimited de Mexico and
Chair, Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council
Dr. James Walker–Vice Chairman of the
Board, EDF Renewable Energy and Board Member, American Wind Energy Association
Dr. Steve Williams–President, Wildlife
Management Institute (WMI) and Board President, National Conservation
Leadership Institute; Board Member, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Bob Ziehmer–Director, Missouri Department of Conservation
“Conservation means balancing the
sustainability of fish and wildlife with the many needs of humans for clean air
and water; land; food and fiber; dependable energy; economic development and
recreation,” said Morris. “By assembling this Panel of highly regarded leaders
and problem solvers, we will find a way forward that safeguards not only vital natural
resources, but also our nation’s economic prosperity and outdoor heritage.”
“With fish and wildlife species and natural
resource-based enterprise at stake, we can’t afford an ‘us vs. them’ mentality,”
said Freudenthal. “It is time to create certainty for both industry and the
conservation community by building a 21st century funding model.”
State hunting and fishing license dollars,
federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear and motorboat fuel taxes have
provided the backbone for funding states’ fish and wildlife conservation
programs over the past century. However, there has always been a significant gap
in dedicated funding for conserving the 95 percent of all species that are
neither hunted nor fished.
Only partially filling that gap is the State
and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program, the sole federal source of funding to state
agencies to prevent new endangered species listings. Since 2010, the program’s
funding has been cut by more than 35 percent while petitions for federal
endangered species listing has skyrocketed by 1,000 percent.
“Dedicated
funding allowing for the management of all fish and wildlife, whether game or
non-game species, is essential for this nation,” said Bob Ziehmer, Missouri
Department of Conservation director and representative for state fish and
wildlife agencies on the Blue Ribbon Panel. “Many species are declining in abundance and will
continue to do so if we don’t work toward establishing a sustainable funding
source for our nation now and into the future.”
The Association of Fish & Wildlife
Agencies began its quest to secure sustained funding for fish and wildlife
diversity conservation in the early 1990s. The launch of the Teaming With Wildlife coalition,
which now includes nearly 6,400 organizations, was a critical step in
demonstrating broad and diverse support for dedicated fish and wildlife
funding.
The co-chairs expect to add approximately three
more individuals and four Ex Officio participants to the Panel before it
convenes its first meeting in early 2015.
To learn more about AFWA’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Sustaining
America’s Fish and Wildlife Resources, go to www.fishwildlife.org/blueribbonpanel.
