Action Alert: Your Input Needed to Protect Hunting and Fishing at Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Your Input Needed to Protect Hunting and Fishing at Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge You can take action on this alert by reading the information below and following the directions at the bottom. Give the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service the input they need to justify more hunting and fishing at Bond Swamp NWR. In April we asked you to send a message concerning hunting on Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. This action was caused by a lawsuit by the Funds for Animals, an anti-hunting organization. Their lawsuit impacted 67 National Wildlife Refuges across the nation and included Bond Swamp. The Court ordered the refuges to amend the supporting documents that opened the refuges to hunting. There were two options on Bond Swamp. No hunting or an action that would allow hunting white-tailed deer and feral hogs. Over 500 of you voiced your opinion by recommending the hunting option. By the way, this provided overwhelming support for hunting. Thank You! We are now working on a totally different issue concerning Bond Swamp NWR. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has started their Comprehensive Conservation Planning Process for Bond Swamp. This is a very public process and they need to hear from you. They want to hear what your priorities are for the refuge and how you would like to see it managed. This is your opportunity to voice your opinion on how this area should be managed. How this process works is real simple. They look at numbers of comments. If enough of us voice our opinion in support of hunting and fishing it is a done deal. Lets get them the input they need to justify more hunting and fishing. Send this to all of your friends and neighbors that are outdoors people. They are asking five questions: 1- What do you think are the most important refuge management issues facing Bond Swamp NWR? 2- How do you think the above issues should be addressed? 3- How would you like to see the habitats and wildlife be managed at Bond Swamp NWR? 4- Are the types of public use and visitation permitted and encouraged by the refuge appropriate? 5- What would you like to see done in the next 15 years? Your message will be sent to each of the following targets: Ms. Carolyn Johnson A sample message appears below, which you may edit before sending. Comments Concerning Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Dear Ms. Johnson I am providing my comments concerning the Comprehensive Conservation Planning Process for Bond Swamp. These comments are in response to the five questions that are asked concerning use and management of the area. 1- The most important refuge management issue facing Bond Swamp NWR is the lack of staff and funds for operations. Bond Swamp has no staff or operation funds. It is operated out of Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge as a satellite operation. Before anything worthwhile can be done for wildlife, sportsmen and sportswomen and wildlife watchers it must be adequately staffed and funds provided to manage the area. The second most important management issue is developing an inventory of wildlife and plants so a management strategy can be developed. 2- The above issue should be addressed by providing adequate funding for staff and management. It will take staff and funds to implement a comprehensive conservation plan. 3- The habitats and wildlife should be managed by focusing on the species of greatest conservation need. These habitats and wildlife were identified in the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy for Georgia (commonly called the State Wildlife Action Plan or SWAP) which was prepared by DNR in 2005. This should certainly be the management guideline. Then focus on management of game species because sportsmen and sportswomen are one of the primary user groups of all refuges. The sportsmen and sportswomen have always contributed financially to the refuge system by purchasing federal duck stamps. And last of all, more emphasis should be placed on feral hog removal to protect habitat. 4- The traditional uses of National Wildlife Refuges should be encouraged which includes hunting, fishing and wildlife watching. To do this the types of public use and visitation must be expanded. Currently hunting is limited to deer and feral hogs. The hunting opportunities for these two species should be expanded and turkey hunting should be included. There are tremendous opportunities for all types of small game hunting especially waterfowl. All hunting and fishing opportunities should be maximized. In addition, boat access needs to be provided for fishing, hunting and wildlife watchers; programs need to be developed to get school groups from Macon introduced to the outdoors by using Bond Swamp as an outdoor classroom and finally more opportunities should be developed for wildlife watching. 5- In 15 years, I would hope that Bond Swamp NWR would be staffed and adequately funded to provide maximum opportunity for hunting, fishing, wildlife watching and outdoor education. Sincerely, Your name and address here This Action Alert Campaign is Closed.

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