As the warm days of summer roll along, many Americans set their sights on visiting one or more of the beautiful parks that make up our National Wildlife Refuge System.  Families look forward to experiencing enjoyable activities like bike riding, hiking, bird watching, practicing photography and sea shell collecting, just to name a few.

But, as we walk along the shoreline or hike up into vast mountain areas, many of us are unaware of a sad reality that looms over the U.S. National Wildlife Refuge System…

For 60 years after their inception, these tranquil and lush settings were set aside as safe havens for the animals that made them their home.  Sadly, at the present time, more than 60% of all of the U.S. refuges allow destructive activities involving firearms, arrows and the deadly steel jaws of traps.

In actuality, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department has strayed from its very own policy, which directs that wildlife comes first in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Most Americans do not realize the following:

• Trapping is allowed on 280 units that is more than half of all of the refuges in the U.S.
• Steel-jaw leghold traps are used on 140 units
• Hunting is allowed on more than half of all 550 units of our National Wildlife Refuge System Millions of animals within these refuges are killed, injured, stressed and orphaned each year
• Hunting and trapping representatives dominated the 19-member Refuge Centennial Committee of the National Wildlife Refuge System

It is the position of NHES that the public lands of the National Wildlife Refuge System should be safe havens for the wildlife that reside there.  A recent poll of Americans revealed that 88% of them agreed and that hunting and trapping should not be allowed on these federally funded lands.

In order to stop the recreational and commercial killing of our wildlife being promoted by the government on taxpayer-funded refuges, NHES recommends the following:

• Creative grassroots projects that educate and lead to the prevention of sport hunting and trapping on National Wildlife Refuges
• Public support focused on encouraging legislators to make immediate change in refuge policies that harm animals

As the twenty-first century moves ahead, lets do all that we can to respect and protect the many species of wildlife that seek safe haven within the boundaries of Americas National Wildlife Refuges.  Future generations are depending on us!