Summer vacation weather is finally upon us here in the Northeast. I recently spent a couple of days in Acadia National Park, where I swam in the ocean and attended a wedding on Sand Beach. I like to think that I can visit the beautiful park anytime I wish. But some vacation spots in the U.S. might be endangered. It’s frightening to think that some of our favorite places—coastal estuaries, green space around a beloved lake, underfunded national parks and enchanting wetlands—may be diminished or lost in the years to come, so that the next generation won’t be able to enjoy them except in pictures or videos. A couple of months ago, the New York Times ran a story on the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/06/03/03climatewire-arranging-a-slow-farewell-to-a-coastal-wildl-84276.html?scp=1&sq=Alligator%20River%20National%20Wildlife&st=cse The USGS has begun to update wetland maps to show the losses along Louisiana’s eroding coasthttp://www.houmatoday.com/article/20090810/ARTICLES/908109945?Title=Updated-maps-help-document-wetland-loss.
ASWM asked its members for suggestions for a “top ten” list of particularly threatened wetlands and wildlife refuges which allow public access. This list could actually be much longer. Here are the wetlands that made the list of “endangered vacations.”
10. Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in MD’s Chesapeake Bay area. Subsidence and sea level rise in particular are leading to open-water conversion. Visit:http://www.fws.gov/blackwater/
9. Ruby Valley Wildlife Refuge in Ruby Valley, Nevada –If climate experts are right in their predictions, the western U.S. will become even more arid than it is. There is a lot of groundwater-fed irrigation in this valley to grow hay for cattle and horses, which puts even more pressure on this resource. Visit:http://www.stateparks.
com/ruby_lake.html
8. Cheyenne Bottoms in Kansas is at risk due to water withdrawals and diversions. The nearby Quivira NWR has oil rigs that caused some spills during the last round of flooding there in 2007. For info on Cheyenne Bottoms, visit: http://www.cheyennebottoms.net/and http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/KDWP-Info/Locations/Wildlife-Areas/Region-3/Cheyenne-Bottoms/Area-News and for Quivira NWR, go to:http://www.fws.gov/quivira/
7. Cape Cod National Seashore is under pressure from sea level rise and more mysteriously–sudden wetland dieback for the past few decades.http://www.nps.gov/caco/naturescience/salt-marsh-dieback.htm andhttp://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs095-02/fs095-02.pdf
6. Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in NC is threatened by sea level rise (or threatened to turn into a brackish marsh from a wooded freshwater system) Visit:http://www.fws.gov/alligatorriver/ Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge in FL is another “poster child” for wildlife refuges under siege from climate change impacts. Visit:http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=41580
http://www.fws.gov/nationalkeydeer/
5. Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in Southeast Louisiana is threatened by sea level rise and salt water intrusion. Visit: http://www.fws.gov/bigbranchmarsh/
4. Florida Everglades is dependent on nutrients (if it gets the slightest amounts of phosphorus, the vegetation turns to cattails.) Threat factors include population increases and development, sugarcane agriculture. Visit: http://www.nps.gov/ever/ and go to:http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/SouthFlorida/everglades/endangeredglades.html
3. Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, HI The last natural wetlands on Hawaiian islands are under pressure from invasive species, e.g. mangroves.http://www.fws.gov/kealiapond/ Also see information on sea level rise and Hawai’i at:http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/coasts/sealevel/
2. Prairie Potholes – Isolated wetlands are under threat since their exclusion from federal protections post-SWANCC and Carabell/Rapanos decisions. Visit:http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/types/pothole.html andhttp://www.ducks.org/conservation/initiative45.aspx
1. Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge in AK. These wetlands are drying up as a result of climate change. Visit: http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/yukonflats/wildland.htm
Finally, the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) recently published a report (June 2009) on the country’s most imperiled refuges “Ten of the Most Vulnerable National Wildlife Refuges.” While these aren’t necessarily vacation spots, their top ten list is a relevant comparison.http://www.peer.org/docs/nwr/09_18_6_most_imperiled_refuges_2009.pdf
Strange Wetlands™ 