Hello I'm Aurelia Skipwith. Today I am here at Pelican Island. It is our first national wildlife
refuge in our National Wildlife Refuge System, so it's very exciting to be here to lay the planks
of some of our newest National Wildlife Refuges and glad to have them in the system.
Welcome to this year's virtual Plank Laying Ceremony hosted at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge.
I am Shaun Sanchez, Acting Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Pelican Island National
Wildlife Refuge was the first of its kind. Established in 1903, Pelican Island began
the network of lands and waters set aside for the conservation of fish, wildlife, and their habitats
known today as the National Wildlife Refuge System. Through the years it has become tradition
to add a plank to the Centennial Trail Boardwalk at Pelican Island, with the name of each new
refuge engraved on it. Those visiting the refuge can walk this boardwalk and view a legacy of
conservation, with a plank for each refuge in the system, which now totals 568. Today we celebrate
our three newest refuges, Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge in New England and New York,
San Luis Valley Conservation Area in Colorado, and Green River National Wildlife Refuge in Kentucky.
We're also replacing two planks for the recently renamed Grass Lake National Wildlife Refuge
and White Horse Hill National Game Preserve. We will now hear from each of the regional directors
representing their newest units, beginning with Wendi Weber Regional Director for the
North Atlantic Appalachian Interior Region 1. Hi I'm Wendi Weber the Regional Director of the
North Atlantic Appalachian Region. I'm sorry I'm not there in person, but I'm honored to
join you virtually to celebrate the most recent additions to the National Wildlife Refuge System
and add a few more planks to the Centennial Trail at Pelican Island. When I think about
Pelican Island, where the refuge system began, I'm inspired to know that this remarkable network of
lands and waters continues to grow and thrive. I'm especially gratified that we are adding a
new plank for Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge, which the service established in 2016,
in 10 separate areas of New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
and Rhode Island. Great Thicket has important shrublands and young forest habitats that are
home to a host of wildlife species including wood turtles, whip-poor-wills, blue-winged and prairie
warblers, deer, wild turkeys, wood thrushes and much more. Since the early 2000s the service
and a strong partnership of state, federal, and private organizations and agencies have worked
together to restore these types of habitats on private and public lands in the northeast.
A key at-risk species brought us all together, the New England cottontail, which was being considered
to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. Well I'm proud to say that by working
with the states and the partners these and other ongoing collaborative conservation actions have
helped halt the decline and put the New England cottontail on a better path, resulting in it not
needing the protections of the ESA. Our first land acquisition for Great Thicket was the 144-acre
Nelly Hill Preserve in Dover Plains, New York, which was donated by our partners at the Nature
Conservancy in 2017 to officially establish the refuge. When all is said and done, the refuge will
comprise a 15,000 acre mosaic of wildlife habitat and working lands that will provide countless
recreational opportunities for people to enjoy and to connect with nature for years to come.
Hello I'm Noreen Walsh, Regional Director for U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, in interior regions 5
and 7. I wish I was there in person today because nothing for me substitutes being able to walk up
that boardwalk and see the name and the year of establishment of each of those refuges really
brings into sharp focus the conservation history of our agency and all those people who came
before us. But I'm very happy to be with you at least virtually to celebrate the newest national
wildlife refuge in our region, the San Luis Valley Conservation Area, established in 2018 as a 567th
unit of the refuge system this 4.2 million acre area in South Central Colorado and New Mexico
will be comprised largely of voluntary conservation easements. They'll conserve wildlife
habitat and connectivity among four existing refuges and a variety of public lands in this high
mountain valley of the Southern Rockies. Today I'm also proud to say we will be switching out
two planks on the boardwalk to commemorate some important name changes for our refuges. First,
in Montana the refuge that was formerly known as Half-breed Lake National Wildlife Refuge is now
known as Grass Lake National Wildlife Refuge, a name which much better commemorates the important
wetland and wildlife habitats there. And then in North Dakota, recently Congress has passed
some legislation that changed the name of the former Sully's Hill National Game Preserve
to now be known as the White Horse Hill National Game Preserve. This was the culmination of many
years of effort on the part of the Spirit Lake Nation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and others
to ensure that the new name for the refuge much better reflects the sacred history and culture
and tradition of this special place to the Spirit Lake Nation. Thank you,
I'm so happy to be part of today's celebration of America's National Wildlife Refuges.
Hello there, my name is Leopoldo Miranda- Castro. I am the Regional Director
for the South Atlantic, Gulf and Mississippi Basin Regions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
As always I am delighted to be here among friends, celebrating something wonderful
and this friends is amazing. This plank represents the Green River National Wildlife
Refuge. The refuge was established in November, 2019, almost a year ago,
with a 10-acre donation from a conservation partner in Kentucky. And with this refuge we
will be able to expand hunting opportunities as well as other outdoor recreation opportunities
for people of Kentucky and for people across the nation. The refuge will be managed as a mixed
resource refuge. It has a lot of hardwood forests, open areas, agricultural lands,
and this actually increases diversity at that refuge, increasing the chances and the enjoyment
of those by people. So as I always say, it will be enjoyed by critters and the two-legged critters,
us, the people that use these lands. And again, help me celebrate this big accomplishment. Thank
you for celebrating with us and go outdoors and enjoy nature. Thank you so much. Muchas gracias.
In 1903 Theodore Roosevelt had the forethought of being able to protect and conserve our wildlife
and the habitat from which they reside. Today I'm here at Pelican Island, and I'm so excited
to have laid the planks of our three newest wildlife refuges. Thank you for joining us for our
virtual Plank Laying Ceremony, celebrating Great Thicket and Green River National Wildlife Refuges
and the San Luis Valley Conservation Area. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
appreciates the many partners who shared a role in these refuge establishments. These lands are now
part of a conservation legacy established by Theodore Roosevelt for all Americans
today and into the future, and I encourage you to visit your local National Wildlife Refuge.