- GET INVOLVED! MEMBER OPPORTUNITIES FOR 1994
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- ON THE COVER
- A New Beginning for an Old Mine
- Bats 101: High School Students and Field Research
- Tips on Establishing Research Partnerships Between Schools and Wildlife Agencies
- Folklore and the Origin of Bats
- Guam National Wildlife Refuge Under Fire
- Motorola Supports Bat House Research Project
- BCI Helps Protect Pennsylvania Mine for Bats
- BCI-Sponsored Education Campaign in Mexico Leads to Cave Protection
- Annual Report Available
- WISH LIST. 1993
- Look for “Masters of the Night: The True Story of Bats”
The future of a critical unit of our newest national wildlife refuge already hangs in the balance…
The Guam National Wildlife Refuge –the newest in the National Wildlife Refuge System–was barely two weeks old when it was blasted from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. The representative for Guam, Delegate Robert Underwood, condemned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) for acquiring 370 acres of excess land from the U.S. Navy at Ritidian Point. The FWS considers the unit critical to the success of the refuge, where it will serve as a focal point for endangered species recovery and environmental education, as well as an administrative headquarters.
The new wildlife refuge may eventually encompass over 28,000 acres of forests, wetlands, caves, beaches, and other habitats for a variety of wildlife from endangered birds and mammals to sea turtles and native tree snails. Its primary purpose is to protect and restore these habitats and provide for recovery actions to benefit several endangered and threatened species of animals and plants.
Because the endangered species problem on Guam is so urgent and so complex, a cooperative approach was considered necessary to reverse the tide of extinctions. The General Services Administration transferred the Ritidian Point property to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on October 1, 1993, thereby creating the refuge. The Service is now negotiating cooperative agreements with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and the Government of Guam that will establish overlay units of the refuge on lands administered by these entities and provide for refuge management.
Terming the property transfer a “land grab,” Delegate Underwood seeks to have the newly established refuge land instead transferred to the people of Guam. In his address before the House, he cited injustices to the indigenous Chamorro people when the military originally obtained the land after World War II. The proposal by the Government of Guam also includes returning the lands to the previous landowners at Ritidian Point.
During the public comments period on the proposed refuge, however, the majority of respondents supported the refuge, many of them commenting on how it could help preserve the natural and cultural heritage of Guam for all people and future generations. Another purpose of the refuge is to utilize it to develop public education programs on Guam’s natural resources. The FWS has also made a commitment to the Government of Guam to create a compatible recreational use area within the Ritidian Point Unit of the refuge. With cooperation from the Government of Guam and the Guam Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources, the FWS is in a good position to achieve the goals of the refuge.
Today, all of Guam’s native mammals and birds are at high risk of extinction in the wild. Following World War II, native wildlife declined catastrophically; almost all of Guam’s forest birds are now listed as endangered. Some animals are extinct, among them probably the little Mariana fruit bat (Pteropus tokudae), which has not been seen since 1968. These precipitous declines have been ascribed to loss and degradation of habitat due to human activity, but one of the prime reasons was the accidental introduction of the brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis). The refuge system would coordinate efforts to control the snake and protect wildlife.
Among the endangered animals are Mariana fruit bats (P. mariannus). The only remaining colony on Guam, ap