Speak Out to Protect Our Laramie Plains National Wildlife Refuges

August 22, 2007

Speak Out to Protect Our Laramie Plains National Wildlife Refuges
Mail your comments by August 29, 2007

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has just released its management plan for Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge, Hutton Lake National Wildlife Refuge, and Mortenson Lake National Wildlife Refuges on the Laramie Plains. The final plan will guide the refuge management for the next 15 years, so now is the time to comment.

Bamforth National Wildlife Refuge was considered to be sold off and eliminated from the National Wildlife Refuge system. BCA applauds USF&W for not eliminating Bamforth.

BCA supports the proposed Laramie Plains Wildlife Refuge Plan with the following emphasis for future management:

Give maximum protection to the Wyoming Toad in Mortenson Lake. The Wyoming Toad is one of the rarest animals in the world, existing in the wild in onely a handful of locations on the Laramie Plains. Upland grazing around Mortenson Lake should be managed in a manner fully compatible with Wyoming Toad protection efforts, and refuge boundaries should be expanded to protect entire lakes for the benefit of rare wildlife and waterfowl.
Maintain and enhance the diversity and habitat of native wildlife on each refuge, and consider ALL other uses of the refuges as secondary to maintaining habitat for native wildlife.
Monitor and manage grazing, recreation, and utility lines to assure compatibility with the purpose and mission of the refuges, which is, first and foremost, to protect wildlife.
Water resources should be managed to provide the best possible habitat conditions for wildlife in anticipation of dry periods or global climate change.

Finally, Fish & Wildlife must retain as their highest management priority the protection of Endangered & Threatened Species and Species of Concern.
Threatened and Endangered Species known to live in the Laramie Plains Refuge System include the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse and Wyoming toad.

Please Send Your Comments by August 29, 2007 to:

Toni Griffin, Planning Team Leader
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Division of Refuge Planning
P.O. Box 25486
Denver, CO 80225-04863

E-mail: toni_griffin@fws.gov
Fax to: (303) 236-4792

Thanks for sending your comments to help protect waterfowl, other wildlife, and the diverse habitats of the Laramie Plains Refuge System!

Biodiversity Conservation Alliance
P.O. Box 1512, Laramie, WY 82073
(307) 742-7978 - carmi@voiceforthewild.org