Yesterday, the Associated Press ran a good story about the threat to wildlife refuges from pollution and economic pressures for resource exploitation. However, the Associated Press story tended to focus on the plight of just one wildlife refuge: Oyster Bay, in New York State.
For the record, the Defenders of Wildlife issued a list of the top ten endangered wildlife refuges in the United States. Here they are:
1) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska – global warming and pressures to open this area up to oil drilling are threatening America’s greatest wilderness
2) Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge in Colorado – overgrazing has wiped out habitat for native animals
3) Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona – selective border patrols have brought a surge of foot traffic from illegal aliens, causing widespread erosion of fragile desert soils
4) Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Florida – threatened by nearby real estate development and expansion of roads
5) McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge in Texas – on the verge of being destroyed by oil and natural gas drilling
6) Mingo National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri – endangered by a proposed power plant that will send huge amounts of pollution into the refuge
7) Moapa National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada – efforts to drill for water to satiate casinos in Las Vegas will drain desert springs and the creatures that depend upon them for survival
Oyster Bay National Wildlife Refuge in New York State – runoff, sewage discharge, and motorboat-related pollution are fouling the waters of this refuge
9) Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina – the Pentagon is trying to build an auxiliary landing strip right in the middle of this wildlife refuge
10) Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in California – a planned diversion of water will destroy important habitat for migrating birds
