[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 248 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 248
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service should incorporate consideration of global warming and
sea-level rise into the comprehensive conservation plans for coastal
national wildlife refuges, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 6, 2007
Mrs. Christensen submitted the following concurrent resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service should incorporate consideration of global warming and
sea-level rise into the comprehensive conservation plans for coastal
national wildlife refuges, and for other purposes.
Whereas global warming can generally be described as an increase in the average
temperature of the earth's atmosphere, and sea-level rise can best be
described as an overall increase in sea level;
Whereas global warming and related aspects of climate change are caused by the
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases due to industrial
processes and fossil fuel combustion associated with the process of
economic growth, and changes in land use such as deforestation;
Whereas studies show that the continuation of historical trends of greenhouse
gas emissions will result in additional global warming, with current
projections of global warming 2.5F to 10.4F by 2100;
Whereas global warming will induce sea-level rise that will steadily inundate
coastal areas, change precipitation patterns, increase risk of droughts
and floods, threaten biodiversity, and offer a host of potential
challenges to public health;
Whereas the generally expected 50 to 200 cm sea-level rise from global warming
would inundate 7,000 square miles of dry land in the United States and
equal amounts of coastal wetlands;
Whereas such sea-level rise will effectively force recreational beaches inland,
exacerbate coastal flooding, and increase the salinity of aquifers and
estuaries in the next century;
Whereas it has been reported that the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere now will persist for approximately 100 years;
Whereas if we are not proactive in our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and wait to see obvious effects of global warming and sea-
level rise, it may be too late to avoid the harmful repercussions of
such events;
Whereas the ongoing and projected estimates of sea-level rise as a result of
global warming threaten the loss of 22 percent of the world's coastal
wetlands by 2080;
Whereas the ongoing and projected increases in sea-level rise as a result of
global warming have extremely strong implications for stewardship by the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service of nearly 1,100,000 acres of
coastal wetlands located in 159 coastal national wildlife refuges in the
United States and its Caribbean and Pacific territories;
Whereas the National Wildlife Refuge System was created to conserve fish,
wildlife, and plants and their habitats;
Whereas the effects of global warming and sea-level rise may greatly impact the
effectiveness of the National Wildlife Refuge System in the conservation
of migratory birds, anadromous and interjurisdictional fish, marine
mammals, endangered species and threatened species, and the habitats on
which these species depend;
Whereas global warming and sea-level rise has already begun to affect some of
the Nation's most valued natural resources such as the coral reefs near
Buck Island National Park in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and Blackwater
National Wildlife Refuge on the Chesapeake Bay, and other areas; and
Whereas amendments to the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of
1966 that were made by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement
Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-57) require that the Secretary of the
Interior shall prepare a comprehensive conservation plan for each
national wildlife refuge within 15 years after the date of enactment of
such Act: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service should
incorporate consideration of the effects of global warming and
sea-level rise into the comprehensive conservation plan for
each coastal national wildlife refuge;
(2) each such comprehensive conservation plan should
address, with respect to the refuge concerned, how global
warming and sea-level rise will affect--
(A) the ecological integrity of the refuge;
(B) the distribution, migration patterns, and
abundance of fish, wildlife, and plant populations and
related habitats of the refuge;
(C) the archaeological and cultural values of the
refuge;
(D) such areas within the refuge that are suitable
for use as administrative sites or visitor facilities;
and
(E) opportunities for compatible wildlife-dependent
recreational uses of the refuge; and
(3) the Director of the United Fish and Wildlife Service,
in consultation with the United States Geological Survey,
should conduct an assessment of the potential impacts of global
warming and sea-level rise on coastal national wildlife
refuges.
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