Oct 16, 2023
The America the Beautiful for All Coalition today praised the designation of the Wyoming Toad Conservation Area and Paint Rock River National Wildlife Refuge during National Wildlife Refuge Week, a week that highlights the Refuge System’s role in protecting wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation access, aw well as making communities across the country more climate resilient.
The new refuges are the result of decades-long, locally-led efforts, and represent progress toward conserving our nation’s lands and waters and achieving 30×30 goals with a justice lens–and specifically toward priorities outlined in our Coalition’s 2023 Policy Agenda.
“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our wildlife heritage than the creation of two new refuges to help ensure that future generations of Americans can enjoy the same plants and animals that we do today,” said Tara Thorton, America the Beautiful for All Coalition Wildlife Workgroup Co-lead, and Deputy Director of the Endangered Species Coalition.
The lands included in these new Wildlife Refuges are also the past and present lands of Tribes and Indigenous people. For the Paint Rock River area in Tennessee that includes the Chickasaw, Cherokee, Shawnee and Yuchi, and for the Wyoming Toad Conservation Area it includes Arapaho, Cheyenne and Oceti Sakowin (known to some as the Sioux Nation). The Coalition is committed to ensuring that in every case where lands are being considered for federal protections the process must include meaningful consultation with affected Tribes and Nations–with sufficient advance notice––as required by federal law.
Further, the consultation should be pre-decisional and shall recognize and respect Tribal self-government and sovereignty; identify and consider Tribal treaty rights, reserved rights, and other rights; and respect and elevate Indigenous Knowledge.
The Paint Rock River National Wildlife Refuge is part of a unique ecosystem with aquatic, terrestrial, and karst habitats that support threatened and endangered species including gray bats, Indiana bats, Tennessee cave salamanders and Alabama cave shrimp, and 150 species of fish and freshwater mussels–including some that are found nowhere else in the world.
The Wyoming Toad Conservation Area provides critical habitat for one of the most endangered amphibians in North America, the Wyoming toad. The area will also support the conservation of the white-tailed prairie dog, pronghorn and migratory birds, while providing future public access to the Laramie River and opportunities for hiking, fishing, hunting, and wildlife observation.
About Us:
The America the Beautiful for All Coalition consists of nearly 200 organizations working collectively to thwart the rapidly advancing impacts of climate change; stem the loss of biodiversity; increase more equitable access to nature’s benefits; and ensure at least 40% of conservation spending occurs in communities of color and frontline communities that have historically seen little to no conservation investments. Member organizations range in focus from urban parks and green space, Indigenous rights, public lands protection, public health, wildlife, outdoor recreation and freshwater and ocean conservation — all representative of identities and issue areas that have traditionally been underrepresented in conservation decision-making in the United States.
