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VOICE ONE:
This is Phoebe Zimmerman.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English programEXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about an American government agency thatprotects animals and plants. The National Wildlife Refuge System iscelebrating its one-hundredth anniversary this year.
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VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-oh-three, thetwenty-sixth president of the United States heard about a smallisland in the state of Florida that had many birds. PresidentTheodore Roosevelt was told that hunters were killing most of thepelicans on the island. He soon decided the nation should protectthese beautiful water birds.
President Roosevelt declared the island the first federalprotection area for birds. This refuge was named the Pelican IslandReservation. It was established on a very small piece of land in theIndian River Lagoon, near the Atlantic Ocean. The island became thefirst protected area in what later would become the huge NationalWildlife Refuge System.
VOICE TWO:
Today the Wildlife Refuge System is the world’s largest landnetwork for managed and protected wildlife. The refuge system ispart of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Among otherduties, the system enforces the Endangered Species Act. This lawprotects wildlife threatened with disappearing from Earth. Wildliferefuges also help the environment. They help protect wetlands thatcontrol flooding and pollution.
In November, the SmithsonianNational Museum of Natural History in Washington, D-C, willcelebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the National WildlifeRefuge System. An exhibition will tell about the protectionprograms, activities and beautiful sights in the wildlife refuges.
VOICE ONE:
The refuge system has five-hundred-forty centers. They cover morethan thirty-eight-million hectares of land and water. Most are opento the public. More than thirty-five-million people visit them everyyear. Visitors can fish and hunt at more than half of these wildlifecenters.
Activists say the refuge system is one of the nation’s greatestsuccesses in protecting nature. National wildlife refuges exist inall fifty states and twelve American territories and possessions.Almost all the refuges contain water. Many of these refuges havenational parks in their territory.
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VOICE TWO:
Theodore Roosevelt served as president from nineteen-oh-one tonineteen-oh-nine. During that time he created fifty-one bird refugesin seventeen states and three territories. He also created fivenational parks and one-hundred-fifty national forests. Historianssay it is especially interesting that President Roosevelt did this.The energetic former soldier was known for hunting large animals.But he also believed that wildlife protection was important. He saidAmericans should increase the value of their land for the people whocome after them. History remembers him as one of America’s mostimportant activists for wildlife.
VOICE ONE:
Before President Roosevelt declared Pelican Island a wildliferefuge, both Florida and the federal government had tried to protectAmerica’s wildlife. Congress had enacted two laws aimed at wildlifeprotection. In eighteen-sixty-nine, the lawmakers created aprotected area in the Pribilof Islands of Alaska. The goal was togive fur seals a safe place to have their babies.
In eighteen-ninety-four, Congress made it illegal to harmwildlife inside the huge Yellowstone National Park in the westernpart of the country.
In nineteen-oh-one, a Florida law prevented shooting birds onPelican Island for their feathers. But people disobeyed this lawuntil President Roosevelt intervened.
Some animals were already threatened with disappearance whenPresident Roosevelt took the first step toward a nationalconservation agency. For example, many bison had lived in thewestern part of the country. But by the nineteenth century, huntershad killed hundreds of thousands of these big animals.
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VOICE TWO:
Today, most Americans agree that the wildlife protection systemis important. Still, the system always faces problems. Currently,one important issue is whether to permit oil exploration in thenation’s largest refuge, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge inAlaska. President Bush and some lawmakers believe the United Statesmust have the oil.
Others say drilling in the wildlife refuge would produce verylittle oil. And they say the process would harm a beautiful wildarea and the animals that live there.
Last week, the House of Representatives approved oil drilling inthe Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Senate had rejected thedrilling plan last month.
Money is always a problem for the wildlife refuge system. It iscostly to protect areas where plants and animals reproduce or grow.Sometimes private companies help support the National WildlifeRefuge System. For example, a large energy provider called theSouthern Company is giving the system one-hundred-thousand dollars.The money will help restore living areas for a number of kinds ofbirds.
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VOICE ONE:
The story of America’s first federal protection area for birdsbegan in eighteen-eighty-one. A young man from Germany settled inSebastian, a town on the east coast of Florida. Paul Kroegel couldsee Pelican Island from his house. He could see the pelicans withtheir long, light colored necks and brown bodies. He could seeegrets and many other kinds of birds and animals that lived on theisland.
But he also saw great numbers ofthe birds being shot. Most of the hunters were not sportsmen. Theywanted the birds’ feathers to sell. Women of those days loved towear hats covered with feathers.
At times, feathers were more valuable than gold. Mister Kroegelwanted to save the island’s birds before they all died out. So hesailed to the island and stood guard with a gun in his hand.
VOICE TWO:
Many bird experts visited Pelican Island. One of these was FrankChapman, chief of the American Museum of Natural History in New YorkCity. He discovered that the island was the last area on Florida’seast coast for brown pelicans to lay their eggs. Mister Chapmanimmediately sought help from the Florida Audubon Society, anorganization that protects birds.
The organization hired Mister Kroegel and three other guards toprotect Pelican Island’s birds from hunters. But two of the guardswere murdered while carrying out their duties.
Mister Chapman and another bird expert told President Rooseveltabout the situation. Soon the island and nearby lands had federalprotection. Paul Kroegel was hired as the first national wildliferefuge manager.
VOICE ONE:
Over the years the birds on Pelican Island have survived manythreats. Human activities on the water produced waves that reducedthe island’s shorelines. The island decreased to half its size. Innineteen-sixty-eight, the refuge was expanded to protect nearbyislands and wetlands.
In two-thousand, the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agenciesand businesses provided money to restore the refuge. Mangrove treesand plants natural to the area replaced plant life that did notbelong there. A lake was added. Experts restored tidal wetlands anda forest.
VOICE TWO:
To protect the island, visitors now watch the birds from the newCentennial Trail on nearby land. The new walking path was built tohonor the one-hundredth anniversary of the Pelican IslandReservation and the National Wildlife Refuge System. A tower alsohas been added so people can look at Pelican Island from above.
Not long ago, a visitor was watching the island late in the day.Many huge birds were spreading their wings and floating against thedarkening sky. The visitor said she will never forget that sight.
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VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced byCaty Weaver. This is Phoebe Zimmerman.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Listen again next week for Explorations,a program in Special English on the Voice of America.