National Wildlife Refuge System

 

Broadcast: April 16, 2003
By Jerilyn Watson

VOICE ONE:
This is Phoebe Zimmerman.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about an American government agency that protects animals and plants. The National Wildlife Refuge System is celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary this year.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-oh-three, the twenty-sixth president of the United States heard about a small island in the state of Florida that had many birds. President Theodore Roosevelt was told that hunters were killing¹ most of the pelicans1 on the island. He soon decided⁴ the nation should protect these beautiful water birds.
President Roosevelt declared the island the first federal protection area for birds. This refuge2 was named the Pelican² Island Reservation. It was established on a very small piece of land in the Indian River Lagoon⁵, near the Atlantic Ocean. The island became the first protected area in what later would become the huge National Wildlife Refuge System.
VOICE TWO:
Today the Wildlife Refuge System is the world's largest land network for managed and protected wildlife. The refuge system is part of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Among other duties, the system enforces the Endangered Species Act. This law protects wildlife threatened with disappearing from Earth. Wildlife refuges also help the environment. They help protect wetlands3 that control flooding and pollution.
In November, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D-C, will celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System. An exhibition will tell about the protection programs, activities and beautiful sights in the wildlife refuges.
VOICE ONE:
The refuge system has five-hundred-forty centers. They cover more than thirty-eight-million hectares of land and water. Most are open to the public. More than thirty-five-million people visit them every year. Visitors can fish and hunt at more than half of these wildlife centers.
        Activists⁶ say the refuge system is one of the nation's greatest successes in protecting nature. National wildlife refuges exist in all fifty states and twelve American territories and possessions. Almost all the refuges contain water. Many of these refuges have national parks in their territory.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Theodore Roosevelt served as president from nineteen-oh-one to nineteen-oh-nine. During that time he created fifty-one bird refuges in seventeen states and three territories. He also created five national parks and one-hundred-fifty national forests. Historians say 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 said Americans should increase the value of their land for the people who come after them. History remembers him as one of America's most important activists for wildlife.
VOICE ONE:
Before President Roosevelt declared Pelican Island a wildlife refuge, both Florida and the federal government had tried to protect America's wildlife. Congress had enacted⁷ two laws aimed at wildlife protection. In eighteen-sixty-nine, the lawmakers created a protected area in the Pribilof Islands of Alaska. The goal was to give fur seals a safe place to have their babies.
In eighteen-ninety-four, Congress made it illegal4 to harm wildlife inside the huge Yellowstone National Park in the western part of the country.
In nineteen-oh-one, a Florida law prevented shooting birds on Pelican Island for their feathers. But people disobeyed this law until President Roosevelt intervened.
Some animals were already threatened with disappearance⁸ when President Roosevelt took the first step toward a national conservation agency. For example, many bison had lived in the western part of the country. But by the nineteenth century, hunters had killed hundreds of thousands of these big animals.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Today, most Americans agree that the wildlife protection system is important. Still, the system always faces problems. Currently, one important issue is whether to permit oil exploration in the nation's largest refuge, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. President Bush and some lawmakers believe the United States must have the oil.
Others say drilling in the wildlife refuge would produce very little oil. And they say the process would harm a beautiful wild area and the animals that live there.
Last week, the House of Representatives approved oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Senate had rejected the drilling plan last month.
Money is always a problem for the wildlife refuge system. It is costly⁹ to protect areas where plants and animals reproduce or grow. Sometimes private companies help support the National Wildlife Refuge System. For example, a large energy provider called the Southern Company is giving the system one-hundred-thousand dollars. The money will help restore living areas for a number of kinds of birds.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
The story of America's first federal protection area for birds began in eighteen-eighty-one. A young man from Germany settled in Sebastian, a town on the east coast of Florida. Paul Kroegel could see Pelican Island from his house. He could see the pelicans³ with their long, light colored necks and brown bodies. He could see egrets and many other kinds of birds and animals that lived on the island.
But he also saw great numbers of the birds being shot. Most of the hunters were not sportsmen. They wanted the birds' feathers to sell. Women of those days loved to wear hats covered with feathers.
At times, feathers were more valuable than gold. Mister Kroegel wanted to save the island's birds before they all died out. So he sailed to the island and stood guard with a gun in his hand.
VOICE TWO:
Many bird experts visited Pelican Island. One of these was Frank Chapman, chief of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He discovered that the island was the last area on Florida's east coast for brown pelicans to lay their eggs. Mister Chapman immediately sought help from the Florida Audubon Society, an organization that protects birds.
The organization hired Mister Kroegel and three other guards to protect Pelican Island's birds from hunters. But two of the guards were murdered while carrying out their duties.
Mister Chapman and another bird expert told President Roosevelt about the situation. Soon the island and nearby lands had federal protection. Paul Kroegel was hired as the first national wildlife refuge manager.
VOICE ONE:
Over the years the birds on Pelican Island have survived many threats. Human activities on the water produced waves that reduced the island's shorelines. The island decreased to half its size. In nineteen-sixty-eight, the refuge was expanded to protect nearby islands and wetlands.
In two-thousand, the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies and businesses provided money to restore the refuge. Mangrove¹⁰ trees and plants natural to the area replaced plant life that did not belong there. A lake was added. Experts restored tidal5 wetlands and a forest.
VOICE TWO:
To protect the island, visitors now watch the birds from the new Centennial Trail on nearby land. The new walking path was built to honor the one-hundredth anniversary of the Pelican Island Reservation and the National Wildlife Refuge System. A tower also has 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 the darkening sky. The visitor said she will never forget that sight.
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced by Caty Weaver¹¹. 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.
1. pelican [5pelIk[n] n. 鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟，淘河鸟，塘鹅
2. refuge [5re5fjJ:dV] n. 庇护，避难所
3. wetland n. 潮湿的土壤，沼泽
4. illegal [I5li:g[l] adj. 违法的
5. tidal [5taIdl] adj. 潮汐的，定时涨落的

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 pelican   

n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟

参考例句：

• The pelican has a very useful beak.鹈鹕有一张非常有用的嘴。
• This pelican is expected to fully recover.这只鹈鹕不久就能痊愈。

3 pelicans   

n.鹈鹕( pelican的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Kurt watched the Pelicans fire their jets and scorch the grass. 库尔特看着鹈鹕运兵船点火，它们的喷焰把草烧焦。 来自互联网
• The Pelican Feeding Officers present an educational talk while feeding the pelicans. 那个正在喂鹈鹕的工作人员会边喂鹈鹕边给它上一节教育课。 来自互联网

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 lagoon   

n.泻湖，咸水湖

参考例句：

• The lagoon was pullulated with tropical fish.那个咸水湖聚满了热带鱼。
• This area isolates a restricted lagoon environment.将这一地区隔离起来使形成一个封闭的泻湖环境。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

8 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 mangrove   

n.(植物)红树，红树林

参考例句：

• It is the world's largest tidal mangrove forest.它是世界上最大的红树林沼泽地。
• Many consider this the most beautiful mangrove forest in all Thailand.许多人认为这里是全泰国最美丽的红树林了。

11 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。