IV 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 15 

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States Fish and Wildlife 

Service should incorporate consideration of global warming and sealevel rise into the comprehensive conservation plans for coastal national 

wildlife refuges, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2011 

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 

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•HCON 15 IH 

nomic 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 2.5°F to 10.4°F 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 


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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 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that— 

3 (1) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

4 should incorporate consideration of the effects of 

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1 prehensive conservation plan for each coastal na2 tional wildlife refuge; 

3 (2) each such comprehensive conservation plan 

4 should address, with respect to the refuge concerned, 

5 how global warming and sea-level rise will affect— 

6 (A) the ecological integrity of the refuge; 

7 (B) the distribution, migration patterns, 

8 and abundance of fish, wildlife, and plant popu9 lations and related habitats of the refuge; 

10 (C) the archaeological and cultural values 

11 of the refuge; 

12 (D) such areas within the refuge that are 

13 suitable for use as administrative sites or visitor 

14 facilities; and 

15 (E) opportunities for compatible wildlife16 dependent recreational uses of the refuge; and 

17 (3) the Director of the United States Fish and 

18 Wildlife Service, in consultation with the United 

19 States Geological Survey, should conduct an assess20 ment of the potential impacts of global warming and 

21 sea-level rise on coastal national wildlife refuges. 

Æ 


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