A relatively new reservoir built by the Army Corp of Engineers near Santa Fe, New Mexico
By Mark Hutchinson, Tualatin Valley Chapter
February 3, 2025
Many of our members might not know that NW Steelheaders is the Oregon affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). NWF is the largest and oldest wildlife conservation organization in the country with over 6 million members. What does it mean to be an Affiliate of NWF? Affiliate partners elect key members of the Federation's leadership and set conservation policy priorities through an annual resolution process. Once a year National Wildlife Federation gathers affiliates along with staff members from all 50 states, to strategize, share and communicate goals for wildlife conservation. The Affiliate Chief Executives (ACE) event was held in Santa Fe New Mexico this year and hosted by the New Mexico Wildlife Association. The information and ideas discussed from the other 50 states and federation were inspirational. Starting off with an overview of the national policy agenda, of particular interest is the farm bill. This piece of legislation covers nearly all federal agricultural policy, including subsidies for wildlife habitat enhancement, limiting use of harmful chemicals that can harm rivers, fish or people, and funding wildlife restoration following natural disasters. We also heard about work done to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and fund State Wildlife Action Plans. In case you do not know about the Recovering Americas Wildlife Act, it would create a mechanism other than license sales to pay state wildlife agencies to manage non-game wildlife. NW Steelheaders has long advocated for such a system for the non-hunting and fishing community to pay their fair share to support our local wildlife agencies. The affiliate from Colorado talked about their outdoor women program, teaching hunting tracking fishing, and how it was heavily funded by Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, and other sporting goods companies. The Colorado Wildlife Federation presented their Becoming and Outdoors-Woman program to help women gain confidence and skills in the outdoors and introduce them to the pleasures and benefits of activities such as hunting, angling, trap and skeet, archery and much more. This program was heavily funded by Cabela’s, Bass pro Shops and other sporting goods companies. One of the gatherings hosted by Western Conservation Foundation, Trust for Public Lands, and New Mexico Wildlife Federation highlighted efforts to acquire land for wildlife protection and restoration including the reintroduction of antelope. At this event, Linda and I spoke with representatives from Idaho and Washington about common goals for salmon on the Columbia River and tributaries. We made tentative plans to cohost an event about the salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River to prevent extinction of our salmon and steelhead. On the second day of the event, a Buffalo dance was performed to celebrate the efforts to return buffalo to their native home range. The New Mexico Wildlife Federation highlighted accomplishments working with groups they have not always agreed completely with. Through this work, they coined the phrase “Some of us shoot wildlife with bows and gun, others with cameras. If there is no wildlife neither us is happy.” They emphasized working with everyone and not giving up. In the afternoon there were four roundtable discussions including water (rivers and groundwater), renewable siting (solar & windmills), State Wildlife Action Plans, and public Lands. I attended the discussion on water to better understand the ever-increasing challenges with fish passage through dams, the warm water in our rivers killing salmon & steelhead and how restoration funding for our coastal rivers can be secured.
Scenes from the ACE meeting.
In the afternoon we learned about funding opportunities for 2025. NWF recommended we focus on state projects rather than federal initiatives, and to think big. Funders are looking for big ideas they can celebrate, and they are looking for constant communication and transparency. We heard how wildlife conservation is bipartisan, but you must be ready when the political climate is right. Tax reform and changes to the tax code create opportunities for wildlife conservation work through incentives. Our group attended a field visit to the Santa Ana Pueblo. We learned how 20 year data a series of grants were used to complete a conservation project on the reservation. The results included improved stream flows for fish, reintroduction of antelope, and increased deer, bear, and cougar populations. The data was mind blowing, enabling them to secure millions of dollars in grants. One of the programs provided $6 million for design of a wildlife corridor project between over a 6-lane freeway. We also observed a relatively new reservoir built by the Army Corp of Engineers that was bone dry (see picture). On the final day, Linda attended sessions on fund raising and I attended sessions on board development. We both heard from very successful groups on how they tackled common challenges we face at NW Steelheaders. Here are our top takeaways from attending the meeting:
Mark and Linda visit Santa Ana Pueblo reservoir site.