By Alex Domb, Communications Fellow at the National Wildlife Federation
For thousands of years, the Delaware River watershed has been a natural haven for people and wildlife alike. But human development continues to put significant pressure on our native animals and plants. While meaningful progress has been made in recent years, through tactics like dam removals and stronger pollution control, far more needs to be done to stabilize population levels for at-risk species.
Fortunately, there’s a federal bill on the table that would do just that. The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), which has strong bipartisan support in Congress and among the American public, would invest $1.4 billion annually to support wildlife conservation led by states and tribes. Here are five key ways RAWA could have a lasting impact on the health of our watershed.
1) Restoration of wetland habitats
Species: Bog Turtle
Photo Credit: USFWS
The Delaware River is the central feature of our watershed, but the region features a wide array of other wetland habitats — such as marshes, streams and flooded woodlands — that support wildlife. Unfortunately, many species, such as the bog turtle, have suffered dramatically from the destruction of these habitats. This unique reptile, which at just four inches is America’s smallest turtle, has been particularly vulnerable to habitat loss and the drainage of natural wetlands. It’s also affected by habitat fragmentation, which can reduce genetic diversity among isolated populations. RAWA funding would give states significant resources to restore wetlands and implement connectivity strategies, such as wildlife corridors, to facilitate turtles’ movement across the region.
2) Improving water quality
Species: Brook Trout
Photo credit: USFWS
While the Delaware is now cleaner than it’s been in decades, the watershed remains vulnerable to chemical and industrial contamination. This can be especially damaging to native aquatic species, such as the brook trout, the multicolored state fish of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Trout are good indicators of the health of a waterway, as they thrive only in particularly clean rivers. RAWA funding can help clean the region’s waterways by establishing riparian buffers, stabilizing streambanks and expanding more water quality monitoring programs.
3) Supporting forest health
Species: Cerulean Warbler
The watershed, located along a major migratory flyway, has long been a crucial region for birds. But birds are under significant threat — North America alone has lost 29 percent of its birds since 1970. One of our region’s declining birds, the sky-blue cerulean warbler — a long-distance migrant that flies between North and South America each year — is imperiled by habitat loss in both continents. Funding from RAWA can help restore the warbler’s preferred breeding habitat — large tracts of mature deciduous forests in the watershed — and help reverse its decline.
4) Managing invasive species
The Delaware and its tributaries are also threatened by invasive species, which can disrupt carefully balanced ecosystems. One particularly affected group are freshwater mussels, such as the brook floater, which plays a critical role in watershed ecosystems as a food source and by filtering water. But as invasive mollusks, such as the Asiatic clam and the zebra mussel, establish populations across the region, they can outcompete brook floaters for food resources, alter habitats and even colonize the shells of native mussels. With additional federal funding, watershed states can better monitor mussel numbers and implement stronger population control strategies.
5) Funding critical research
Species: Little Brown Bat
Photo credit: USWFS
RAWA will help fund scientific activity that can help us better understand the novel threats faced by watershed species. This could benefit a vulnerable species like the little brown bat — a tiny, nocturnal mammal no longer than four inches long. This bat is threatened by the spread of white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease that causes bats to prematurely wake from hibernation and starve. RAWA funding can help scientists better understand the causes of this disease, monitor population levels, and research prevention strategies.
Those of us who love our watershed know how important wildlife are to its health. Our native species purify our water, populate our forests, nourish our bodies, and serve as a constant source of awe and natural beauty. To ensure wildlife can adapt to our changing world, it’s essential that Congress passes a law that matches the scale of the problems they face. By doing so, we can ensure they thrive for generations to come.