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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 14, 2009

Contact: Kristina Johnson
(415) 977-5619
www.sierraclub.org/resilienthabitat

      Sierra Club Cheers Interior Department Global Warming Strategy

Washington, D.C. - Today, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar launched the
first-ever department-wide coordinated strategy to address the impacts of
climate change on the public lands, wildlife, coasts and ecosystems managed
by his agency.

     Statement of Sierra Club Deputy Executive Director Bruce Hamilton

Secretary Salazar has shown true leadership by making it a priority for his
agency to address the impacts of global warming on our treasured public
lands, waters, and wildlife.

The Sierra Club has been working hard to ensure that federal, state, and
local land management agencies address global warming. We are thrilled to
see many of our recommendations reflected in the Interior Department's
strategy.

We've already begun to see the effects of global warming on America's land
and wildlife. We're seeing worse wildfires, wildlife population declines,
and shrinking habitat and food sources for animals like grizzlies and
bighorn sheep.

As a key manager of our nation's wildlife, waters, and public lands, the
Interior Department is in a unique position to protect our wild legacy from
the impacts of global warming. Coordination between federal and local
agencies and private landowners will help ensure that America's forests,
ecosystems, and wildlife survive the worst impacts of climate change.

In order to help our wildlife and native plants adapt, we need to protect
important habitat from stressors like unchecked logging, mining, drilling
and industrial development. We need to protect key wildlife migration
routes and ecosystems, including on private lands. We need to enhance the
capacity of our forests, wetlands and soils to store carbon and help fight
global warming.

The Interior Department will need to work in concert with other federal
agencies, states, tribes, and private landowners to come up with
cooperative programs that allow species to move and survive in a
climate-changed world.

The strategy announced today by Secretary Salazar will go a long way
towards achieving these goals. We look forward to working with him in the
coming months to implement the program.

Kristina Johnson
Deputy Press Secretary
Sierra Club
Office: (415) 977-5619
Cell: (541) 914-9744
85 Second Street - 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105-3459
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