Wildlife refuge in need of emergency relief funds

GREENWICH, Conn. (WTNH) -- Last week the House passed a $50.9 billion disaster relief bill for victims of Hurricane Sandy.

The emergency relief bill originally had nearly $10 million earmarked for a national wildlife refuge in Connecticut that had been damaged in the October storm.

However, now an amendment introduced by a Louisiana congressman was adopted into the bill, which means the refuge won't get the emergency relief funds it had requested.

The Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, which spans 70 miles of Connecticut coastline and includes 8 islands and 4 land units, was hit hard by Superstorm Sandy.

"It was severe. We had very severe damage," said Refuge Manager Rick Potvin.

News 8 saw for ourselves the damage on one of the islands off the coast of Greenwich.

"If you look up the beach you can see how it was actually pushed up and over that area," said Potvin.

The wildlife refuge was hoping to get $9.8 million in federal relief aid to clean up and repair the land, but an amendment introduced by a Louisiana congressman has taken away the funding. It spurred a heated debate on the House floor last week.

"For Heaven's sake we should not be spending money restoring coastlines on islands that nobody ever goes to," said Rep. John Fleming.

"It is amazing to me, amazing to me that we find it necessary that in the northeast somehow we are being held hostage when the rest of the nation has received every dime they've asked for," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro. "It's wrong and we should defeat this amendment."

The amendment was included in the Sandy Disaster Relief Bill, which passed the House and now sits before the Senate. Wildlife officials say without the relief funding it will be hard for them to repair and protect the land. They say it's a loss for the wildlife, and people.

While News 8 visited the coastline on a January day when the temps were in the low teens and News 8's Ali Reed was dressed in survival gear, in the summer the island is popular for Americans. Hundreds visit it each summer to view the wildlife and that's why officials say their main concerns are preserving the habitat for the wildlife and making sure the island is safe for visitors to come view that wildlife.

"When you say well is it worth this or is it worth that it's hard to say, well what price do we put on wildlife," questioned Potvin, "what price do we put on having open areas for people to come and visit safely?"