Two years ago, we celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System, which was founded in 1903 when Teddy Roosevelt set aside a small island off the coast of Florida as a bird sanctuary.

At the time, Roosevelt might have been hard pressed to imagine what would happen to the refuge system over the next 100 years. The refuge system is now the world's largest system of lands dedicated to wildlife conservation. There are 545 wildlife refuges and at least one refuge in every state.

The refuge system includes examples of virtually every ecosystem in the United States. You can watch grizzlies fish for salmon on Alaska's Kenai peninsula while bald eagles soar overhead. You can wander the rain forests of Hawaii and see tropical birds that occur nowhere else in the world. You can gaze skyward on the Texas gulf coast and see a flock of whooping cranes complete their 2,400-mile migration from Manitoba.

Our refuges are truly national treasures that reflect America's love for nature and for wildlife and our commitment to conserving them for future generations to enjoy.

Today, we are releasing Banking on Nature, a report that shows that our national wildlife refuges are more than beautiful places set aside for wildlife. They are, in fact, economic engines that provide jobs for local residents, income for local businesses, and tax revenue for local governments.

In fact, nationwide, national wildlife refuges in the continental United States contribute $1.4 billion to our national economy and create nearly 24,000 jobs. They generate $151 million in tax revenue for local, state and federal governments.

This shouldn't be surprising because ecotourism has become big business in America. Nearly 40 million people visit our refuges each year, more than 10 times the number that visited in 1951, the first year we kept count. These visitors make great customers for local restaurants, hotels, retail stores, and other businesses.

Out-of-town visitors accounted for 83 percent of total retail sales. That means the overwhelming majority of retail sales are associated with people who so value the recreation and amenities refuges offer that they travel a distance to get to a wildlife refuge. In the process, they bring fresh financial resources into neighboring communities.

Take, for example, a refuge I visited earlier this year -- Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in Washington state. I'm pleased that Doug Roster, the deputy refuge manager, is with us here today.

The refuge is located where the freshwater of the Nisqually River meets the saltwater of Puget Sound, creating the Nisqually River Delta. This is a biologically rich area with a variety of wildlife habitats including wetlands and riparian woodlands.

More than 275 migratory bird species visit the refuge each year, many of them wintering or breeding there. The refuge also provides spawning and migration habitat for steelhead trout and salmon.

More than 137,000 people visit the refuge each year to enjoy hiking, wildlife observation and photography, and fishing. This includes more than 8,000 school children each year, who benefit from the refuge's environmental education programs.

These visitors pour nearly $3 million into the local economy, with well over half of this amount coming from people who live outside the area. The spending supports 51 private sector jobs.

Consider another example on the East Coast, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Massachusetts. The refuge was founded in 1942 to provide feeding, resting, and nesting habitat for migratory birds on Plum Island, an eight-mile-long barrier island. The refuge features a wide range of habitats from sandy beaches and dunes to both saltwater and freshwater marshes.

I'm pleased that Janet Kennedy, the manager of the refuge is with us today. The refuge opened a beautiful new visitor center last year, and won a national greening award for its construction. I commend Janet on her leadership of the refuge.

The refuge sits along the Atlantic Flyway. That means one thing: birds. You can see huge numbers of shore bird, songbirds and waterfowl as they fly north to south, following their ancient patterns.

Parker River Refuge welcomes about 250,000 people each year. This provides more than $5.1 million in spending to the local economy and supports about 65 jobs. For every federal dollar we spent on Parker River Refuge in 2004, the refuge returned nearly $9.50 in economic benefit to the local community.

In all, the Banking on Nature report we are releasing today examines the economic benefits of 93 national wildlife refuges across the country. It is the most comprehensive study yet of the economic value of refuges.

The report also shows us that refuges are a great bargain for both the federal taxpayer and for eco-tourists themselves.

The $1.4 billion in total economic activity generated by refuge visitation is nearly four times the $391 million federal taxpayers contributed to refuge operations and maintenance in 2004. In other words, for every taxpayer dollar spent on the Refuge System in 2004, communities benefited from nearly $4 in economic activity

Likewise eco-tourists get a great deal. Survey results used to compile the report show that visitors would have been willing to pay $1 billion more than they actually paid to visit refuges. Nature clearly is a bargain.

Under the leadership of President Bush, the Interior Department is doing our part to make sure we conserve and improve the refuge system. Since 2001, we have added 17 new refuges to the system. We have also increased the refuge budget to nearly $400 million, a 30 percent increase since we took office.

As part of the administration's emphasis on cooperative conservation and partnerships with states, tribes, local governments, and private citizens, we have provided $48 million in grants through the Fish and Wildlife Service for cooperative conservation projects that benefit refuges and surrounding areas.

I would like to recognize the other refuge managers who are with us here today. I hope you will talk to them afterwards about the good work they are doing at their refuges.

They are: Dave Azure, Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota; Erin Holms, Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia; Tim Wilkins, Theodore Roosevelt Refuge Complex in Mississippi; Jeff Haas, Sequoyah (seh-kwoy-uh) National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma; Robin West, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska; Kevin Forester, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in California; Carmen Luna, Bowdoin, National Wildlife Refuge in Montana; Larry Wargowsky (war-gow-ski), Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin; Jim Kraus, Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Florida; Nancy Haugen, Sherbourne National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota; and Bill Hartwig, Chief of the Refuge System.

Before I conclude, I would like to make an important point. The "Banking on Nature" report spells out the economic value of refuges to their local communities. But our national wildlife refuges and the dedicated people who manage them are much more. They are a vital part of their communities.

Nowhere was this more evident than during the recent hurricanes that ravaged the Gulf Coast. More than 60 Fish and Wildlife Service employees lost their homes in those terrible storms. Yet our employees were out there in boats rescuing people in their communities.

They took to the flooded streets and canals of New Orleans in airboats and john boats rescuing people from rooftops. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement Special Agents helped at the scene of a helicopter that crashed during rescue efforts. v Service heavy equipment operators and chain saw teams cleared a hospital, a school and a post office of hundreds of downed trees and debris. They cleared miles of roads and driveways in Lacombe & Slidel north of New Orleans after Katrina and in Hackberry, Louisiana after Rita, allowing some families to get out of their homes for the first time in over a week.

They started massive pumps to help drain Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge and New Orleans East. At Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, they fed 1,600 meals a day to emergency responders, law enforcement, soldiers and hospital patients and workers. They gave 100 International Red Cross and 50 FEMA volunteers a roof over their heads, a shower and a place to wash clothes so they could go out and help the shattered communities north of New Orleans.

The storms impacted thirty-four refuges and damaged two national fish hatcheries.

The list of heroes goes on. Overall, more than 200 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees responded from 20 states to help disaster victims. v The report we release today conveys the economic benefit of refuges to local communities. But these men and women are the heart and soul of the refuge system. They are true heroes.