Guardians to Western Power Agency: Stop Propping Up Coal
An arcane federal agency is subsidizing coal-fired power
plants and electric utilities throughout the American West, threatening our
climate and the western landscape. That’s why last month, we called
on the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) to put an end to the practice. After a detailed investigation, we found WAPA
is selling wholesale power generated from publicly owned hydroelectric dams to
utilities that also burn massive amounts of coal. However, under federal law the agency can
only sell to utilities that minimize the environmental impacts of their power
generation. Sadly, WAPA is turning a
blind eye to the impacts of its customers’ coal burning, effectively using
public power to prop up dirty energy. We’re calling on the agency stop
subsidizing coal and start leading the way to clean energy.
Read more >>>
1.5 Million People Stand for Wolves
By the time the final public comment period on the
government’s fatally flawed plan to strip Endangered Species Act protections from
the gray wolf closed in late March more than 1.5 million comments had been
submitted opposing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal, including
tens of thousands from Guardians members and supporters. We intend to hold
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to her promise to follow the science and
ensure the Service complies with the ESA. The independent peer review of the proposal unanimously concluded that
the rule does not represent the best available science, rendering it contrary
to the ESA. With this unprecedented
outpouring of public support for wolf protection and the damning peer review
results, all eyes are now on the Service to withdraw the irresponsible and
scientifically unsound proposal.
Read more >>>
Nearly 400 Miles of Colorado's Waters Proposed for Protection
In March WildEarth Guardians filed official
proposals with the state of Colorado to permanently protect nearly 400
miles of native trout streams in roadless national forests. As part of our ongoing
Clean Waters, Wild Forests campaign Guardians will argue that the
headwaters of the White and Yampa Rivers deserve the highest protection possible
under the Clean Water Act—an outstanding waters designation. The streams are
inside of Forest Service roadless areas and are designated as critical
cutthroat trout habitat by the state. We believe we have an obligation to
generations to come to apply the precautionary principle and to ensure that
these waters are safeguarded.
Read more >>>
Proposed Coal Mine in Western Colorado is a Dirty Energy Disaster
WildEarth Guardians last month joined a coalition of groups
in pressing the Bureau of Land Management to abandon
plans for new coal mine in western Colorado’s iconic Book Cliffs northwest
of Grand Junction. Not only would this mine destroy habitat for imperiled
wildlife, it would despoil a potential wilderness area and fuel the region’s
growing air and water pollution problems. Worse, the mine would vent 24 million
cubic feet of methane annually and up to 4,000,000 tons of carbon every year. That’s
as much as a single coal-fired power plant and it’s on top of the 150 million
tons of carbon that would be dumped into the air once the coal is burned. Our
message to the Bureau of Land Management is simple: we can’t afford this dirty
energy disaster.
Read more >>>
Guardians Lawsuit to Allege Prairie Chicken Deserves Better Safety Net
The recent listing
of the lesser prairie chicken as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act
fails to reflect the true peril faced by this ground-dwelling bird according to
a notice of intent to sue filed this week by WildEarth Guardians and partner
groups. The notice informs the agency that the bird, well-known for its
elaborate mating dance, needs full “endangered” status to ensure its survival
and recovery. As of 2013, only 17,616 lesser prairie chickens remained in the
wild, down from 34,400 just the year before, and numbers are expected to drop
further this year due to oil and gas development and drought. The Service
further weakened the ESA safety net by giving industry and private landowners a
free pass if they sign up for voluntary, state conservation plans, which are
replete with feel-good statements about conservation but aren’t legally
enforceable.
Read more >>>
Giant Utah Timber Sale on Uinta National Forest Challenged
WildEarth Guardians recently formally challenged
the Smiths Fork timber sale on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The
timber sale involves logging thousands of acres of important Northern goshawk
and lynx habitat on the densely forested north slope of the Uinta Mountains
along the Utah-Wyoming border. Along with partner groups we challenged the
project because it actively reduces important lynx denning habitat, goshawk
post fledgling habitat as well as habitat for sensitive species ranging from
the three-toed woodpecker to wolverine. The timber sale also compromises the
forests' resiliency to climate change.
Guardians Tell Wildlife Services to Stop Imperiling Endangered Jaguar
With our allies the Animal Welfare Institute we recently
warned the ironically named “Wildlife Services” program that we’ll be suing the
agency if it fails to protect magnificent jaguars in the newly-designated
critical habitat of the species in Arizona and New Mexico. Wildlife Services
uses traps, poisons and other cruel tools to kill wildlife across the U.S.,
often killing non-target wildlife and domestic animals. The Endangered Species
Act requires that federal agencies “consult” with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service about any activities that could harm species and their critical
habitats. While only a few jaguars currently occur in the U.S. more are
expected to re-colonize historic habitat as the impacts of climate change push
these beautiful big cats northward. The Service recently designated “critical habitat" in response to a series of lawsuits filed by the Center for Biological Diversity. We will be represented by the Western
Environmental Law Center in the case.
Read more >>>
Guardians' Petitions for an End to Toxic Clouds at Coal Mines
Coal mines aren’t just taking a toll on our climate, they’re
producing orange clouds of toxic pollution that is putting clean air and
communities at risk throughout the nation. In a petition filed with the U.S.
Office of Surface Mining last week, we called for the agency to adopt a rule
prohibiting these poisonous billows. Formed when mines use explosives, orange
clouds are a dangerously common phenomenon, especially in the Powder River
Basin of Wyoming and Montana. Comprised of nitrogen oxide gases, this pollution
often drifts away from mines and over homes and public lands. Our petition
seeks a nationwide standard prohibiting orange clouds at coal mines, which
would force companies to limit their blasting. It’s another step forward in
exposing the true cost of coal and keeping people and the planet safe from
dirty energy.
Read more >>>
Legal Eagles Fight for
Prairie Dogs
WildEarth Guardians’ legal team
is going to court to protect the embattled Gunnison’s prairie dog. As promised,
we recently filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
refusal to list the species under the Endangered Species Act inspite of a 98
percent decline since the early 1900s. We are demanding that the Service
explain why the loss of 98 percent is not a “significant portion” of the
species’ range, and challenging the idea that the remaining 2 percent is an
acceptable baseline for conservation. We will not stand by while the current
impoverished state of our grasslands is deemed the “new normal.” Rather, we
want healthy, thriving colonies of prairie dogs, a keystone species, across as
much of its historic range as possible, bringing life and diversity to
grassland ecosystems.
Read more >>>
photo credits: Navajo Generating Station: Grand Canyon Trust. Lamar alpha wolf: Trip Jennings. White River: WildEarth Guardians. Red Cliff mine: public domain. Lesser prairie chicken: Jess Alford. Uinta: WildEarth Guardians. jaguar: Yannick Turbe/Flickr. orange cloud colstrip mining: Alexis Bonogofsky. Gunnison's prairie dog: Jess Alford.
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Activist Spotlight
"So
far during Aveda's Earth Month, I've raised $444 which I’m proud to know will
plant 44 trees. Every $10 a guest donates gets a raffle ticket for a free haircut.
WildEarth Guardians does so much for New Mexico. I'm a native New Mexican and that means a lot to me."
~ Sarah Chang, Stylist at
Mark Pardo in Nob Hill, Albuquerque
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Aveda
Salons of New Mexico are celebrating Earth
Month benefiting WildEarth Guardians clean water and wild river work thru
April 30. Find a cut-a-thon or other treatment event near you.
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WildEarth
Guardians invites you to join our Stream Team tree-planting event on
Saturday, April 26, 10am to 3pm in the Jemez Mountains where together, we will
plant trees. Participation price is $10.00. RSVP and purchase your
spot today.
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Come
celebrate 25-Years at our Howling Affair.
Get your tickets for our 6th Annual fundraiser in Denver happening May 8,
6:30-9:30pm.
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Stay-tuned for Guardians’ Santa Fe Summer Office party happening June 19.
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Choose Your Email Frequency
Want
to stay in touch with Guardians but receive fewer emails? You can change your email
preference here and elect to receive only the
monthly Frontline, the occasional appeal and event invites, or remain as “keep
me informed” and get all the latest Guardians’ actions and news.
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Prairie dog volunteers needed! In a time of increasingly
diminished habitat, a colony of Santa Fe’s endangered Gunnison's prairie dogs
were rescued from slivers of urban habitat in Santa Fe and carefully relocated
to new homes on the Galisteo Basin Preserve. We are looking for volunteers to
further assist with additional relocation and monitoring this spring. Please
contact Wild Places Program Director Bryan Bird for further details.
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So, How'd it Go?
Wow!
Thanks to our incredibly generous donors, we successfully crowdfunded a
research project to benefit the rare white-sided jackrabbit! This “handsome
hare,” as Aldo Leopld described the jackrabbit, is rapidly disappearing from
its U.S. range. With the money we raised, a jackrabbit biologist will travel to
Mexico to study the hares and their habitat across the border and the possible
connection to the last remaining U.S. jackrabbit population. Thank you for helping us learn more about
the incredible and rare animals we are working together to save! Check out
the project page for updates at loveanimals.org.
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In
April, monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico will start their return to
the United States, and they’ll need food, shelter, and places to lay their eggs
when they arrive. Guardians launched Monarch
Madness last month in an effort to bring light to the plight of this
declining species. If you haven’t done so already, Pledge to plant a milkweed patch this spring and help monarchs
on their way! Learn more and get access to the milkweed that grows in your
region.
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