 |
Lawsuit Filed to Halt Colorado’s Bear & Cougar Killing Plans
Guardians is challenging Colorado Parks & Wildlife Department’s plans to kill cougars and black bears in a misguided attempt to increase mule deer populations. Despite opposition from thousands of citizens and leading scientists, in December the state approved a plan to kill 15 to 45 cougars and 30 to 75 black bears over three years in the Piceance Basin, and an additional plan to increase hunting and kill 50 percent of the mountain lions in south-central Colorado. Guardians is suing CP&W in state court because these plans ignore science, violate Colorado’s Constitution, and are not in the public’s best interest. Read more >> Guardians Defends Climate, Coal Leasing Moratorium
In January, Guardians joined a coalition in defending the Obama administration’s moratorium on public lands coal leasing in federal court. Put in place by President Obama to protect American taxpayers and our climate, the time-out on new leasing put the brakes on 1.8 billion tons of new coal mining in Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and other states. The move effectively kept 3.4 billion metric tons of carbon out of the atmosphere. Represented by Earthjustice, Guardians intervened in a suit filed by two Utah counties to overturn the moratorium. Our aim is to preserve the moratorium and defend our climate. Read more >>War on Wildlife Report Highlights Need for Non-lethal Coexistence
Our recently released War on Wildlife report outlines the barbaric activities perpetrated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ironically named Wildlife Services agency. The report outlines the history of Wildlife Services, the outmoded lethal tools it uses (such as traps, poisons, and aerial gunning), the science of modern nonlethal tools, and the benefits of carnivores and other keystone species. The report also makes recommendations for reform that include nonlethal conflict prevention, conservation of imperiled species, use of best available science, and accountability to the public. Read more >>Stopping Brutal Traps, Poisons, Snares, and Killing Contests in New Mexico
We are working with coalition partners in New Mexico to pass two pieces of legislation to protect wildlife. Senate Bill 286 would end the use of traps, poisons, and snares on public lands. Senate Bill 268 would stop coyote-killing contests and has already gotten approval from the Senate Conservation Committee. These bills enjoy bipartisan support and are critical steps toward removing some of the most barbaric tools in the lethal arsenal used on wildlife. Passage of these bills will help the Land of Enchantment move toward policies of compassionate coexistence and boost our broader campaign to End the War on Wildlife. Read more (note: contains graphic content) >>WildEarth Guardians Sues for Clean Air in Colorado Springs
Moving to safeguard public health, WildEarth Guardians in early February filed suit against Colorado Springs over thousands of Clean Air Act violations at the city’s Martin Drake coal-fired power plant. Over the years, the downtown power plant has failed to monitor air pollution from its smokestacks, putting nearby residents and local businesses at risk. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Denver, seeks to prevent future Clean Air Act violations at Martin Drake and to compel Colorado Springs Utilities to upgrade its monitoring systems and pay fines. Guardians is being helped in the litigation by the law firm of Coberly & Martinez, LLLP. Read more >>Guardians Report Outlines Future for a Living Rio Grande
We introduced our vision this month for restoring flows to the ailing Rio Grande in New Mexico by releasing The Rio Grande: Rethinking Rivers in the 21st Century and launching a beautiful website. Our bottom line is simple: moving storage from low-elevation reservoirs in the desert to higher-elevation reservoirs upstream will conserve water that would otherwise evaporate. Saved water could be made available to bolster river flows and support fish, wildlife, and plants. We will now work to engage the necessary stakeholders to obtain support for our plan and work tirelessly to bring it to fruition. Read more >>Reducing Roads on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
After hearing from Guardians and our partners, the Nooksack District, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington state, decided to decommission over 36 miles of roads. Most of the roads to be decommissioned have been closed to vehicles for years but are still damaging water quality and salmon habitat. Storms in 2015 and 2016 eliminated access on one-third of the roads in the Nooksack watershed, including many top recreation destinations. The Forest Service’s decision will direct limited dollars toward maintaining key roads to ensure those roads are more resistant to storms. Read more >>Bull Trout to Get Another Chance on the Payette National Forest
Thanks to a lawsuit filed by WildEarth Guardians, the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will reexamine how roads and motor vehicle use on the Payette National Forest impact bull trout. Bull trout require cold, clean, connected, and complex streams to survive. But forest roads block fish passage and bleed sediment that chokes native trout streams. Six years after bull trout critical habitat was designated on the Payette in west-central Idaho, the agencies had yet to consult on the impacts to bull trout from the forest’s road system and motorized vehicle use. They are now taking action because of our lawsuit. Read more >>Tribal Delegates Call for Protection of Chaco Canyon Region
Joining forces with Navajo allies, in January we stepped up our call for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to abandon plans to sell off public lands for fracking near Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. More than 91 percent of the sacred Greater Chaco region has already been leased for fracking, and companies are now setting their sights on the last remaining lands near Chaco Culture National Historical Park, where many of our Navajo allies live. Alongside a broad coalition, we will continue to demand the Bureau of Land Management keeps its promise to protect community safety, public health, and cultural resources. Read more >>10th Annual Prairie Dog Conservation Report Released
WildEarth Guardians released our tenth annual Report from the Burrow for 2016, examining how the twelve states with one or more of the four North American prairie dog species treat these keystone species. As in the past several years, the status quo—where these intelligent, ecologically important animals are treated as pests and widely poisoned, gassed, and shot—remains largely unchanged. Switching to a new format, the report compares the most recent estimates of occupied acreage to state management plan goals. See how your state did and learn more about how to help prairie dogs. Read more >> Zinke Is No Teddy Roosevelt Conservationist
photo credits: (Left column) cougar—Colorado Parks and Wildlife. coal mining—Matthew Brown, AP. black bear—iStock. bobcat—Sam Parks. Drake Power Plant—Denver Post. Rio Grande—Adriel Heisey. Siuslaw creek—WildEarth Guardians. bull trout—Jim Mogen, USFWS. Chaco rally—Woman's Earth and Climate Action Network. Report from the Burrow—WildEarth Guardians. oil and gas development—WildEarth Guardians. (Right column) donation crane—Tom Bihn. bear save the date—Ray Rafiti. Women's March—WildEarth Guardians. |
Share this message: 
Activist Spotlight
“The Donation Crane is our own small way of trying to do something good for the world. It’s a little origami-style crane made of scrap fabric here in our Seattle factory by our expert production crew. The Donation Crane is $20, and 100 percent of that $20 will be donated to the customer’s choice of one of eight nonprofits, including WildEarth Guardians.” You can purchase one here. ~ Tom Bihn, Seattle, WA
Save the DatesPut these dates on your calendar! Denver Howling Affair: Santa Fe Membership Meeting: June 6 Santa Fe Guardians Gala: Albuquerque Treehugger Bash: Dec. 7 ***
In 2016 Guardians updated our membership system to help us better serve you. As you might imagine with any significant change to the way we work, there have been some bumps along the way. Please let us know if we are calling you by an incorrect name or emailing you more often than you prefer. Also let us know if you want to receive our print communications and currently are not. We welcome any feedback to help us improve. We are excited about engaging you in a professional and personal way. ***
So, How'd it go...
Standing in solidarity with marginalized groups targeted by Trump, Guardians employees participated in Women’s Marches across the West. We were heartened by the strength and creativity on display and are using that energy to advance shared goals of diversity and inclusion in environmental communities and beyond. See the inspiring pictures here. ***
|
|
Stay Connected:
WildEarth Guardians' mission is to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. * ARIZONA * CALIFORNIA * COLORADO * MONTANA * If you received this message from a friend, you can subscribe. Unsubscribe or reduce the number of emails you receive by Managing Your Subscription |
||
The U.S. Senate confirmed President Trump’s nomination of Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) as Secretary of the Interior this week. Zinke has called himself a “Teddy Roosevelt conservationist” who opposes public lands giveaways to the states. But the truth is different. He supported a bill to transfer management control of millions of acres of national forest to local industry-dominated advisory groups. He also supported the Keystone pipeline while opposing EPA’s Clean Power Plan and the Department of the Interior’s coal leasing moratorium. In short, he will be an unmitigated climate and public lands disaster, overseeing some 500 million acres of our public lands.
