Weekly News Roundup – March 16, 2012

Want to know what National Wildlife Federation was up to this week? Here is a recap of the week’s NWF news:

NBCs Today: Don’t Poison Tar Sands Wolves – WatchWolf pups by Flickr's Ditzywolflady

March 16 – Alongside hosts Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie in the 8 a.m. hour of “The Today Show” on Friday, March 16, National Wildlife Federation naturalist David Mizejewski and live wolves discussed how wolves are in mortal danger from tar sands! The national network program is the largest U.S. audience yet to learn about the impending wildlife catastrophe since the poisoning story surfaced.

Wild wolves and caribou have thrived in balance in Canada for generations in the country’s vast boreal forest, but now oil companies have moved in to extract tar sands oil. As fossil fuel activity destroys habitat for caribou herds, Canadian wildlife officials are expected to poison thousands of wolves with strychnine-laced bait and shoot them from helicopters. Strychnine is a deadly poison that causes an excruciating death. NWF is calling on the Canadian and Alberta governments not to scapegoat wolves, and to manage their environment responsibly.

Watch David’s Today Show Segment

Bipartisan Transportation Package a Major Conservation Victory

March 14 – The U.S. Senate today passed a sweeping transportation bill on a bipartisan vote.

The Senate transportation bill is a laudable bipartisan milestone at a time when Congress seems otherwise paralyzed and deadlocked,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “The bill will help rebuild America and create thousands of new jobs in the process including in transit, bike paths and programs to help get kids to and from school safely. Most notably the bill includes two of the most important conservation investment measures in decades – the RESTORE Act, which would dedicate BP fines and penalties to Gulf restoration, and a long-term reauthorization and new funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund.”

Read NWF’s joint statement with our Gulf Coast restoration partners here and the Vanishing Paradise statement here.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News:

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News