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Avelino Maestas manages National Wildlife Federation's Wildlife Promise blog. He spent four years as a reporter in Southwest New Mexico, and is an advocate for increased openness and transparency in government. Avelino is also an amateur photographer who cherishes Southwest deserts, Atlantic seashores, and the dense forests of New England.
National Wildlife Photo Contest entry by Lara Hardesty.

Vote for the Face of Garden for Wildlife Month

4/9/2013 // Avelino Maestas

Ready? Set? Spring! As you start to welcome Spring to your backyard, which of our contenders for the “Face of Garden for Wildlife Month” are you most excited to see? Meet the contenders, vote for your favorite, and help us… Read more >

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The Fiscal Cliff and Ohio

12/19/2012 // Avelino Maestas

If you’ve been reading Wildlife Promise lately, you know that the impending fiscal cliff—which includes “sequestration,” a series of automatic budget cuts that will kick in starting in January unless Congress acts—could be pretty awful for wildlife (and people, too). These cuts… Read more >

Grasslands in New Mexico, near Las Conchas fire site

From Forests to Grasslands: A Picture of the Future in the Southwest

9/27/2012 // Avelino Maestas

As a native New Mexican, I’m deeply invested in and moved by the natural beauty of the American Southwest. While I’m at home among the saguaros outside of Tucson or in the eerie calm of White Sands near Alamogordo, it’s… Read more >

View from Forest Road 141, with the old Bear Fire scar in the foreground.

Whitewater-Baldy, Extreme Fire and Wildlife in the West

6/6/2012 // Avelino Maestas

It’s been hard to watch from afar as my beloved Gila Wilderness burns. The Whitewater-Baldy Complex fire–which has already charred 260,000 acres–is threatening wildlife after forcing the evacuation of an historic ghost town. Some estimates indicate the fire might not be… Read more >