Ringed seal. Credit: Sven Roeder

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar acknowledged that “Shell screwed up” and announced they would not be allowed back into the Arctic without major changes. It was the right call, because a major oil spill in the Arctic ocean poses unacceptable risks to fragile Arctic marine ecosystems and the coastline, and would harm people who live in the Arctic and depend on the ocean for subsistence. Any major spill would also occur hundreds of miles from the nearest Coast Guard station, and recovery would be hampered by the constant threat of sea ice, low temperatures, high winds, fog and long stretches of darkness.  There is simply no proven technology to clean up a spill in Arctic conditions.

America’s Arctic Ocean is home to many of our nation’s most beloved wildlife species: polar bears, walrus, ice seals, beluga whales and more. While Shell will not be drilling in America’s Arctic in 2013, the Arctic Ocean could still be at risk next year when we are remembering the 25th anniversary of Exxon Valdez.  

It’s up to the American people to let President Obama know that drilling in America’s Arctic Ocean is risky and dangerous. Call President Obama at 202-456-1414, or
tweet the White House (@whitehouse) and tell the President to say no to drilling in the Arctic Ocean.  Here is an example:

Polar bears love their Arctic home– @whitehouse #SaveTheArctic and say no to risky and dangerous drilling

— Bentley Johnson (@rutherfordbhaze) March 26, 2013

Retweet to help save Arctic wildlife from drilling and tell @whitehouse to #SaveTheArctic!

To learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s work to protect the Arctic and Arctic wildlife, visit www.nwf.org/Arctic.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama nominated Sally Jewell, CEO for the outdoor outfitter REI, as successor to Ken Salazar as Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.  Conservation groups, senators and Western energy producers alike praised the selection as a smart choice to do everything from protecting land, connecting kids to nature, addressing climate change, creating jobs and increasing development.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. Flickr photo by DaveTBear

Hopefully future Secretary Jewell will accomplish that vision by heeding the words of  former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who spoke this week at the National Press Club on the importance of restoring a true balance of conservation and energy development on public lands.

“On Equal Ground”

At the press conference, Sec. Babbitt praised the “excellent record” of Pres. Obama and Sec. Salazar, citing accomplishments like new vehicle fuel efficiency standards, doubling the production of renewable energy, protecting the Grand Canyon from uranium mining, creating an innovative management plan for Alaska’s Arctic Reserve, and more. But he also called on the Obama administration to improve his public lands conservation legacy in the second term by putting conservation on “equal ground” as energy development.

Babbitt compared the number of acres of permanently protected land under Obama to the last few presidents. The number has drastically declined during Obama’s tenure. Meanwhile, Babbitt noted, “the pace of oil and gas leasing on public lands has continued at a high rate.” While Secretary Babbitt acknowledged that energy development is an appropriate use of public lands, but clearly demonstrated the current imbalance of conservation and development, skewed heavily in favor of oil and gas drilling.

To restore this balance, Babbitt is calling on Interior (and thus future Sec. Jewell) to recommit to conservation. For every acre of land leased to oil and gas, Babbitt proposed, the administration (and Congress) should protect a new acre of land for conservation. He also urged President Obama to use his existing authority to designate new special places such as National Monuments or Wildlife Refuges in order to spur action from Congress. Capitol Hill needs a wake-up call — the 112th Congress is the first since WWII that did not designate even an acre of federal wilderness. Protecting the outdoors is not a radical idea. A new “State of the Rockies Conservation in the West” poll from Colorado College shows the overwhelming support of Western voters for protecting land and water and opposed the idea of turning public lands over to states and private interests.

“Where is the Balance?”

Former Secretary Babbitt is right: renewing the commitment between America and protection of the great outdoors will continue to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy our country’s proud outdoor heritage and wildlife.  The Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development (SFRED) coalition, a group led by National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, advocates for this same balanced approach on public lands, taking into account the cumulative impact to fish, wildlife habitat and water resources as well as hunting and fishing opportunities.

Drilling operations across tens of thousands of acres of the Roan Plateau on the Western Slope of Colorado. Flickr by SkyTruth

Fortunately, perseverance and citizen action eventually pays off when it comes to conservation on public lands.  Just this week the Colorado Bureau of Land Management decided to withdraw proposed oil and gas leases that include big game habitat and trout fisheries along the North Fork of the Gunnison River.  The decision followed protests and letters from hunters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts concerned about selling leases using a 23-year-old resource management plan.

I do not envy Sally Jewell’s new job, but it is a critically important position that will shape the future of this country’s energy and conservation future.  Forget criticism from special interest groups: Jewell will have her hands full tackling climate change, figuring out ways to deal with potentially devastating budget cuts, protecting new landscapes despite Congressional inaction and finding ways to preserve clean air, water and wildlife.  It may still be the honeymoon period, but I am confident that she is up to the task.

 The Department of the Interior is facing devastating budget cut proposals from Congress.  If we expect Sally Jewell to be able to move conservation forward, she needs the resources to do her job.  Take action by sending a message urging Congress to not let the budget crisis devastate wildlife.

A report released today by the Cooperative Alliance for Refuge Enhancement (CARE), a diverse coalition of sporting, conservation and scientific organizations representing 15 million Americans, warns that unless Congress abandons the automatic “sequestration” cuts scheduled to occur in January, the Refuge System could be forced to close refuges and eliminate popular recreational opportunities which many communities depend upon as economic drivers.

Evidence of sea level rise at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. Photo taken in early spring of 2012 — before Hurricane Sandy. Credit: Bentley Johnson

1. Closed refuges and visitor centers;
2. Loss of hunting and fishing opportunities;
3. Volunteers turned away;
4. Lost revenue to local economies;
5. Increased poaching, vandalism and drug smuggling;
6. Lost opportunities for birding and wildlife watching;
7. Spread of invasive species;
8. Halted habitat restoration and fire management;
9. Delayed response to natural disaster devastation; and
10. Terminating a newly initiated inventory and monitoring program.

Already we are seeing wildlife refuges struggle to keep up with existing challenges, such as sea level rise and damage from extreme weather as a result of climate change (check out this story from the Washington Post on how Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on East Coast refuges). Any further cuts will leave refuge managers with hard decisions and no-win scenarios. Refuges aren’t alone: the conservation of wildlife and America’s public lands in general (including National Parks) is at risk.

Banking on Refuges

Wildlife refuges don’t just provide habitat for migratory birds or endangered species: they are drivers for our economy.

“The 560 national wildlife refuges that make up the 150-million-acre Refuge System generate more than $4.2 billion annually for local economies and create nearly 35,000 U.S. jobs annually.” says David Houghton, President of the National Wildlife Refuge Association and Chair of the CARE coalition.

Connecting People to Nature

Much of this economic activity is generated by the refuge system’s nearly 45 million visitors each year.  Activities like wildlife-watching, hunting, fishing, photography, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and environmental education programs may be curtailed if America’s refuges go over the Fiscal Cliff.  As Larry Schweiger, National Wildlife Federation’s President & CEO, gave a sense of urgency to the sequestration situation after the CARE report was released:

“Wildlife refuges give Americans fantastic opportunities to get outside and connect with nature as well as providing critical habitat for wildlife, which is vital in a warming world. Continued investment in our refuges will also drive our recreation economy through activities like hunting and fishing. The CARE coalition’s Fiscal Cliff report details the potentially devastating consequences to America’s wildlife refuges if our elected leaders do not put aside differences and agree on a budget solution. It’s critical that we all work together to conserve and protect wildlife for future generations.”

You can make a difference to help prevent the budget crisis from devastating wildlife and our shared National Wildlife Refuge System by clicking on the link and sending a message to your elected official now.

To learn more about the sequestration process AND look at adorable wildlife photos at the same time, check out this blog post in which wildlife complain about the fiscal cliff budget cuts: http://bit.ly/T5qywI

What was completely lost in the discussion is that increasing oil drilling in the United States will not bring down prices at the pump, and, since oil prices are set on the world market, more drilling here at home will do little to reduce gas prices.  In fact, an Associated Press analysis of 36 years of Energy Information Administration data shows “no statistical correlation” between domestic oil production and gas prices.  In short, we just can’t drill our way to cheaper gasoline.  Increasing vehicle efficiency is a far better solution to decrease our dependency on oil and gas.

I catch a breather near Gunsight Pass in Glacier National Park

Also missing from all the finger-pointing over gas prices was any recognition of the fact that the explosion of drilling in this country over recent decades has had a profound impact on water resources, air quality, and fish and wildlife habitat.  These vital resources suffer because of the direct cumulative impacts of the drilling process but also because burning fossil fuels is warming our planet and causing global climate change, which carry devastating consequences for decades to come.

We have yet to see enough detail in the debates, from either candidate, as to how they plan to protect wildlife, wild landscapes and recreational opportunities even as oil and gas permitting increases.  Governor Romney’s energy plan proposes opening new, sensitive offshore areas for drilling, fast-tracking the Keystone XL pipeline, undermining environmental review, and turning over control of federal public lands to states for the purposes of energy development.  However, nowhere in Governor Romney’s plan does it even mention the importance of the conservation of  fish and wildlife, and we have yet to hear a commitment from the campaign to protect the water we drink and their air we breathe from more drilling.

A Popular Decision

The newly designated Chimney Rock National Monument. Photo by Flickr user Jah~.

When the country seems so divided on many important issues, preserving Chimney Rock brought people of diverse backgrounds together to demonstrate positive support for a place steeped in history. The site, with the twin pinnacles of Chimney Rock and Companion Rock, has strong cultural and spiritual significance for Native Americans, and was home to ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians. Garrit Voggesser, National Wildlife Federation’s National Director of Tribal Partnerships, explains the importance of the decision:

“This is extremely significant for tribes and recognizes their historical, cultural, and spiritual connections to Chimney Rock and the surrounding region.  This is a great use of the Antiquities Act.  It reflects that this is something that everyone wants—local communities, tribes, the state, Republicans, Democrats and the administration.  This is refreshing given the current gridlock in Washington.”

An Economic Boost to Southwestern Colorado

The momentum to upgrade the Chimney Rock Archaeological Area to a national monument was a locally driven process with strong backing from area residents, tribes, businesses and conservationists. This momentum translated into bipartisan support from Colorado’s congressional delegation, including Rep. Scott Tipton and Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall. In addition to its intrinsic value, Chimney Rock National Monument is expected to bring in $1.2 million in economic activity to the area, based on a study commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Native American ruins on and around Chimney Rock date back 1,200 years ago, and the elevated federal designation is bound to bring in archaeology enthusiasts and folks who just want to hike to see the ruins and surrounding San Juan National Forest. One of the most fascinating aspects to this area is the Great House Pueblo, where every 18.6 years the moon rises exactly between the two rock spires, known as a Lunar Standstill.

Pledge to speak up for wildlife in this election season and vote for lawmakers who will address the challenges we face.

A Win for Conservation

Besides Chimney Rock’s rich cultural heritage, the area is home to many iconic wildlife species, such as black bear, mountain lions, elk, mule deer, bald eagles and peregrine falcons. It’s a truly great western landscape that now will be preserved for our children and grandchildren. The Antiquities Act is a special conservation tool that was established in 1906 and has been used by 16 presidents since then to designate national monuments. The president can use the Antiquities Act to protect special natural, historical and cultural areas as national monuments.  In the case of Chimney Rock, all the requirements were in place to make this a perfect use of the Antiquities Act.

Learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s efforts to protect our nation’s public lands for communities and wildlife at NWF.org/PublicLands and OurPublicLands.org.

Anyone visiting Washington, DC can enjoy the open fields for ball games, picnics, jogging, rallies, touring the monuments and cherry blossoms, or any number of activities. Believe it or not, free public access to special places and open spaces is a uniquely American idea.

Our nation’s federal public lands are home to our famous national parks, like the National Mall or Grand Canyon National Park, but they are also home to some amazing wildlife habitat in our national forest, wildlife refuges, conservation system lands, national monuments, conservation areas, recreation areas, national seashores, and much more. At each of these places, from wilderness areas to battlefields, there are fantastic outdoor recreation opportunities.

Listen in after a Scrubjays softball practice:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Take Action!

I fell in love with these public lands at a young age out west in states like Utah and Montana, and it’s why I decided to devote my career to protecting them and celebrating these treasured landscapes owned by all Americans.

And now, you can make a difference too and push back on attempts to open our public lands to development that will harm wildlife habitat and limit recreational opportunities by contacting important decision-makers.

Connect With Your Public Lands! Use the NatureFind tool to find parks, trails, nature sites, and other places to get outside around the country.

National Wildlife Federation’s Storytelling Video Diary Series shares the candid tales of nine NWF staffers from around the country; armed with their cameras in the Great Lakes, California, South Dakota, the Pacific Northwest, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC, these nine staffers will share with you their individual trials, epiphanies and stories as they unfold in their daily adventures.

According to the Alaska Dispatch, a well being drilled by Spanish company Repsol hit a methane gas pocket, which triggered the blowout.  A crew of specialists all the way from Texas is traveling to the site, but meanwhile the well is spewing drilling mud–42,000 gallons and counting.  An expert from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation explained that the drilling mud “is hazardous to the tundra.”

Should Big Oil Be Allowed to Drill (And Spill) in Places Like the Arctic Refuge?

credit, Susanne Miller/USFWS

Some misguided members of Congress are using the excuse that extracting dirty fuels from a beautiful and untouched national treasure will pay for highway projects.  But, thanks to people voicing their outrage across the country, some elected officials are standing up against the transportation and energy bill (H.R. 3408) that would bring ruin to wildlife and wild places.

The “terrible” transportation package in Congress opens up new drilling areas on the East and West Coast, off the coast of Alaska, and in the pristine coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge, which is home to iconic wildlife like polar bears, caribou, Arctic fox, wolves, and more. House Republican leadership are using rare procedural tricks to split the bill up because many Members take serious issue with drilling impacts, so they may lack the votes to pass it all at once.

Representatives object to drilling off the coast of places like California and along the Atlantic coast, where oil spills and well blowouts, like in the Gulf spill and right now in Alaska, threaten communities that depend on tourism. Other lawmakers worry that a provision to grant industry 2 million acres of public land for oil shale speculation would generate zero energy, zero revenue, and zero jobs. A group of House Republicans even sent Speaker Boehner a letter requesting that Arctic Refuge drilling be taken out of the bill, continuing a legacy of moderate support for this pristine wilderness.

All of this new drilling revenue is supposed to pay for a chunk of the $260 billion transportation bill.  But there’s one minor detail:  much of this revenue is speculative and wouldn’t even pay for 1% of the total cost.  Groups like Club for Growth, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Taxpayers for Common Sense agree that it is a fiscally irresponsible approach to paying for highways, bridges, and mass transit with imaginary money.

But Pipelines Transport Oil, Not People

The transportation package also requires approval of the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline permit within 30 days,  which irresponsibly overturns a recent decision by the President to deny the permit.  This pipeline would move dirty Canadian tar sludge through the heartland of the U.S. to export to foreign countries, making the America complicit in the destruction of wilderness habitat in Alberta’s boreal forests and the senseless  poisoning of wildlife to make room for the pipeline. The transportation legislation, if passed in its current state, would also fuel  climate change that is already causing severe drought and economic damage in the United States.   Building the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would threaten America’s clean water supplies, raise gas prices in the U.S. and result in a net loss to American jobs.

The legislation also waives environmental review for many projects, takes away dedicated dollars for public transportation and even defunds a program to establish safe routes for kids to get to school.

Big Oil is already double-dipping into our wallets.  It is making record profit through taxpayer-funded subsidies and every time we pay at the pump–the industry doesn’t need another expensive gift from us.

Help Protect Wildlife from Arctic Drilling

Arctic wildlife are already suffering from loss of sea ice from global warming.  The lives of species like the ringed seal and the polar bear would be at even greater risk from an oil spill in the Arctic Ocean, which would be virtually impossible to clean up in the remote and rough, frigid waters.  The blowout on Alaska’s North Slope is a perfect example: a crew of specialists had to be called up from Texas to try and control the well.

Wildlife need you to speak up for them and tell their member of Congress that the entire transportation package is a bad deal for wildlife, our clean air and water, and the future of public transportation.

Urge your decision-makers to make the right choice to protect wildlife from drilling >>

Yesterday Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced his decision to finalize a 20-year ban on new uranium mining claims on public lands surrounding this national treasure–a move that has drawn praise from water authorities, sportsmen, wildlife advocates, businesses, families looking to go on vacation, and more.  Don’t believe me?  Check out this thank-you video from local leaders across Arizona, including the Arizona Wildlife Federation.

Secretary Salazar signs the 20-year moratorium on new mining claims around the Grand Canyon

At an event at National Geographic to announce the decision, Secretary Salazar said

“Every generation of Americans faces moments when we must choose between the pressures of the now and the protection of the timeless.”

Secretary Salazar and the Obama administration was faced with such a scenario and made a bold decision: to leave the timeless Grand Canyon as it is.

Salazar also said at the event that “conservation is not always popular.”  At the National Wildlife Federation, conservation is always popular, and here are 3 reasons why Secretary Salazar is an early favorite for “Most Popular” in 2012 for his decision to ban new uranium mining around the Grand Canyon.

1. The decision is a win for the drinking water of 25 million Southwest residents

The Colorado River provides drinking water for over 25 million people in the arid southwest United States, including residents of Las Vegas and Los Angeles.  The river also irrigates over 2.5 million acres of farmland.  Increased drought and warmer temperatures from climate change combined with population growth puts the watershed in serious danger: water contamination from uranium ore would turn a serious situation into a crisis.

2.  The decision is a win for wildlife

Uranium mining often results in water contamination, which puts the Colorado River and its tributaries at risk. Wildlife depend on this clean water to drink, and the Colorado River is a unique fishery with world-class trout fishing opportunities.  Mining activities would also result in habitat fragmentation, a major threat to the unique biodiversity of the region.

3.  The decision is a win for jobs

Outdoor recreation and tourism bring in big dollars every year for Arizona.   For example, the Arizona State University recently found that hunting, fishing and wildlife-related recreation in Arizona generates an economic impact of $1.34 billion for the state annually.  In addition, Grand Canyon National Park receives almost 5 million visitors each year and these visitors spent more than $400 million in 2009 alone.  Protecting the area surrounding the Grand Canyon provides a positive economic benefit and supports sustainable long term jobs.

Secretary Salazar is quite fond of quoting President Theodore Roosevelt, and Salazar was definitely heeding TR’s words this time around:

“Leave it as it is.  You cannot improve on it.  The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.  What you can do is keep it for your children, your children’s children, and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American if he can travel at all should see.”

-Theodore Roosevelt on the Grand Canyon

We tip our hat to Secretary Salazar for taking action to benefit families, residents of the Southwest, sportsmen and women, and wildlife.

Bighorn Sheep on Wild Horse Island

My favorite wildlife species on the island are the bighorn sheep.  Catching a glimpse of the majestic, curved horns on a ram makes a tough hike totally worth it.  The males are large, occasionally getting up to over 350 lb with horns that can weigh up to 30 lb.

Once numbering in the millions, this iconic wild western species had crashed to only several thousand in the early 20^th century.  Today, bighorn sheep populations represent only 70% of historic levels.

Bighorn sheep protections are under threat once again—this time from Congress.  National Wildlife Federation and Idaho Wildlife Federation’s efforts to protect bighorns scored a major victory earlier this year, but some in Congress are trying to reverse that success.

A “Bad Bighorn Sheep Rider” may find its way into a package of appropriations bills which is being negotiated right now.  The policy rider would reverse an important Forest Service decision to close much of Idaho’s Payette National Forest to domestic sheep grazing where conflicts with bighorns exist.

Protecting and rebuilding Bighorn Sheep populations depends upon effective separation from domestic sheep, according to extensive research and field experience by  wildlife managers and researchers from throughout the West (including Idaho Wildlife Federation and the Nez Perce).

If this bad wildlife rider passes, it would set a precedent that would ensure that bighorns will continue to die off across the west.  Entire herds are at risk of disappearing for the benefit of a couple ranching interests.  Not to mention the rider would jeopardize big hunting and outdoor recreation dollars bighorn sheep generate for western communities.

Rob Fraser, President of the Idaho Wildlife Federation, laid out what is at stake in a recent guest opinion article:

“Bighorn sheep are an icon of Idaho and vitally important to sportsmen and all Idahoans who cherish wildlife and the rugged fabric that makes the state special. We can’t take what we have in Idaho for granted and let politics trump science, forcing our land managers to do nothing while domestic sheep roam alongside wild bighorn sheep. The loss of native bighorn sheep populations such as those in the Salmon River Mountains would denigrate the legacy of wildlife diversity for future generations.”

Keep checking Wildlife Promise for more information on all the different harmful policy riders that could make it into the appropriations bills.

Photo Credit: Kelsey Bensch, The Wilderness Society

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to a diverse ecosystem that provides habitat for polar bears and Arctic terns as well as other species such as caribou, Arctic Fox, and musk oxen.  A wilderness designation for the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain — the area that is constantly under threat of drilling — is needed protect this habitat forever from development and help increase resiliency to the impacts of climate change.

National Wildlife Federation joined groups like Alaska Wilderness League, The Wilderness Society, Defenders of Wildlife and more to deliver 860,000 comments urging wilderness protection for the coastal plain of the refuge to the Fish and Wildlife Service.  Only Congress can designate wilderness through legislation, but a recommendation in Fish and Wildlife Service’s Comprehensive Conservation Plan would send a strong signal to Congress that oil and gas drilling is incompatible with the Refuge’s purpose.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Big Oil’s friends in Congress are still pushing a dirty energy agenda that includes open up the refuge to drilling and putting wildlife at risk.  They are even pulling out their own costumes.  Alaska Representative Don Young ‘donned’ a propeller beanie cap in a House Resources committee hearing in order to drive home the point that he favors more drilling on federal lands and waters.

Rep. Young wasn’t done there.  He also got into a heated exchange with famous author and historian Douglas Brinkley (author of “The Wilderness Warrior” about President Teddy Roosevelt) at an oversight hearing on “ANWR (Arctic Refuge): Jobs, Energy and Deficit Reduction.”  Clips from that hearing can be viewed here.

It’s clear that the pressure is on for the future of the Arctic Refuge and other sensitive areas at risk from drilling.  If you would like to make a difference to protect wildlife by pushing back against drilling proponents, take action by weighing in with federal decision makers.