USFWS/Southeast/Flickr

Their habitat faces serious threats from the United States Army Corps’ wasteful construction projects that eliminate and degrade wetland habitat crucial for the bears and other wildlife.

What’s a “WRDA” Water Resources Development Act?

The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) is legislation that Congress uses to tell the Army Corps of Engineers what projects to build on our landscape. The Senate is expected to vote next week on a WRDA that could mean trouble for the black bear in several significant and serious ways. This WRDA includes provisions (Section 2032 & 2033) that would speed up Corps projects by shortening the amount of time available to complete a thorough environmental review of the projects. This undermines the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which was designed to evaluate the environmental impact of projects before constructing them. The provisions also make it more difficult for scientists, other agencies, and the public to influence the construction of Corps projects.

Black bear cubs in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. Photo by David Watts.

Environmental review protects wildlife

Having an adequate environmental review process saved the Louisiana black bear when their Mississippi wetland habitat was threatened by the Corps’ Yazoo Pumps project.

This unnecessary and environmentally destructive project would have damaged hundreds of thousands of acres of wetlands as well as two National Wildlife Refuges in the Mississippi River Delta. With the provisions in this WRDA, the project would have gone forward with less understanding of the environmental implications the construction would have had on the Louisiana black bear and other wildlife. Instead, the Environmental Protection Agency was able to step in and prohibit the project’s construction, saving these valuable wetlands and wildlife habitat.

Stand up for black bears and other wildlife!

Any bill with these provisions – provisions that would undermine years of conservation efforts and harm wildlife – must not move forward.

Tell your United States Senators to stop this WRDA from moving forward until it maintains strong environmental protections so we can protect threatened Louisiana black bears and other wildlife from harmful Army Corps of Engineers projects.

Fishing for Chinook Salmon at sunrise on the mouth of the Columbia River, August 23rd, 2012

More coal burning means more mercury pollution, more acidification, more climate change, and more habitat loss.

With plummeting domestic coal consumption leaving coal companies desperate to find new pathways to new markets, the last investors in the dirtiest fossil fuel have now targeted the Pacific Northwest to be the nation’s largest gateway for coal exports.

Just two weeks ago Bob Rees, President of the Northwest Guides and Anglers Association, traveled from his home on Tillamook Bay to Oregon’s capitol to tell Governor Kitzhaber to take action and prevent the waterways of the Pacific Northwest from becoming a new pipeline for coal pollution.

Watch the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now in their remarkable joint letter of appeal to the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee have called for the “strongest possible terms” of review of air quality and habitat impacts at risk from proposed coal exports.

“We believe the decisions to continue and expand coal leasing from federal lands and authorize the export of that coal are likely to lead to long-term investments in coal generation in Asia, with air quality and climate impacts in the United States that dwarf those of almost any other action the federal government could take in the foreseeable future.”

-Gov. Kitzhaber and Gov. Inslee

Read the full text of their letter here.

What About the States?

Federal regulators aren’t the only decision makers involved, however.

State agencies in Washington and Oregon both have their own coal export project permit processes, and so far neither Gov. Kitzhaber nor Gov. Inslee have instructed their staff to block the proposed developments, though there’s been no rush to permit them, either.

Just this month Oregon’s Department of State Lands negotiated yet another multi-month delay for the Port of Morrow coal export proposal so that developers could have more time to respond to the additional questions recently raised.

What happens next?

If federal agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers decide to take a thorough look at the issues raised by Gov. Kitzhaber and Gov. Inslee, and if concerned National Wildlife Federation supporters continue to keep up the pressure, we’re hopeful we can keep the northwest coal-export-free.

But there’s no guarantee of that yet.

Keep up the fight to protect Northwest fish and wildlife from dangerous coal export proposals.

Michael O’Leary of Portland, Oregon is an Outreach Consultant for National Wildlife Federation working on coal export and renewable energy issues in the Pacific Northwest, where he’s been a political organizer for over 15 years. Michael is a certified cycling instructor and a certifiable bike enthusiast, and can often be found on two wheels, rain or shine.

Watch Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of National Wildlife Federation, as he reacts to the vote from the Platte River in Nebraska–a vital stopover for hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes threatened by toxic oil spills from Keystone XL:

Click here to view the embedded video.

At a time of record-breaking temperatures and increasingly devastating extreme weather events, our leaders need to stand up against dirty and dangerous energy projects. With your voice today, we can hold the senators accountable who sided with Big Oil over their constituents interests.

On Twitter?

Find your senators in the list below and remind them that Americans don’t want the Keystone XL pipeline by tweeting at them:

Protect caribou by telling the Obama administration to address Keystone XL’s impacts on wildlife, habitat and climate change.

The decision came after Ambre Energy initially refused to provide key information requested by Oregon’s Department of State Lands (DSL), including the project’s impacts to fish and wildlife. Knowing that DSL would likely deny the permit without this information, Ambre was forced to ask for an extension—pushing back the final decision on the permit by five months.

Dangers to Local Fish and Wildlife

Orcas like this one are at risk from toxic coal pollution. Source: Minette Layne/WikiMedia Commons

In addition to the impacts from toxic pollution to endangered orcas and other imperiled Northwest species, once the coal is exported overseas and burned, it would drive climate change, ocean acidification, mercury deposition, and other crises that affect species like salmon and steelhead, upon which orcas depend.

If approved, the Morrow Pacific project would be the first of five proposed coal export facilities in Oregon and Washington to get a green light. If all of them are built, over 150 million tons or more of coal would be moved by rail, barge, and tanker every year through those states—making it one of the world’s largest coal export regions.

Coal Exports Meet Rising Opposition

Public Opposition to Coal Exports, Seattle. NWF Photo by Michael O’Leary.

Tens of thousands of public comments, packed public hearings, and letters to the editor in local newspapers have turned up the pressure on decision makers by exposing the dangers of coal to the environment and communities. The Morrow Pacific delay is the second since the permit was filed just over a year ago, and just last week, two of the three investors of another proposed coal export terminal at Coos Bay, Oregon announced they are backing out.

Take Action for Northwest Wildlife!

Governor Kitzhaber and his Department of State Lands now have until September 1^st to approve or deny the Morrow Pacific permit. While the governor has recently called on federal officials to do a sweeping review of proposed ports, he’s also coming under heavy pressure from the coal industry. Before a final decision is made, it’s critical that Governor Kitzhaber knows his constituents support him in standing strong against coal export from Oregon’s shores.

There are countless reasons why we must stop coal exports: to sustain the diverse habitats and wildlife of our region, to keep our waters and air clean, to fight climate change—just to name a few.

TAKE ACTION! In the comment box below, tell us why stopping Northwest coal export projects matters to YOU, and we’ll share your messages with the Governor!

But, as in previous years, big polluters and their allies in Congress are desperately trying to insert additional measures unrelated to the budget that would weaken protections for our wildlife, air, water, and climate.

Your senators need to hear from you TODAY—urge them to oppose anti-wildlife amendments in the budget.

Among the dozens of reckless amendments being considered are proposals that could:

• force the approval of the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, despite the disastrous impacts it would have on the climate crisis and wildlife, including woodland caribou in Canada;
• undermine the federal government’s authority to move forward with limiting carbon pollution that causes climate change;
• slash funding for programs that safeguard crucial habitat for wildlife and prevent endangered species like ocelots from heading for extinction;
• increase oil and gas drilling on federal lands, which will increase our dependence on dirty fuels and endanger critical habitats;
• prevent the administration from moving forward with clean water safeguards that are critical for healthy fish and wildlife

At a time of record-breaking temperatures and increasingly devastating extreme weather events that are putting wildlife and our communities at risk, it’s crucial that we shift away from high-carbon fossil fuels and towards cleaner energy sources. Yet some members of Congress are allowing big polluters to misuse the federal budget to approve their pet projects such as the disastrous Keystone XL pipeline, at the expense of wildlife and ecosystems.

It is urgent that your senators hear from you TODAY so they know the grassroots base will hold them accountable if they side with polluters over their constituents’ interests. With your voice, we can win this critical fight and continue to create a brighter future for America’s cherished wildlife.

Now, it’s up to us to send a signal to the Obama administration they can’t ignore. The 45 day public comment period starts TODAY, and your voice is needed to keep up the fight for caribou and many more wildlife at risk from this catastrophic project.

Protect caribou by telling the Obama administration to address Keystone XL’s impacts on wildlife, habitat and climate change.

Photo: Flickr/peupleloup

State Department Analysis is Fatally Flawed

The State Department’s review ignores the massive impacts to wildlife from the Keystone XL pipeline by failing to:

• examine the effects on the boreal forest and its wildlife by enabling further tar sands development in Canada. If development continues unchecked, some caribou herds in the tar sands region could disappear in as little as 30 years.

• consider the enormous contributions to climate change. The expansion of tar sands extraction in Canada is exacerbating the climate crisis, which is fueling extreme weather events and putting wildlife in danger.

• adequately address the threats from pumping 800,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day along its route through America’s heartland. The pipeline would pass through the same migratory corridor that endangered whooping cranes use each spring–putting the rivers and wetlands on which they rely at risk of toxic oil spills.

Keystone XL Decision Looming

The fight to stop Keystone XL has been more than three years in the making. From emails, to hearings and rallies, to phone calls, and letters in your local newspapers–the efforts of dedicated people like you have been critical in halting this dangerous project thus far, and now we must see it to the end.

We’re expecting a final decision on Keystone XL by President Obama this year. Fortunately, we have a critical opportunity right now to make sure the effects on wildlife, habitat, and climate change are included in the final review. Our wildlife and future generations are depending on it.

Scientists are still investigating an unprecedented rise in dolphin mortality in the northern gulf. Photo by The Pug Father/Flickr.

But, unlike television, we cannot just write a new scene and magically heal the dolphins. NOAA scientists still haven’t concluded why dolphins are dying across much of the northern Gulf of Mexico, but an in-depth study of 32 dolphins in a heavily oiled section of the Louisiana coast found that many were seriously ill with a constellation of symptoms reminiscent of oil exposure in other mammals.

Congress to the Rescue — Seriously

The RESTORE Act, which became law last summer, gives us our best chance to comprehensively clean up the Gulf and improve habitat for dolphins and many other species of wildlife. Thanks to this new law, The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council will be holding hearings throughout the five Gulf States to discuss the development of their comprehensive plan to restore the Gulf ecosystem.

This plan will outline which ecosystem restoration projects will be implemented throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The Council is in an early stage of plan development and intends to release a draft for public comment in spring 2013. This money from the RESTORE Act gives us our best opportunity to heal the Gulf of Mexico, but there are some who would like to dip into the RESTORE Act’s dedicated restoration dollars and use these funds for “economic restoration,” a.k.a pork. 

Ensure that DOJ holds BP fully accountable for their actions>>

Speak Up in Person for Dolphins in the Gulf

Let the Council know that:

• We commend the Council’s commitment to directing 30 percent of the funds to ecosystem restoration under the comprehensive plan as required by the RESTORE Act.
• In addition, the Council should seek to influence state-specific plans to prioritize ecosystem restoration, and oppose any projects that have negative environmental impacts. This will ensure that state-specific projects enhance the environmental benefits of the broader comprehensive plan.
• While every ecosystem restoration project helps restore and sustain the Gulf’s natural resource-based economy, some purely economic development projects threaten to harm its environment. From the Gulf’s $41 billion recreational fishing impact to its $31 billion tourism industry, the region’s economy relies on a clean and healthy environment. Gulf ecosystems, and the rich resources they support, are also key to the broader national economy.
• In the spirit of the promises made by the President and leaders in Congress, we strongly urge the Council to tighten its focus on restoring the environment, and reject any project that undermines that goal.
• The people of the Gulf rely on meaningful environmental restoration, informed and supported by science, to support a strong and healthy economy now, and for generations to come. 
• Restoring the Gulf’s environment, cleaning up our coastlines and rebuilding our wetlands  will protect people and property from future hurricanes and flooding, create new jobs and  safeguard the fishing, tourism and other jobs that depend on a healthy Gulf of Mexico.
• Restoration must take a comprehensive ecosystem-scale approach—this means addressing everything from freshwater inflows to our estuaries to our offshore marine environment.

Make a Difference at the Hearings

The public engagement sessions are part of the Council’s efforts to ensure robust public input throughout the entire process. And it is of dire importance that the public – you, me, and your uncle Bob – get out to these hearings to voice support for using all of the RESTORE Act dollars slated for ecosystem restoration on comprehensively restoring the Gulf of Mexico

RSVP for one of these upcoming public meetings:

Tuesday, March 12
Texas – Doors open at 5:15PM and the program will be 6:00 to 8:00PM
Pasadena Convention Center, 7902 Fairmont Pkwy  Pasadena, TX 77507

Wednesday, March 13
Florida – 6:00 PM EST
Karen A. Steidinger Auditorium, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, 100 Eighth Ave. S.E., St. Petersburg, FL

Help protect Gulf dolphins! Ensure that the Department of Justice holds BP fully accountable for restoring Gulf habitat! And make sure that money is spent on ecosystem restoration not pork!

Can’t be in Washington, DC for the “Forward on Climate” rally? No problem!

Thanks to a tool called Thunderclap, you can join this nationwide display of solidarity on social media by clicking here.

Your message will be compiled with thousands of others from across the country, and automatically delivered to the President as the rally begins at noon on February 17th. Together, we’ll echo the stream of signs people will be carrying down the National Mall with this clear and undeniable message, amplified across the internet:

“I call on @BarackObama to move #ForwardOnClimate. Pls RT & watch the largest rally for climate action live: http://forwardonclimate.org”

One of the most immediate actions President Obama can take is to reject the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline—a project that would drive production of tar sands oil in Canada, which has three to four times the carbon footprint of other oil produced in North America. In addition to fueling climate change that is melting sea ice for polar bears in the Arctic, the expansion of tar sands in Canada is pushing entire herds of caribou to extinction as their forest habitat is destroyed.

Rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is the first step for the climate, but it must be followed by many more—including critical federal standards to limit carbon pollution from our nation’s dirty power plants. Together, we can deliver a clear message to President Obama that Americans from coast to coast are ready to chart the course for a cleaner energy future.

Join the “Forward on Climate” rally online to be the voice for polar bears, caribou and many more wildlife!

Note: When you get to the website, just click “Support with Twitter” or “Support with Facebook” and follow the steps to accept the permission request. The application will only post one message on your behalf and you can opt out at any time.

Polar Bears’ Hunting Season is Getting Shorter

Polar bear mother with yearling cubs. Photo credit: Susanne Miller, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Last year, after ice hit a record low, the fall freeze up was delayed. The lack of near-shore ice over the shallow waters where most seals live left the polar bears with a much foreshortened period to hunt for seals in areas where the seals are abundant.

Right now in the dead of winter, the polar bears are struggling to make up for the calories they were unable to gain in the fall.

Struggle Increasing to Feed Cubs

Finding food to eat is not just about meeting adult polar bears’ hunger—it’s also about making sure that the cubs at their side will survive. Adult female polar bears must find enough food to build up the reserves they need to become pregnant and successfully give birth and nurse tiny cubs in their secure winter den.

Pregnant polar bears are the only ones who enter dens in the fall; other polar bears, including females that have cubs, will hunt all winter.  Pregnant females will give birth to a litter of usually two tiny cubs in their highly insulated den. After 5-6 months in their den, the family will emerge from their dens and begin their hunt for the food they need to assure her cubs will survive.

After they leave their dens, the polar bear moms must find enough seals to replenish her depleted reserves and give her cubs a shot at surviving for the next 2 years, until the cubs are able to fend for themselves.

Climate Change Harming Cubs’ Survival

Climate change is dramatically reducing the amount of time available for mother polar bears to hunt enough seals to give her cubs a chance of surviving.

The ice is increasingly far off shore and over deeper waters which are less productive for their prey of seals.  And climate change is causing arctic ice over the shallow near-shore waters where seals are most abundant to both break up earlier in the spring and to form up later in the fall.

This leaves all polar bears less and less time to find food, but the squeeze is particularly hard on recent mothers because of the high energy demands associated with giving birth to and raising their cubs. Polar bear moms nurse their cubs for over two years until the cubs are big enough to survive on their own.

When polar bears can’t find as much food in the spring and fall as they need, cubs just aren’t born or do not survive.

Fight for the Next Generation of Polar Bears

For polar bear moms to win their struggle against hunger, they need us to curb the unprecedented warming in the Arctic. Alaska has warmed twice as much as the contiguous United States, and warming is severely altering the Arctic landscape, including melting permafrost.

In 2012, over 3 million people like you spoke up in support of limits to carbon pollution from new coal-fired power plants.  Across the U.S., three times as many voters say the government is doing too little to protect America’s air, water, wildlife and other natural resources (44 percent) as say it’s doing too much (14 percent), according to a post-election Zogby poll.  And two-thirds of voters (65 percent) say elected officials should take steps now to reduce the impact of climate change on future generations, while just 27 percent say we should wait for more evidence.

The President is listening, but time is short. We need to remind President Obama that his legacy depends on taking action on climate change by taking immediate steps to halt the expansion of dirty energy, like tar sands, and set limits on carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants—the largest source of carbon pollution in the nation.

Let’s take advantage of this opportunity.

Speak up for the polar bears cubs—urge the President to move forward on addressing climate change now.

Hiking with Dad

The latest science on what we can expect if we don’t get serious about cutting carbon pollution that is driving climate change is daunting. Whether its wholesale transformations of ecosystems, species extinctions or more variable extreme weather events putting communities, people, and wildlife at risk, the realities of what we have done to our natural world is finally hitting home for people across the country.

Fortunately, we know what’s causing these changes and we know what needs to be done to chart a better course for the future.

Safeguard Natural Systems from the Impacts of Climate Change

A grizzly bear mom and her cub. Grizzlies are struggling to survive as climate change affects whitebark pine forests, an important food source. Photo by Jenny Grimm.

As we find ourselves in a new era of extreme weather, driven in large part by climate change, it is critical to prepare people, property, and communities for future climate extremes. Increasing resiliency to such extremes can benefit both people and nature if we make smarter development and infrastructure investments, rethink how and where we build, and utilize nature-based solutions to safeguard communities while benefiting wildlife.

If 2012 was a wake-up call for the American people — with devastating drought, intense wildfires, and destructive storms — then 2013 must be a wake-up call for policymakers to finally take swift, bold action to reduce the carbon pollution heating the planet and properly deal with the unavoidable impacts of an already changing climate.

Protect Wildlife from the Worst-case Climate Change Scenarios

It is time to adopt policies here at home that reduce the threat of catastrophic climate change while realizing economic opportunities in clean energy. We can do this by taking swift, significant action to reduce carbon pollution, invest in smart energy choices and restore our natural systems that absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

The choices we make today about how we approach energy development will have profound impacts on the future of our wildlife and our climate. Any serious effort to reduce carbon pollution will require smart energy choices that reduce dependence on fossil fuels and move America quickly towards a future powered by clean energy.

Only by taking the threat seriously — by rejecting dirty energy and embracing responsible, clean energy solutions — will we begin to alter the path we are on to catastrophic climate change.

Steps to Limit Carbon Pollution Using Clean Air Act Authority

President Obama’s Administration has already taken considerable strides to reduce carbon pollution from the country’s largest sources. In his first term, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — in conjunction with the Department of Transportation — implemented the Clean Air Act to reduce carbon pollution from cars and trucks, the second largest source of carbon pollution in the United States. More must be done to reduce the threat of climate change. 

“We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.”

-President Obama in his 2nd Inaugural Address

The Obama Administration can take a number of significant, near-term actions to live up to his commitment to respond to the threat of climate change.  He must use the authority of the Clean Air Act to limit carbon pollution from new and existing power plants, reject the dirty Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and ensure the budget fights ahead do not slash critical investments in clean energy.

NWF is ready to take on the dirty energy interests here in Washington and across the country to confront this challenge.

Speak up for wildlife by urging President Obama to limit carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants.