If sequestration goes into effect, $1.8 million will be cut from Yellowstone, the only place in the lower 48 states where a population of wild bison has persisted since prehistoric times. Our national parks are crucial to protecting American wildlife: one-third of endangered and threatened species in the U.S. can be found within park boundaries. (Debra Boucher)

Last month, we finally got a peek at what exactly sequestration might mean for America’s habitats and ecosystems—and it’s not pretty.

A setback for conservation and the economy

According to a January 25 National Park Service memo obtained by the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, sequestration will have a disastrous impact on parks and all those who enjoy them.

This is not mere speculation: in the memo, National Park Service director Jon Jarvis explicitly said that sequestration will force them to delay permanent and seasonal hiring—perhaps indefinitely, if the budget situation is not resolved—and limit access to cherished national treasures:

“We expect that a cut of this magnitude, intensified by the lateness of the implementation, will result in reductions to visitor services, hours of operation, shortening of seasons and possibly the closing of areas during periods when there is insufficient staff to ensure the protection of visitors, employees, resources and government assets.”

And there’s more: according to additional information obtained by the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees last week, sequestration will directly impact more than 1 million visitors to 12 of the nation’s leading national parks.  In a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar warned that, in addition to the steps above, the Department of the Interior will have to close 128 wildlife refuges and discontinue visitor services at all 561 national wildlife refuges.

If the Department of the Interior is forced to enact these cuts, it will not only undermine our rich national conservation legacy and restrict the activities of hunters, anglers, hikers, boaters, and all outdoor enthusiasts, it will have a serious economic impact. America’s 37 million sportsmen spent $90 billion in 2011 alone.  And 140 million Americans spend $646 billion a year on outdoor recreation, an industry that employs 6.1 million Americans.

Sportsmen agree: don’t cut conservation funding

In NWF’s 2012 national poll of sportsmen, 84% of respondents said that the federal government should make it a priority to conserve fish and wildlife habitat and manage public lands for fishing, hunting, and other outdoor recreation.

Don’t let Congress shirk their responsibility to our public lands. Indiscriminate cuts to discretionary programs that devastate our public lands and wildlife are not the solution.

Act now: click here to tell Congress  not to let the budget crisis devastate wildlife.

But today we got some good news: according to a poll released by the Pew Research Center, only 22% of Americans think we should cut spending for environmental protection, and 77% think spending on the environment should either increase or stay the same.

Investing in Conservation Gets Results

In 2011, there were 435 million visits to lands managed by the Department of Interior (DOI) — visits that supported 403,000 jobs and contributed $48.7 billion to local economies.  Clean air and water, access to public lands, and protected wildlife habitats are critical to the 37 million hunters and anglers who spent $90 billion in 2011, and to the $646 billion outdoor recreation industry, which employs 6.1 million Americans.  The National Park Service has already said that sequestration will force them to reduce visitor services and hours of operation, delay seasonal hiring indefinitely, and possibly close some or all of certain parks.

Act now — don’t let budget negotiations harm wildlife.  Click here to tell Congress that indiscriminate cuts to crucial conservation programs are not the solution.

Photo by Gary Fua

See more of Gary Fua’s photos on Flickr >>

Your Photo Could Be Here

We want one of your nature photos to be the next Photo of the Day! Share your images with our Flickr group and tag them with PhotoOfTheDay-NWF12.

Don’t have a Flickr account? It’s free and easy to create one.
 

Photo by Gary Fua

See more of Gary Fua’s photos on Flickr >>

Your Photo Could Be Here

We want one of your nature photos to be the next Photo of the Day! Share your images with our Flickr group and tag them with PhotoOfTheDay-NWF12.

Don’t have a Flickr account? It’s free and easy to create one.
 

Bighorn sheep in Badlands National Park

 
Photo by Flickr member East Wind
See more of East Wind’s photos on Flickr >>

Your Photo Could Be Here

We want one of your nature photos to be the next Photo of the Day! Share your images with our Flickr group and tag them with PhotoOfTheDay-NWF12.

Don’t have a Flickr account? It’s free and easy to create one.
 

The new Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder™ app is your free virtual guidebook to every U.S. federal and state park as well as more than 50,000 local parks. It’s a quick an easy way to find parks near you with the activities you want to do.

Help Wildlife When You Download

What’s even better? For every app downloaded now through Labor Day, Ford Motor Company will make a donation to one of four non-profit organizations, one being National Wildlife Federation!

Discover parks with hidden campgrounds, the best fishing spots, scenic overlooks or bird-watching paradises. Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder makes it easy to find great places for a scenic drives, to discover historic sites, go camping and so much more.

Simply select your favorite activities or where you want to go (or both), and this unique mobile app will instantly generate a personalized list of recommendations.

New features of the app include the ability to:

• Check in to parks;
• Add comments and pictures;
• Post to Facebook and Twitter; and
• Share your experiences at any park you visit.

Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder is available for both Apple and Android devices, and all the same information is available at OhRanger.com.

Scan this QR code or visit OhRanger.com to download the app. The app is available for your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or Android device.

After you download the app, vote for National Wildlife Federation and Ford Motor Company will make a donation to help NWF protect wildlife.

Lupine likes to grow in dry, sunny areas like this hillside in North Cascades National Park. Photo by Michelle Kruszewski.

Explore the Outdoors!

June is Great Outdoors Month — a time to get outside and enjoy America's wild places. Check out Top 5 Ways To Celebrate Great Outdoors Month for some fun ways to get involved.
 

This Photo of the Day was donated by a participant in the annual National Wildlife Photo Contest. See more photos or sign up for the 42nd Annual National Wildlife Photo Contest.

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.

Meeting Ranger Rick

My remarkable parents loved the outdoors and engendered my life-long passion for all things in nature. Mom volunteered as a Girl Scout leader and bravely chaperoned troops of giggling young girls on camping trips. My dad liked marine mammals and brought us on countless whale watching excursions and once drove us to see a beached whale on Cape Cod National Seashore.

Another important guide also helped develop my love for wilderness and wild creatures: Ranger Rick. I devoured every issue of Ranger Rick Magazine, marveling over the photos of the fascinating creatures that roamed this planet. Ranger Rick seemed the obvious extension of a “real-world” animal pal from my well-loved fictional ones like the friendly animals in the Narnia series or Wind in the Willows. I avidly followed Ranger Rick and his buddies on their adventures in nature—they were my allies in wonder.  Even as an adult I still delight in reading the magazine. When I met Ranger Rick in person last year after being hired by the National Wildlife Federation, I felt I had reunited with a childhood friend.

Here’s a fun video showing over 50 years of Ranger Rick connecting people to nature:

Click here to view the embedded video.

The reverence for nature and curiosity about the natural world inspired by my parents and Ranger Rick led me to seek beyond my backyard explorations. I don’t remember the exact age when I discovered the idea of a “national park,” yet the concept resonated with my young self so completely that national parks acted, then and now, as my north star in life both personally and professionally. One of the most prized volumes on my bookshelf is a tattered hardcover entitled National Parks of the U.S.A. Inside the pages is a list written in faded ballpoint pen naming many parks: Yosemite, Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, and Glacier. I wrote that list as a young girl and I can still remember gazing endlessly at the photographs of granite peaks, roaring waterfalls, and magnificent wildlife, and daydreaming about wandering in those landscapes. I thought, someday, someday…

And someday came. I have been fortunate enough to work in two national parks, Yosemite and Yellowstone, and make my home on Yosemite’s border. My love for parks didn’t just come from gazing at photos of the parks themselves, but also from the wonderful people who work to protect “America’s Best Idea:” park rangers. Park rangers continue to be heroes to me. When I was a child, these friendly heroes instilled in me a love for our national parks. I recall their encouraging smiles and those comforting and crisp green uniforms, and the sense of accomplishment and of pride I experienced participating in Junior Ranger activities, thinking, I, too, am helping to protect these special places. The ranger programs I attended as a child instilled the idea of stewardship in me, the important role I played in protecting parks and all public lands for future generations.

Yosemite's official Junior Ranger Handbook

In one of those lifetime serendipitous moments both important childhood influences, Ranger Rick and Junior Rangers, are joining together. On April 21, I’ll be representing the National Wildlife Federation at National Junior Ranger Day in Yosemite. As part of National Parks Week, the park is hosting a special celebration and park rangers will be helping hundreds of children earn their Junior Ranger badges.  I’ll be marching in a parade alongside Ranger Rick with the newly sworn-in Junior Rangers to honor their achievement.

Truly, of all the work I have done in twenty years of environmental leadership, I consider this the highlight of my experiences—watching hundreds of children being introduced to the wonder of nature and committing to being stewards of our national parks and natural world. While watching them, I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing they have been given the precious and enduring gift of the absolute joy and wonderment that comes from nature opening your imagination. And I know that Ranger Rick and the Junior Ranger program will have played a role in instilling that joy and awe –just as they did to me as a young girl.

The author with park ranger Mary Kline swearing in new Junior Rangers in Yosemite

A slaty egret shades the water with its wings while searching for small fish and other prety in Chobe River National Park, Botswana. Photo taken by R.C. Terblanche.

Share Your Nature Photos!

Do you have photos of wildlife? Show off your work by joining our National Wildlife Photo Challenge — a free activity for members of our Flickr group.

This Photo of the Day was donated by a participant in the annual National Wildlife Photo Contest. See more photos or sign up for the 42nd Annual National Wildlife Photo Contest.