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.

Here’s a video of the adorable kitten:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Top Threats to Panthers

Sadly, this story is not uncommon in south Florida–home to the only remaining breeding population of panthers–where a sea of strip malls, housing developments and roads continue to destroy and fragment precious habitat. Collisions with motor vehicles are now one of the top causes of panther deaths. In fact, this same kitten’s brother was struck and killed by a car only a few weeks earlier.

Compounding the pressures that panthers are facing from unchecked development are impacts from climate change, threatening the limited habitat that remains. Due to Florida’s very low elevation, panthers are especially vulnerable to the stronger hurricanes and sea level rise that are predicted to inundate their habitat.

Show Your Support on Endangered Species Day

Florida panthers are one of the most endangered mammals on earth, with only about 100-160 remaining. Although they are protected under the Endangered Species Act, panthers are still not protected from the single greatest threat to their survival: habitat loss. And while there have been some wonderful successes in creating corridors to connect habitat areas, they are literally running out of space.

But hope remains for these majestic cats. The National Fish, Wildlife, and Plant Climate Adaptation Strategy and other federal conservation programs that protect panther habitat are crucial to preventing the species–and many others–from going extinct, but they urgently need funding to move forward.

Today is Endangered Species Day, and your voice is needed to ensure decision makers and resource managers have the resources they need to safeguard Florida panthers from extinction.

Show your support for crucial wildlife conservation programs that protect and restore panther habitat.

National Wildlife Federation President & CEO Larry Schweiger is set to testify before the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee today. Here’s what Larry wrote on his blog yesterday previewing the hearing:

I’ll be testifying in front of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee on the need to safeguard wildlife and natural resources and the essential services they provide to every American from the disastrous effects of climate change. See my testimony in support of natural resources adaptation funding in the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.

And today Sen. Jeff Bingaman introduced legislation, co-sponsored by Sens. Baucus, Whitehouse, and Udall, called the “Natural Resources Climate Adaptation Act” that calls for dedicated funding for natural resources and wildlife safeguards.

With the momentum we’re gaining on these fronts and the findings from the CNN poll released today that 60% of Americans support cap and trade climate legislation, we are now in our best position ever to win on natural resources safeguards and federal climate legislation.

You can read Larry’s opening statement here (PDF). We’ll have more details on the hearing later in the day!

Okay, actually the polar bear, panther and bar-tailed godwit have almost nothing in common–other than the fact that they’re all wildlife that live in North America (although the bar-tailed godwit is somewhat of a world traveler).

But one thing these creatures all have going for them right now is the chance that Congress will dedicate 5% of funds generated from capping global warming pollution towards helping to protect them.

What exactly does this mean?

The climate and clean energy bill that Congress is currently considering would charge certain big polluters to help fund America’s transition to a safer and cleaner natural world.

Specifically, 5% dedicated funding for natural resources means that wildlife managers and wildlife agencies around the country will receive funding to protect wildlife populations and natural resources like America’s lakes and streams, forests, parks and many more of the wild places we cherish.

So, when you’re thinking about the polar bear and the panther (maybe a polanther?), and wondering what they have in common, you might think about how they might both benefit from a dedicated fund to help their populations thrive.

Put simply, by speaking up today you can help protect the Alaskan wilderness and the Florida Everglades all with one fell swoop.

Please make sure your representative will help pass this groundbreaking legislation today.

Here are the top 3 reasons this bill is good for our nation’s wildlife, wild places, and you.

1. The American Clean Energy and Security Act Will Prevent Deforestation in Developing Nations.The American Clean Energy and Security Act includes a large-scale program to secure agreements from developing nations to prevent tropical deforestation. This program will not only protect beautiful tropical rainforests from destruction, but also reduce global emissions by an amount equivalent to 10% of U.S. emissions (720 million tons CO2) annually as of the year 2020.
2. The American Clean Energy and Security Act Increases Our Energy Security and Reduces Our Dependency on Oil.When we invest in America’s clean energy economy, we’ll be able to safeguard the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling. Arctic caribou and other wildlife will be thanking you.
3. The Act Protects Natural Resources and Wildlife from Global Warming.The American Clean Energy and Security Act establishes the national policy framework and initial funding stream necessary to begin tackling the impacts of climate change on our natural resources. That means help will soon be on the way for moose, the American pika, and the whooping crane–wildlife that are already feeling the heat from rising global temperatures.

Excited? Today our country has a critical opportunity to take decisive action to safeguard wildlife for our children’s future. It’s going to be a close vote! So, please take just a few seconds to speak up for wildlife right now.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Grizzly bears have a hard time getting an audience with their Representatives. But you can help them out, and send a message on their behalf.

This time the meeting was for natural resource managers working at military bases. Among “conservation-reliant species” (those that require conservation management plans to stay healthy), 80% are on military land, according to one speaker. The audience was told that global warming is “pulling the rug out from under species” and “no species is safe”  from global warming.

Another speaker talked about why military and natural resource managers should care about alternative energy, saying, “climate change is happening.” He also noted that the energy consumption of the federal government is more than that of 61 countries.

At the Energy and Climate Policy Committee, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies released findings from a survey of state agencies, including specific questions on the impacts of climate change in their state.  Lack of funding, information/research and political support were all cited by various states as factors inhibiting agency ability to prepare for climate change over the next decade.

The lack of funding and information/research responses underscore the importance of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act now before Congress.  With dedicated funding for the protection and restoration of natural resources, new investments can be made to incorporate climate change in wildlife management plans.

Natural resource managers aren’t debating any more about if global warming is real — they are now focused on what can be done to ensure all the work to protect our wildlife heritage isn’t compromised in a warming world.  Lieberman-Warner gives these agencies a fighting chance at conserving wildlife for our children’s future.

Expecting about 20-30 people, the room was packed with more than 250 professionals in natural resource conservation. As one participant mentioned to me, “everyone was really listening. It wasn’t about does global warming exist, instead people wanted to know what are we going to do about it.”

The attendees are looking for management solutions and what can be done to minimize and avoid impacts on fish and wildlife, and the habitats they need to survive. They were grateful for the National Wildlife Federation’s and The Wildlife Society’s persistence to raise awareness about global warming impacts and the need to find solutions that help wildlife. Many natural resource managers now realize they have to put climate change at the front and center on their agenda if they expect to be successful in conserving fish and wildlife.

Getting this kind of traction in the natural resource community is significant! As I get myself ready for today’s sessions on energy and wildlife policy, I’m listening to Senator McCain’s foreign policy address at the World Affairs conference. He calls for the need for U.S. leadership on global warming, including a cap and trade mechanism:

We and the other nations of the world must get serious about substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years or we will hand off a much-diminished world to our grandchildren. We need a successor to the Kyoto Treaty, a cap-and-trade system that delivers the necessary environmental impact in an economically responsible manner. We Americans must lead by example and encourage the participation of the rest of the world, including most importantly, the developing economic powerhouses of China and India.

Time is running out, but at least we are now talking about solutions and not wasting precious time debating the science.