A pair of bald eaglets in West Newbury, MA (MA Energy & Environmental Affairs on Flickr)

Success Story

First, the good news. Massachusetts announced this week that bald eagles, once completely wiped out in the state, are now soaring to a strong comeback:

Officials from the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) verified 30 active nests in the Commonwealth, including eight nests along the Connecticut River, six at the Quabbin Reservoir and four along the Merrimack River during Massachusetts’ first Bald Eagle nesting survey. The survey, coordinated by the DFG’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) and involving agency staff and 35 volunteers, was conducted on April 5, 2013.

In addition to the principal bald eagle nesting territories along the Connecticut and Merrimack rivers and at Quabbin Reservoir, other active nests were observed at Wachusett Reservoir, and in the towns of Framingham, Brookfield, Pittsfield, Webster, Middleborough, Fall River and Plymouth. One nest failure was reported at Assawompsett Pond in Lakeville, where the wind blew a nest and two eggs out of the nest tree in early April. Additional eagle sightings were reported in Arlington, Carver, Lunenburg, Russell, Sandisfield and along the Housatonic River.

Bald eagles, the largest bird of prey native to Massachusetts with a body length of about 3 feet and a wingspan of up to seven feet, have increased in numbers in Massachusetts since being reintroduced to the Quabbin Reservoir between 1982 and 1988. The species was down listed from Endangered to Threatened status in Massachusetts in 2011 and removed from the federal endangered species list in 2007.

To report a bald eagle sighting in Massachusetts, email the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program natural.heritage@state.ma.us.

Mercury’s Threat to Bald Eagles

Bald eagles, our national symbol & once common across North America, were pushed to the brink of extinction by the pesticide DDT, pollution from heavy metals like mercury, hunting, habitat loss, and other factors. While we stopped using DDT, banned hunting, and restored what Aldo Leopold called our land ethic, mercury pollution remains a major threat to bald eagles.

Heavy metals are emitted through the burning of fossil fuels and are washed to our waterways, then bioaccumulate in predators at the top of the food chain:

• If a small fish eats 50 mercury contaminated plants.
• And a large fish eats 100 small fish
• And an eagle eats 100 large fish.
• 50 x 100 x 100 = 250,000. The concentration of mercury in the eagle is 250,000 times larger than it was in the plankton.

It’s not uncommon for sick bald eagles to test positive for mercury poisoning.

Presenting Gina McCarthy, EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, with comments from NWF’s activists.

A Fighter for Wildlife

That’s why it’s so critical for America’s wildlife that Gina McCarthy is confirmed as Environmental Protection Agency administrator as soon as possible. She has a long track record of experience limiting mercury pollution at both the state and federal levels, working for both Democrats and Republicans. Appointed by Gov. William Weld (R-MA) to be executive director of the administrative council at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, McCarthy ran the nation’s largest pollution prevention program, called the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Program.

Then working as head of the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air and Radiation, McCarthy oversaw development of the new Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) setting emission limits for power plants in order to reduce mercury, arsenic and other toxic air pollution. The MATS rule will not only protect wildlife, it will deliver huge public health benefits for Americans, preventing up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks and 130,000 asthma attacks every single year.

But polluter allies in Congress are working hard to block Gina McCarthy’s confirmation. Republicans on the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee refused to even show up for a vote, delaying McCarthy’s confirmation indefinitely. “Given Gina McCarthy’s long record of non-partisan public service, it’s inexcusable for her nomination to be politicized by senators prioritizing industrial polluters over public health protection,” said Larry Schweiger, president & CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. Some of those senators did, however, make time that same morning for fundraisers with lobbyists for big polluters like BP & Exxon Mobil.

Ask your senators to protect wildlife by giving Gina McCarthy a clean vote.

A dozen bobcat subspecies range across North America. Photo Contest entry by Lori Tambakis.

Moreover, it recognizes the bipartisan legacy of the conservation movement.  As the plan says:

“This is a shared goal that many American leaders, including prominent Republicans, have consistently supported in order to protect the environment.  From President Theodore Roosevelt, who established national parks, forests and wildlife refuges, to President Nixon who created the EPA, to the bipartisan passage of laws to keep our air and water clean, leaders on both sides of the aisle have repeatedly come together to make our land and water healthier for their generation and generations to come.”

Specifically, the Senate budget plan:

• Invests in our clean energy future by recognizing the value of federal clean air regulation to public health, calling climate change “one of the largest threats to the health of the planet, and therefore the well-being of our families,” investing heavily in research and development of clean energy sources, and funding programs to make homes and offices more energy efficient. It also prepares for climate impacts by funding activities to aid in storm tracking and weather prediction and investing in disaster resiliency across the country.
• Recognizes the importance of public lands to our robust outdoor recreation economy and conservation legacy by fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund, enabling the reauthorization of the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act, increasing funding for wildfire management and watershed recovery programs, and ensuring continued access to all our national parks.  It also invests in agriculture conservation programs and urges the passage of a Five Year Farm Bill, two measures key to preserving open spaces, and ensures appropriate funding for tribal land management.
• Ensures the continued safeguarding of our water resources by strongly funding large ecosystem restoration in the Great Lakes, the Everglades, the Upper Mississippi River, the Chesapeake Bay, Coastal Louisiana, the San Francisco Bay Delta, the Puget Sound, and elsewhere, recognizing the value of federal clean water regulation, and promising to update our declining water infrastructure.

It also replaces sequestration, the series of across the board spending cuts that went into effect on March 1.  Replacing the sequester is a crucial step towards ensuring vital conservation programs are funded at adequate levels. In addition, as seen in the chart below, although both the Senate and House budgets cut non-defense discretionary spending below Congressional Budget Office projections—and both keep NDD spending fairly flat over the next ten years—the Senate budget begins with about $100 billion more for NDD funding.

Source: CBO, Senate Budget Committee, House Budget Committee

The Senate Democrats’ budget isn’t perfect, yet it takes huge strides toward making conservation, protecting wildlife, and stopping carbon pollution key federal priorities. This is a promising plan, and we hope that Sen. Murray and the Senate Budget Committee continue to prioritize conservation as they shape budget legislation for fiscal year 2014.

Call your Senator today to make sure they protect wildlife in our federal budget.

Flooded wetlands in Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge after Hurricane Sandy (Flickr / US FWS)

The budget proposal says that the role of the federal government is to protect our communities and our families from “many dangers: rising health-care costs, a stagnant economy, a massive debt, an uncertain world,” and that “the first job of the federal government is to secure the safety of its citizens from threats at home and abroad.” We agree, and NWF works every day to better protect people, property, and the environment. However, NWF believes that certain policies outlined in Rep. Ryan’s budget proposal put Americans at greater risk.

Climate change and extreme weather impacts - wildfires, droughts, floods, superstorms, all of which are intensifying – are some of the greatest threats facing Americans today. According to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, continuing to ignore the impacts of climate change puts to federal government—and the country—at high risk of financial loss.

The budget plan focuses on aiding the vulnerable and their communities, yet this budget, by ignoring and potentially worsening the effects of climate change, puts millions of vulnerable Americans at risk. NWF agrees that we need to seek a balanced approach to deficit reduction; however, we cannot ignore the direct public health and safety impacts of a federal budget that turns a blind eye to the reality of climate change.

Specifically, NWF is concerned that the House Budget Resolution:

• Proposes increased investment in fossil fuels while gutting support for developing clean energy sources.  It recommends increased drilling on federal lands and on the Outer Continental Shelf, something that will increase our dependence on dirty fuels, endanger critical habitats, and jeopardize the robust outdoor recreation economy dependent on public lands.  The plan also proposes eliminating incentives for clean energy development, undermining our progress towards a clean energy future and energy security.  No mention is made of oil and gas subsidies, despite the fact that eliminating them could raise billions of dollars in revenue.  Continuing to invest in fossil fuels while cutting incentives for developing clean energy sources puts Americans at incredible risk from extreme weather and other climate impacts.
• Discredits the importance of strong protections for clean air and water, such as the current proposed Environmental Protection Agency limits on industrial carbon pollution. A clean environment is critical for both economic growth and public health. Between 1970 and 1990, actions to reduce air pollution, at a cost of $523 billion, saved the nation $22 trillion in health care expense and lost productivity—a 40-1 benefit-cost ratio. These regulations are crucial to reducing carbon pollution and ensuring public health and safety.
• Proposes selling off public lands and diverting revenue from public land sales away from the Department of the Interior.  In addition to undermining our rich national conservation legacy and restricting the revenue-generating activities of millions of outdoor recreationists, this removes land acquisition as a key tool the Department of the Interior can use in mitigating damage from future natural disasters.
• Urges approval of the Keystone pipeline.  This would dramatically increase production of the Canadian tar sands—a fuel that emits 14-20% more greenhouse gases than typical crude oil—and would endanger property, ecosystems, and wildlife all along the 2,000 mile pipeline.   In the words of NASA scientist James Hansen, building the Keystone pipeline would mean “game over” for the climate.

At the same time that the budget proposal undermines national progress towards reducing the impacts of climate change, it slashes funding for programs that safeguard our communities, ecosystems, and wildlife.  Many of these programs not only protect the clean air and water and public lands enjoyed by millions of Americans: they also mitigate the effects of natural disasters by protecting and enhancing natural barriers.

Source: Center for American Progress

These cuts came on top of decades of underfunding for conservation programs, and under the proposed budget this scenario gets even worse. The budget would extend the Budget Control Act caps on spending for another two years—until 2023—and making huge cuts in discretionary spending.  By 2023, the plan funds discretionary programs at $47 billion less than current projected spending levels. Although the current plan does not go into detail about the distribution of discretionary cuts, past budget proposals issued by Chairman Ryan strongly suggest that conservation programs will bear a disproportionate amount of these cuts.

By cutting programs that reduce carbon pollution and mitigate the effects of climate change, this budget fails to invest in the future health and safety of Americans.

President Obama arrives for his Second Inaugural (photo by Chris Moody/Yahoo News)

“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.

“Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms.

“The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries—we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure—our forests and waterways; our croplands and snow-capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”

“Today, President Obama affirmed what we know in our hearts as well as our minds: we can no longer turn our head away while future generations are put in peril by climate change. His vision is clear, his resolve will be tested, and the work to protect our children’s future begins anew,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “The National Wildlife Federation’s four million supporters are ready to help achieve politics and policies that are sufficient to meet the challenge, cutting carbon pollution in half by 2030. My hope is renewed, because confronting climate change is not a cause of a president or a party but an imperative for the American people.”

Polls show President Obama has voters on his side. 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, according to a Zogby post-election poll.

Obama’s inaugural address capped a big weekend for conservation in Washington. On Sunday night, thousands of people gathered at the Newseum for the 2013 Green Inaugural Ball. The crowd included dozens of presidential cabinet secretaries, governors, and members of Congress. The night’s entertainment was headlined by will.i.am and included a  call for climate action from ”The Science Guy” Bill Nye.

>> See more photos from the Green Inaugural Ball Flickr Group

Vice President Joe Biden at the 2013 Green Inaugural Ball (photo by NWF’s Avelino Maestas)

“I also came to tell you what my green wish is: that we finally face up to climate change,” Vice President Joe Biden said during a surprise appearance at the “Green Ball,” an inaugural weekend event for environmental groups.

The vice president stressed that the environment would not be a second-tier issue and thanked the environmental community for its support for the president.

“I came to say thank you,” Biden said to thunderous applause.

We may not have to wait long to get the results of one test of the Obama administration’s commitment to cutting carbon pollution. A final decision on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline could come any day now.

Take Action

Approving the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would roll back much of the Obama administration’s gains in cutting carbon pollution and would threaten wildlife from Alberta to Texas. Please take a moment to ask President Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline now.

Gray wolves (Flickr/Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary)

First, the good news: The deal includes an extension through the end of 2013 for both the production tax credit (PTC) for onshore wind energy and the investment tax credit (ITC) for offshore wind energy. The wind energy industry had been laying off workers as the tax credits twisted in the wind.

“It’s great to see bipartisan cooperation to extend these critical incentives for America’s fast-growing wind energy industry,” says Adam Kolton, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s National Advocacy Center. “This is exactly the kind of smart, targeted investment that can grow our economy, strengthen our energy security, and protect people and wildlife from the worst impacts of climate change.”

The deal contains some good incentives for low-carbon transportation. As the Washington Post Wonkblog’s Brad Plumer reports, there are tax credits for taking public transportation to work, buying electric scooters, and repairing railroads.

But the bad news is that Congress punted on planned “sequestration” - automatic cuts to discretionary domestic spending, including a range of programs that protect America’s wildlife, public lands, and clean air and water. Congress voted to put off the fiscal cliff’s 8.2%, across-the-board cut for two months. Learn more about how those cuts could impact your community at NWF.org/FiscalCliff.

And that’s just one of several potential fiscal pitfalls on the horizon. Along with the sequestration, the budget continuing resolution is running out, and the federal budget is bumping up against the debt ceiling. All pose a potential challenge in that they’ll be fodder for hard-line extremists to demand more cuts to domestic discretionary programs, including bedrock conservation investments. As the National Wildlife Federation has detailed in previous times of gridlock, a government shutdown wouldn’t just mean shuttered National Parks – it would be a polluter holiday.

Congress also included an extension of the Farm Bill, one that doesn’t measure up in the eyes of the National Wildlife Federation. “Passing a nine month extension delays much needed reforms and cuts a key incentive program for farmers wanting to implement conservation measures on their land,” Julie Sibbing, NWF’s director of agriculture and forestry programs, said in a statement today. “America’s farmers, taxpayers and wildlife deserve more than this Band-Aid fix.”

The deal also doesn’t take on tax incentives for dirty energy, as Big Oil will continue to get billions in taxpayer subsidies.

Take Action

Previous budget cuts have already sliced  to the bone on the vital conservation programs that protect our nation’s endangered species, national wildlife refuges, and natural resources. Ask your members of Congress to protect critical conservation programs in any budget deal.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson addresses reporters during Great Lakes Week, October 2011 (Photo: Celia Haven)

During her tenure, the administration finalized a new rule doubling fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks. The requirements will be phased in over 13 years and eventually require all new vehicles to average 54.5 mpg, up from 28.6 mpg at the end of last year.

She shepherded another rule that forces power plants to control mercury and other toxic pollutants for the first time. Previously, the nation’s coal- and oil-fired power plants had been allowed to run without addressing their full environmental and public health costs.

Jackson also helped persuade the administration to table the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought carbon-heavy tar sands oil from Canada to refineries in Texas.

“Administrator Jackson has been one of the most effective leaders in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency. Her legacy will be cleaner air for all Americans, and she has set the Environmental Protection Agency on a new course to tackle climate change by establishing the first standards to reduce carbon pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes,” Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said today. ”We thank her for her exceptional service and wish her well.”

Who might President Barack Obama nominate to follow Jackson as the next EPA administrator? The Houston Chronicle’s Jennifer Dlouhy has a rundown of the top candidates.

A glaring headline in Colorado newspapers just one day after the election spotlights one of many reasons I hope it really won’t be business as usual.

Wind energy is just one of many alternative and renewable energies available to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Credit: Imagefusionstudio

Vestas to lay off another 3,000 by next year
-The Denver Post

Vestas is the Danish wind-turbine producer with operations around the globe. The company opened four manufacturing plants and a research office in Colorado. Vestas was drawn by former Gov. Bill Ritter’s promotion of “a new energy economy” and the state’s renewable energy standard, approved by voters in 2004 and later strengthened by legislators.Lately, Colorado’s new energy fortunes have undergone a reversal. Vestas has reduced its workforce from 1,700 to about 1,200 this year and will close its research office. More reductions in its global workforce are on the way.
The biggest reason, says Vestas, is the uncertain fate of the U.S. wind energy tax production credit. The tax credit, set to expire Dec. 31, is mired in the dysfunction of D.C.

“Even if the PTC should be extended now, I don’t think we’re going to see a normalized U.S. market next year because we are so late into this year,” Vestas CEO Ditlev Engel told The (Greeley) Tribune.

We’ve seen this kind of backtracking before. The Solar Energy Research Institute, now the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, opened in Golden, Colo., in 1977 while Jimmy Carter was president. Renewable energy was on a roll. Denis Hayes, organizer of the first Earth Day, headed the lab. Scientists were optimistic that renewable energy could supply more than a quarter of the country’s power by 2000 with some help from incentives enjoyed by other forms of energy.

Then, Ronald Reagan defeated Carter and wasted little time in changing course. The renewable energy lab’s budget plummeted from$124 million in 1980 to $59 million in 1982. The staff was cut from 950 to 350. Solar tax credits were phased out. And in 1986, Reagan had the solar-thermal panels installed by Carter removed from the White House roof.

Oil shale test project in northwestern Colorado. Photo by David Ellenberger

Will History Repeat Itself?

We’ll never know if this country would be the world’s No. 1 wind-turbine maker today if Washington hadn’t pulled the plug on renewable energy. How much cleaner would our air be? What about climate change? Would we be making headway rather than reeling from destructive storms that are growing worse as the world grows warmer? Would we be marveling at the latest technological, environmentally- and wildlife-friendly breakthroughs rather than trying to figure out how wildlife and plants will survive hotter, drier climates?

Those willing to let the production tax credits die rail against government picking winners and losers when it comes to energy. Yet some of these same people ignore science and logic by trying to make a winner out of something like oil shale, still just an idea despite a century of trying to squeeze kerogen (a precursor to oil) out of rock deposits in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. They’d be happy to make big chunks of our public lands—much of it prime fish and wildlife habitat—available to companies before the technology is proven and the impacts are known

Energy, especially in a global economy, is complicated. A glut of natural gas has driven down prices, widening the gap between the cost of gas-fueled and wind-fueled power. But gas prices are historically volatile and if people are serious about an all-of-the-above energy strategy, solar and wind power must be in the portfolio.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is among a bipartisan group of governors urging Congress to extend the wind-power tax credit. Colorado Sens. Mark Udall (petition here) and Michael Bennet (petition here) are among the members of Congress working for extension of the wind tax credit and urging public support.

You can support clean energy and help wildlife that are threatened by climate-fueled mega-fires by speaking up for clean energy tax credits .

Election Reaffirms Need For Bipartisan Cooperation On Conservation

November 7-Voters re-elected President Obama and rewarded conservation-minded Congressional candidates last night, particularly in the Senate where candidates like Montana’s Jon Tester and Florida’s Bill Nelson were re-elected and open seats were filled by Maine’s Angus King and New Mexico’s Martin Heinrich.

Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said today:

“We are excited that voters have sent so many conservation leaders to Washington, new faces and old. These elections have opened a window of opportunity to realign the politics of the environment. Looking ahead, the question is whether Democrats and Republicans will work together to address the conservation issues facing America. For that to happen, Republicans in Washington need to listen to the strong conservation views of younger voters, women, Hispanics and even sportsmen.

For more election analysis, check out these blog posts:

• After the Election: Climate Change Will Head to Top of the Agenda
• Election 2012 Results for Wildlife: New Opportunity for a Political Realignment
• A Brighter Future for Wildlife

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• Mother Nature Network: Great Lakes’ bill of health: Legacy contaminants decline as new ones appear
• UPI: Pro-green group rallies post-election
• Wall Street Journal:  Environmental group sues NY over ballast rules
• The Hill: After Sandy, flood insurance reformers spring into action
• Associated Press: Go for charitable ‘adoption’ as holiday gift

For more visit www.nwf.org/news

Photo by Mike Criss.

Never before has the hill been so steep toward this goal.  This election featured GOP candidates who took a sharp departure from the Republican Party’s strong history of leading fights for stewardship of America’s lands, wildlife, clean air and clean water.

Republican conservationists haven’t disappeared, but they have been marginalized and are not sufficiently represented within the party structure. Outside Washington, conservation values are strong:

• According to a landmark 2011 study of American public opinions by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 54% of Republicans agree that “this country should do whatever it takes to protect the environment.”
• A more recent survey by National Wildlife Federation found that Republican hunters and anglers strongly support public lands and clean water protections, and 53% of GOP sportsmen believe we have a “moral responsibility” to deal with global warming.

Who today is speaking to conservation Republicans who are such a large share of the Republican ranks? And how does the GOP plan to grow in the future? As Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said before the polls closed on election day: “If we lose this election there is only one explanation – demographics.”

I think Sen. Graham has it right.  Look at the continued flight from the GOP of young voters, who rate the environment, climate change and clean energy near the top of their concerns. And as Hispanic voters’ share of the vote continues to grow, it is worth noting that Hispanics are more concerned about the environment than any other demographic. According to a 2012 survey, 92% of Hispanic voters believe we have a responsibility to ‘take care of God’s creations on this earth – the wilderness and forests, the oceans, lakes and rivers.”

It may be hard for politicians in Washington to resist the temptation of the deep pockets of polluting industries.  However, this election demonstrated that money isn’t everything. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $20 million to defeat 7 pro-conservation Senators, but has nothing to show for it as all 7 of those candidates are likely heading to the Senate.  In contrast, the Democratic and Republican candidates endorsed by the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund, the political wing of NWF, persevered in their competitive races – candidates such as newly elected Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Angus King (I-ME) and returning Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA).  The NWF Action Fund can’t match the financial resources of corporations, but conservation issues resonate with voters.

My hope is that this election delivers a political realignment on the environment that favors bi-partisan cooperation. If, instead, we see a continuation of the environmental attacks from the past two years, then we will rely on our grassroots members, the strengthened firewall in the Senate, President Obama to stop the attacks and find other ways to make progress for our children’s future.

Letter to Attorney General: Hold BP Accountable

October 10 - Today the National Wildlife Federation called on Attorney General Eric Holder to ensure BP is held fully responsible for its involvement in the 2010 Gulf oil disaster. The letter  comes amid recent media reports suggesting BP has proposed a settlement offer that is significantly less than half of what it would face at trial.

Alarmingly, BP is attempting to once again shirk responsibility for causing the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, purportedly offering a sum less than $20 billion. Such amounts would prove inadequate to repair the Gulf and would allow the oil giant – it netted $25.7 billion in 2011– to escape paying what is required by law, what it can afford, and what is fair in a case with environmental damage of this magnitude.

NWF Asks Ryan to Pledge to Protect America’s Public Lands

October 10 - Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, wrote a letter to Rep. Paul Ryan today seeking clarity on the Romney-Ryan ticket’s public lands policy. The letter reads in part:

As an organization deeply committed to the conservation interests of America’s hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts we appreciated your statement in an October 1 interview with Outdoor Life magazine that “we need to open up public lands for access for hunting.” Public lands are critical part of America’s national heritage, and access for all Americans is a conservation legacy that provides everyone the opportunity to hunt and fish.  Public lands also play a critical role supporting local economies: in 2011, 13.7 million hunters spent $33.9 billion and 33.1 million anglers spent $22 billion.

ExxonMobil is Majority Owner of Vermont Pipeline and Behind a Likely Plan to Transport Tar Sands

October 10 - A new analysis released today by environmental groups finds that ExxonMobil is the majority owner of the pipeline that cuts across Vermont and New England—which is the subject of an emerging proposal to transport tar sands. ExxonMobil’s Canadian subsidiary Imperial Oil Limited owns 76 percent of the pipeline, while Canadian oil giant Suncor Energy owns the remaining 24 percent. These companies are among the biggest developers of Canadian tar sands. The report is being released in connection with an event in Portland, Maine, highlighting safety concerns that tar sands bring to New England. Tar sands is a carbon intensive, especially dirty source of oil that is mined in the sensitive and ecologically important boreal forest of Alberta. Its development has resulted in serious pollution in Alberta and threatens to sully an area the size of Florida.

Wildlife Groups Join Forces to Protect Delaware Bayshore Habitat

October 10 – Critical habitat for shorebirds, water birds, waterfowl, and fish is under growing threat from rising sea levels driven by manmade climate change.

That’s the focus of a grant to the National Wildlife Federation from the Wildlife Conservation Society through its Climate Adaptation Fund, established with support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. A $250,000 investment is being made to work in partnership with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) for the project Climate-Smart Coastal Impoundments – Replacing Lost Functions and Values, an innovative effort to shift key coastal habitats inland in the face of rapid sea-level rise.

National Wildlife Federation Announces Three Year Goal To Get 10 Million Kids Outdoors

October 9 – To combat today’s “indoor childhood” trend, National Wildlife Federation has a new goal to move 10 million kids from their indoor habitat back into the outdoors, at home, school, and parks, anywhere there is green space.  A generation ago, kids spent hours playing outside each day, now it’s down to minutes.

This move in the wrong direction demonstrates that while positive steps have been taken, not enough has been done to correct the problem since it first received national attention seven years ago. The consequences are threatening the health and happiness of our nation’s children, the country’s escalating health care costs, and the future of conservation.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News:

• Associated Press: New Wildlife Drive at Former Colo. Superfund Site 
• Great Falls Tribune: Controversial Tongue River easement appears, disappears from FWP agenda
• Green Bay Press Gazette: Editorial: Great Lakes restoration efforts deserve funding
• The Cap Times:  Romney and Obama should stand up for Great Lakes
•  The Commercial Appeal: U of M named as Certified Wildlife Habitat
• The Seattle Times: Fit & Fun: Hike & Seek at Seward Park
• The Cleveland Post: In the Outdoors: National Wildlife Federation Sportsman’s Poll indicates high interest in environment

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News