A fox similar to the one in this photo has been seen roaming the new Rocks to Roots demonstration wildlife habitat in Austin. [Photo: USFWS]

Making Space for Wildlife in Schoolyards

Gardening for Wildlife begins this month encouraging and celebrating those who make a difference for wildlife in their own yards.

Whether you are a private landowner, a community, a business or a school, all certified habitats must incorporate the four elements of habitat: food, water, cover and places for wildlife to raise their young. In 1996, the Schoolyard Habitats® program was created to meet the growing interest and distinct needs of schools and school districts in creating and restoring wildlife habitat on school grounds.

Thanks to hard work from committed volunteers and NWF supporters, we are nearing completion of the Rocks to Roots demonstration wildlife habitat and outdoor classroom on the grounds of Austin Independent School District’s Science and Health Resource Center.

Schoolyard habitats offer benefits to wildlife as well as students. Wildlife habitats such as the one in Austin can become places where students not only learn about wildlife species and natural areas, but the habitat can also serve as a place where schoolchildren nurture their innate curiosity and creativity.

Tour the New Demonstration Wildlife Habitat in Austin!

If you live near Austin, Texas, join us Thursday, May 16 at 5:30pm for the ribbon cutting ceremony and a tour of the new wildlife habitat and outdoor classroom that will serve as a model and training center on schoolyard habitats for Central Texas schools.

Come for food, fun and wildlife sightings as you stroll the grounds of the demonstration habitat and outdoor classroom. Perhaps you will spot the elusive fox seen roaming the habitat!

RSVP for an evening at the new demonstration wildlife habitat!

Event Details

What: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the demonstration wildlife habitat and outdoor classroom at the Austin Independent School District

When: May 16, 2013, 5:30-7:00 p.m.

Where: Austin Independent School District’s Science and Health Resource Center, 305 North Bluff Drive, Austin, TX 78745. (map)

Please RSVP to let us know you can attend!

 Guest post by Tim Gestwicki, CEO of North Carolina Wildlife Federation.

If you’re a sportsman here in North Carolina, you’re pretty thankful for the Nantahala, for John’s River, Sandy Marsh & Elk Knob. You give thanks for the Tar River, and Lake Mattamuskeet.

And while you’re at it you give a heartfelt thanks to senator Hagan, who has protected our forests, lakes and streams by voting to support reducing the mercury & industrial carbon pollution that threatened to ruin them, protecting our hunting and fishing industry that brings 3.3 million dollars annually to our state.

So let’s take a moment and give thanks to the Roanoke River, the Cape Fear wetlands and Wilson Creek. And let’s thank Senator Hagan for standing up for them, and for our outdoor heritage.

These words of thanks for the incredible public lands and natural places in North Carolina—which you may hear on your radio here in North Carolina—are why outdoorsmen like me took notice of Senator Hagan’s vote to support reducing mercury and carbon pollution during last month’s budget votes.

Positive Votes on Climate

Buried among the hundreds of budget votes that the Senate took were some positive votes towards confronting climate change.

Majorities of senators—including Senator Hagan—voted to support key Clean Air Act provisions allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to limit the amount of industrial carbon and mercury pollution fouling our skies.

Congress shouldn’t use the budget to cut important protections against air pollution that harms our public lands and air.  North Carolina Senator Hagan deserves our thanks for opposing the harmful amendment.

Thank Senator Hagan

Tell Senator Hagan “Thank you for voting line with your concern about climate change by supporting the Clean Air Act” on Facebook.

Send her a tweet saying Thanks @SenatorHagan for your support of climate & @EPAgov during budget votes.”

Tim Gestwicki is CEO of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation (NCWF) with over 20 years in non- profit conservation work.  A sportsman who helped lead the building of an elite, formidable conservation organization recognized for effective and efficient work statewide, regionally and nationally, Tim has established a one of kind wildlife habitat coalition comprised of sporting and land conservation groups to work in unified fashion on agriculture, farm bill and private lands habitat efforts; and has initiated new wildlife habitat programs for developers, places of worship, and islands.  Tim enjoys hunting and fishing in NC from the mountains to the coast.

Oiled duck from Mayflower Ark. oil spill. Photo by Lauren Ray.

On Monday, I spoke again with Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) for an update and they shared the following information with me. The main body of Lake Conway has NOT been impacted, only the adjacent cove/wetland. AGFC estimates approximately 15 acres has been impacted.

AGFC stated that Exxon acknowledged that they didn’t think there would be as much impact on wildlife and were thus not prepared to deal with the wildlife recovery until Tuesday April 2nd. A wildlife recovery center has been set up and the wildlife impact numbers are below (these are of course only the numbers of wildlife actually recovered – as we know from previous spills, most wildlife victims may never be found).  The public recovered numerous ducks the first few days and the HAWK Center took the majority of those.  Tuesday (2nd) they were all transported to the official recovery center to be treated.

Here’s a list of (this is not a comprehensive list but the total of 139 is current as of April 8th). 139 Total individual wildlife recovered

• 139 wildlife recovered
• 37 dead on arrival (23 birds, 5 turtles, 1 muskrat)
• 46 water moccasins euthanized on site due to safety concerns
• 2 raccoons
• 1 beaver
• 1 skunk
• 2 armadillos
• 22 total wildlife cleaned

The first release of recovered animals took place on Monday. Ten turtles and two raccoons were released at the nearby Bell Slough Wildlife Management Area.

How far down the size scale is the tar sands spill hitting? A Mayflower beekeeper had to move her hive after finding several dead bees covered in tar sands oil.

Previous coverage of the Exxon tar sands spill in Arkansas:

• Exxon Tar Sands Pipeline Ruptures in Arkansas, Forcing Evacuations and Threatening Wildlife
• As Arkansas Community Reels from Tar Sands Oil Spill, Wildlife Remain in Peril

Speak Up to Protect Wildlife from Tar Sands

It’s time for America to take a stand against tar sands oil –  the risks to our wildlife, communities and clean water are just too great. Please take a moment now to ask President Obama to say no to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

A homeowner’s photo of the Exxon Mobil Pegasus tar sands oil spilling through his front yard in Mayflower, Ark. (April 2013)

From that subdivision last Friday, the tar sands oil flowed down a storm drain, through a creek, and into a cove just before Lake Conway, a major sportfishing haven. Exxon Mobil crews are making a stand in that cove, hoping to keep the oil from flowing through a culvert under AR-89 and into Lake Conway. But that cove is also where tar sands oil-covered wildlife keep turning up — a fact Exxon Mobil can’t hide.

Community Hit Hard

Here in Mayflower, everyone’s happy to talk about how the spill has impacted them personally — but ask them to go on camera and they clam up. They know Exxon Mobil now has them over a barrel: the tar sands spill has left their homes somewhere on a scale between devalued and worthless, and an Exxon Mobil settlement is their best hope of getting that money back.

Joined by David Carruth, an Arkansas resident and member of the National Wildlife Federation’s board of directors, we walked into the local Hess gas station/bait shop to see if local sport fishermen had any insight into how local wildlife was faring. The man at the counter told us he lives on Starlite Drive, ground zero of the tar sands spill. He’s staying in a Holiday Inn Express in the next town over on Exxon Mobil’s tab while the cleanup continues.

Homeowner photo of a bird coated in tar sands oil after the Exxon Mobil Pegasus spill in Mayflower, Ark. (April 2013)

I mentioned that Exxon Mobil and other tar sands transporters haven’t been paying into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, claiming the provisions only cover conventional oil, not tar sands oil. He shook his head sadly. “My father landed on Omaha Beach. Back then, folks had a sense of civic duty.”

Wetlands Coated in Tar Sands Oil

From there, we headed to the cove to get a closer look. A homeowner pulled out her phone and showed us photos she’s taken of oiled birds and a muskrat in her backyard. She said she called state officials to report the oiled wildlife but was told they didn’t have the resources to respond. She then called the HAWK Center, which rescued several ducks. Yesterday — four days after the spill — Exxon Mobil finally set up its own wildlife rehabilitation center with an oiled wildlife hotline (1-800-876-9291) and took over cleaning wildlife from HAWK.

Marsh coated in tar sands oil from Exxon Mobil Pegasus pipeline spill, Mayflower, Ark., April 2013 (NWF photo)

We pushed through the marsh around the edge of the cove, seeing a steady stream of oily spots and finding some tar balls. We then came upon a huge area of oiled marsh with cleanup crews working to remove as much tar sands oil as possible.

Two workers approached David and I thought for sure they’d tell us to scram. But it turned out they were wildlife rescuers asking if we’d seen any oiled wildlife. “I can’t believe how thick this stuff is,” one told David. “It’s like road tar — it’s nothing like motor oil.”

They estimated wildlife rescuers had found about 30 oiled ducks and other birds, a half-dozen oiled venomous snakes, and an oiled muskrat. They’d also spotted an oiled beaver out in the marsh, but said it was impossible to catch.

The sight of the heavily oiled marsh was a tragic reminder that cleaning 100% of this thick, sticky tar sands oil will likely be impossible; the impacts will be felt for months and possibly years to come.

The National Wildlife Federation will continue to monitor the impacts of the Arkansas tar sands oil spill. See more photos on Flickr and keep checking back to Wildlife Promise for updates.

Take Action

It’s time for America to take a stand against tar sands oil –  the risks to our wildlife, communities and clean water are just too great. Please take a moment now to ask President Obama to say no to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Like many of the 31 other dolphins examined in a recent study, Y12 was found to be severely ill: underweight, anemic and with signs of liver and lung disease. The dolphins’ symptoms were consistent with those seen in other mammals exposed to oil; researchers feared many of the dolphins studied were so ill they would not survive.

Seven months later, Y12’s emaciated carcass washed up on the beach at Grand Isle.

More than 650 dolphins have been found stranded in the oil spill area since the Gulf oil disaster began. This is more than four times the historical average.

Click for larger image, and be sure to spread the word on Facebook.

Read the Report

“Three years after the initial explosion, the impacts of the disaster continue to unfold,” said Doug Inkley, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation and lead report author. “Dolphins are still dying in high numbers in the areas affected by oil. These ongoing deaths — particularly in an apex predator like the dolphin — are a strong indication that there is something amiss with the Gulf ecosystem.”

Restoring a Degraded Gulf of Mexico: Wildlife and Wetlands Three Years into the Gulf Oil Disaster looks at how different species of wildlife across the northern Gulf are faring in the wake of the oil disaster.

• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) called the dolphin die-off “unprecedented” a year ago.
• More than 1,700 sea turtles were found stranded between May 2010 and November 2012 — the last date for which information is available. For comparison, on average about 240 sea turtles are stranded annually.
• A coral colony seven miles from the wellhead was badly damaged by oil. A recent laboratory study found that a mixture of oil and dispersant affected the ability of some coral species to build new parts of a reef.
• Scientists found that the oil disaster affected the cellular function of the killifish, a common baitfish at the base of the food web. A recent laboratory study found that oil exposure can also harm the development of larger fish such as mahi mahi.

“Despite the public reations blitz by BP, this spill is not over,” said David Muth, Director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Mississippi River Delta Restoration Program. “In 2012 six million pounds of tar mat and contaminated material from the BP spill were cleaned up from Louisiana’s coast. Justice will only be served when BP and its co-defendants pay to restore the wildlife and habitats of the Mississippi River Delta and the Gulf of Mexico.”

Two Ways to Help

The high number of dolphin deaths is concerning, and wildlife across the Gulf continue to feel the effects of BP’s massive oil spill three years later. Residents of the Gulf and its wildlife need full restoration! Tell the Dept. of Justice to hold BP fully accountable for its actions>>

You can also help NWF protect wildlife, like bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf, by donating today.

Exxon Mobil pipeline oil spill, Mayflower, AR, March 2013 (AJ Zolten)

It’s unclear exactly how much oil spilled, but as we saw in the early days of BP’s Gulf oil disaster, the number is growing exponentially each day. “Exxon Mobil officials said the total amount of water and oil pumped out of a Mayflower subdivision nearly tripled Sunday, reaching 12,000 barrels, or 504,000 gallons, compared with estimates on Saturday that crews had pumped 4,500 barrels,” reports the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this morning.

The spill comes just days after a National Wildlife Federation-led coalition called on federal agencies to develop stronger safety standards for pipelines carrying heavy, corrosive tar sands oil. “It’s clear we need tough new standards to protect wildlife, our natural resources and public health,” said Jim Murphy, NWF’s senior counsel. “Until the right standards are put into place, we shouldn’t be exposing more communities and resources to tar sands risks.”

Watch this clip taken by a man who lives in the Mayflower, Ark. neighborhood where the pipeline ruptured:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Those storm drains head towards Lake Conway, a huge manmade reservoir stocked with bass, catfish, bream and crappie. Local authorities built several earthen dams to try to keep the tar sands oil out of Lake Conway, but if the water is fouled, it won’t just threaten the fish, it will threaten the area’s recreation economy.

As Reuters reports, the Arkansas spill comes at a critical juncture of America’s debate over whether to accept the risks inherent in transporting Canadian tar sands:

The 848-mile pipeline used to transport crude oil from Texas to Illinois. In 2006 Exxon reversed it to move crude from Illinois to Texas in response to growing Canadian oil production and the ability of U.S. Gulf Coast refineries to process heavy crude.

The Arkansas spill drew fast reaction from opponents of the 800,000 [barrel per day] Keystone XL pipeline, which also would carry heavy crude from Canada’s tar sands to the Gulf Coast refining hub.

Environmentalists have expressed concerns about the impact of developing the oil sands and say the crude is more corrosive to pipelines than conventional oil. On Wednesday, a train carrying Canadian crude derailed in Minnesota, spilling 15,000 gallons of oil.

“Whether it’s the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, or … (the) mess in Arkansas, Americans are realizing that transporting large amounts of this corrosive and polluting fuel is a bad deal for American taxpayers and for our environment,” said Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat.

It’s not just Keystone XL – there’s also the Enbridge pipeline in Michigan that spilled into the Kalamazoo River in 2010 as well as the proposal to reverse New England’s Trailbreaker pipeline to carry tar sands from Canada to Maine. As NWF reported in 2010, oil disaster’s aren’t rare – they’re tragically common.

The National Wildlife Federation is working with staff, partners and our state affiliate, the Arkansas Wildlife Federation to monitor the impacts of the Arkansas oil spill. Keep checking back to this post and to Wildlife Promise for updates.

Take Action

The risks to our wildlife, communities and clean water are just too great — tell President Obama he should say no to the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

UPDATE: The Helping Arkansas Wild Kritters (HAWK) Center is posting pictures of oiled birds to their Facebook page.

Lauren Ray, a University of the Ozarks student, sent NWF this photo of one of the ducks that was treated at the HAWK Center. According to Lauren, “This duck had already been washed multiple times, yet the oil was still very apparent.”

Oiled duck from Mayflower Ark. oil spill. Photo by Lauren Ray.

USFWS Headquarters/Flickr

I’m a native Floridian and have lived most of my life just a few steps from the Gulf of Mexico in the quiet paradise of downtown Naples, Florida. I spent every possible moment outdoors; so, I should have been prepared to identify what I saw out of the corner of my eye while swimming with my sister offshore, right?

Apparently not.

As soon as I glimpsed the two massive, amorphous gray blobs swimming towards me, my already active imagination flipped into overdrive and bypassed the obvious conclusion that the shapes were nothing but two whiskery manatees.

Naturally, I screamed at the top of my lungs and swam as fast as possible towards the shore, leaving my sister to the “mercy” of the strange, shadowy figures eight feet away. After several seconds of panicked swimming, I began to laugh hysterically, realizing the absurdity of my mistaken conclusion that these creatures were out there to eat me. I then turned around to enjoy the incredible sight.

In High Tide or Low Tide…But Not Red Tide

Though this interaction paints me in a rather embarrassing light, it was an extraordinary experience to have two peaceful manatees happen upon us so naturally.

Manatee populations have been suffering for decades due to human activities – we flock to coastal areas and replace natural shoreline environments with concrete developments – bringing the animals into contact with boat propellers and contributing to dramatic habitat destruction. While the mammal is currently listed as endangered, years of conservation efforts have improved manatee populations though grave threats still remain.

USFWS Endangered Species/Flickr

HABs can result when excess nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen are added to aquatic systems, essentially fertilizing the algae and causing populations to increase exponentially. The bloom currently impacting these manatees is caused by a type of phytoplankton called Karenia brevis that produces toxins detrimental to both humans and marine wildlife. Manatees in Florida’s warm waters typically feast on sea grass, so when the phytoplankton settles on marine plants, the animals can ingest the toxins. The manatees then lose coordination and cannot surface to breathe.

This particular bloom has been referred to as red tide and it has already killed more than 240 manatees this year. This alarming figure already surpasses the previous record for algae-related manatee deaths in a calendar year, when 151 manatees died in 1996.

Protect the Gulf’s Wildlife

A view of the Gulf from my hometown beach. NWF photo by Glenn Watkins

In Florida, one way to improve water quality in Gulf waters is by restoring America’s Everglades, particularly focusing on the Caloosahatchee River (C-43 Basin Storage Resorvoir) project and the elevation of Tamiami Trail. These two projects will improve the quality and quantity of freshwater flows into the Gulf of Mexico, reducing the amount of nutrient pollution entering coastal environments.

These recent manatee deaths highlight just how complex and interconnected water systems are, reminding us that our actions have incredibly far-reaching consequences. For the sake of Florida’s manatees and other wildlife, we need to restore the Gulf ecosystem.

Gulf residents on the first day of trial, asking the Department of Justice to hold BP fully accountable.

BP asked District Judge Carl Barbier to rule that there wasn’t evidence of gross negligence. Rather than delay justice for the Gulf, Barbier was clear: “Frankly, I’m not going to grant that motion,” Barbier said. “I don’t see any point in arguing it.”

In the elaborate dance of this multi-party, multi-claim, multi-district trial for the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, Transocean will present its case next. Transocean will likely argue the disaster was caused by the gross negligence of BP, or that the disaster was an accident.

As the oil companies point fingers, the impacts of the disaster on Gulf wildlife linger. Recent data suggests oil mixed with sediments in a dirty “blizzard” before settling on the sea floor, potentially causing “significant damage to ecosystems” and future harm to commercial fisheries. For the sake of the Gulf, it’s time for the blame game to end and for restoration to begin.

 Nearly three years after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, scientists are still investigating why dolphins are dying in high numbers. Help us hold BP accountable for the spill and protect wildlife!

A river otter enjoys new habitat formed by the Mississippi River’s newest outlet in Louisiana, Mardi Gras Pass.

Shortly after this took place, river otters, beavers, fish, birds and other wildlife began making this small outlet — dubbed Mardi Gras Pass — their home. State and federal regulators are deciding whether or not to issue a permit that would allow a company to rebuild a road washed away when the pass formed. The road fill, with four culverts, would choke off the flow of the pass and interrupt the re-establishment of natural processes. This would destroy wildlife habitat. Before a permit is granted to fill Mardi Gras Pass, responsible authorities should conduct a comprehensive environmental analysis.

The current plan to rebuild the road will effectively close the pass and eliminate encouraging ecological benefits that scientists have been monitoring since the channel’s development. NWF is calling for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Louisiana to conduct a comprehensive assessment and carefully consider all of the benefits of the pass before granting any permit that would close the pass and destroy wildlife habitat.

The State of Louisiana is holding a public hearing on Wednesday, March 20 at 6 pm in the Belle Chasse Auditorium. NWF and its partners in coastal restoration will be there to show strong support for keeping Mardi Gras Pass open and letting the Mississippi River naturally reconnect with its wetlands, providing river otters and other wildlife with new habitat.

Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are important for many species of wildlife including river otters, pelicans, and alligators—and can provide critical hurricane protection for Louisiana’s coastal residents. But these wetlands—otter habitat and so much more—are eroding into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of a football field every hour. Louisiana’s groundbreaking new plan to restore its vanishing coast includes river-reintroduction projects—something very similar to Mardi Gras Pass—that allow the river to naturally flow to its wetlands.

Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost almost 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands and barrier islands. Before the levees to control flooding were placed along the Mississippi, the natural creation of small outlets like Mardi Gras Pass was fairly commonplace.

Keeping Mardi Gras Pass open is important—it’s a chance for the river to reconnect with its wetlands, which is exactly what the river is designed to do.

An oiled brown pelican floats in the Gulf during the height of the 2010 oil spill. Photo credit: Louisiana Governor’s office.

One way or another—either through a ruling or a settlement—BP will be held liable for violations of federal environmental laws designed to protect the public from pollution.

So far, the evidence has confirmed some things we already knew from the multiple investigations into the disaster. BP’s corporate mantra that “every dollar counts” put profits over safety in the Gulf of Mexico.

The restoration needs of the Gulf are real, they are imminent, and they must be addressed now. But any final judgment or settlement that fails to adequately compensate for the losses and deter future recklessness would be an injustice for the Gulf and for the nation.

For those who  are watching to make sure BP is held accountable, here’s a summary of the basic trial process over the coming months:

Phase One

The main point that Judge Barbier is considering in this portion of the trial is whether there was “gross negligence” on the part of the BP and the other defendants. It matters because the law punishes gross negligence more strongly than simple accidents. Under the Clean Water Act, a finding of ordinary negligence would result in a fine of $1,100 per barrel, while gross negligence or willful misconduct could result in a fine of $4,300 per barrel.

Oiled sea turtle after the BP oil disaster. Photo credit:  NOAA.

The proceedings will focus on:

• Loss of well control — What actions prior to the accident led to the release of gas from the well?
• Fire and explosion — How did the gas reach the deck of the Deepwater Horizon and ignite?
• Sinking of the Deepwater Horizon — Why did the rig sink after the explosion and fire?

Judge Barbier will consider the evidence about what led to each of these occurrences to determine how unreasonable the actions of BP and its codefendants were before, during, and after the explosion. NWF’s legal experts believe that these factors will show that BP was grossly negligent.

Phase Two

The second phase will focus on two key issues from the time the oil rig sank to when the spewing well was permanently sealed.

• Source Control — What BP, Transocean, and other parties did to stop the release of oil and gas, including allegations that BP and Transocean were not prepared to deal with the blowout and uncontrolled oil release.
• Quantification of Discharge – Both sides will present testimony on how much oil was released into the Gulf from the time the spill began until the well was capped. 

Speak Up For the Gulf!

The Gulf ecosystem and its wildlife need restoration now. We hope to see justice for the Gulf in the form of maximum penalties under the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act that will then used for crucial ecosystem restoration.

Help protect the Gulf’s wildlife! Ensure that the Department of Justice holds BP fully accountable for restoring Gulf habitat for dolphins and other species >> 

You can follow all the BP trial proceedings on the Mississippi River Delta Coalition’s Twitter and Facebook.