Hooded merganser (drake)

Photo by Flickr member Moments In Nature by Joshua Clark
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A pied-billed grebe catches a crayfish

Photo by Flickr member McGill’s Nature in Motion
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Mallard diving underwater

 
Photo by Flickr member incanus
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A common loon chick naps on its parent’s back

Photo by Flickr member maryanne.pfitz
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Alison Farrell spooked this common merganser while kayaking on the Mohawk River outside of Niskayuna, NY. Acting fast, she managed to snap some photos of the merganser taking off from the river.

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.

Actually more like running than swimming, a pair of western grebes rush across the surface of Santa Margarita Lake in California as part of their courtship display. Photo by Teddy Llovet.

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.

Last week, a group of five dedicated folks from all across the country made the trek to Washington, DC to answer just those questions. They were making the case to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that what happens in the Arctic affects wildlife across the country.

Watch this short video to hear their powerful stories:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Encompassing 23.5 million acres, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is the largest single unit of public land in the nation and provides habitat for caribou, grizzlies, polar bears, wolves, and millions of migratory birds–including tens of thousands of ducks and geese highly valued by sportsmen throughout the nation.

For the first time ever, BLM is considering a new management plan for the Reserve to determine which of these lands and waters will be developed for oil and gas leasing, and which will be protected. This planning process provides a unique opportunity to ensure that future development in the Reserve is properly balanced with conservation of the area’s exceptional wildlife habitat, particularly the four Special Areas with outstanding wildlife values in the Reserve.

A big thanks to Ray McCormick of the Indiana Wildlife Federation, James Tyson of the Colorado Wildlife Federation, Debra Lee of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, Joe Wilkinson of the Iowa Wildlife Federation and Joel Gay of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation for helping show the Bureau of Land Management that there is widespread public support for a balanced and responsible decision in the Reserve.

The BLM has just announced they are extending the public comment period deadline to June 15! If you haven’t spoken up yet, you still have a chance to join tens of thousands of wildlife advocates across the country that have already taken action.

Help protect Alaska’s caribou by urging the BLM to protect crucial habitat in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

Tundra Swan in flight (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Tens of thousands of ducks and geese prized by sportsman, including Northern Pintails, Snow Geese, Greater White-fronted geese, Tundra Swans, Long-Tailed Ducks and more depend on the Reserve for nesting, feeding and molting each summer before heading south once again.  And the Reserve’s two major caribou herds, including the largest in Alaska, provide a vital subsistence resource for Native Alaskans as well as recreational hunting opportunities for sportsmen.

BLM’s draft management plan identifies an “Alternative B” that does the best job of protecting critical wildlife habitat in the Reserve – let BLM know you support that alternative.

Tell the Bureau of Land Management to Preserve the Best Places in the Reserve!

Lend your voice to the thousands of sportsmen, birders, subsistence users and others weighing in to ensure that the spectacular wildlife of the Reserve is protected for generations to come.

Two black-bellied whistling ducks in a marsh near Delray Beach, Florida. Photo by Candy Childrey.

What Did You See Today?

Report your wildlife and plant observations with Wildlife Watch and check out species that others are seeing around the country!

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.

White Egret in the Waters of the Bay-Delta

 Harming Wildlife

The San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta) is the largest estuary on the west coast of North America. It’s a four-million acre watershed that supports over 700 plant, fish and wildlife species, including the endangered delta smelt, spring run Chinook salmon, winter run Chinook salmon, and steelhead. Over two-thirds of California’s salmon are passing through Bay-Delta waters and at least half of its Pacific Flyway migratory water birds are relying on the region’s wetlands for a home.

Ignoring the Endangered Species Act

An area so important for California water and wildlife should be protected, but H.R. 1837 robs California of its right to make those decisions. This terrible bill targets wildlife by eliminating the science-based safeguards for salmon and other endangered species required both under California law and by the Endangered Species Act. Instead, the legislation would follow measures from a short-term deal made in 1994 under a drastically different ecological and scientific environment. The impact of this goes beyond California. A multi-state effort is in place to recover multiple salmon species and the passage of this bill will erode any progress that has been made.

Threatening Jobs

H.R. 1837 doesn’t help fish and wildlife, or the people that depend on the Bay-Delta for their livelihoods. The Bay-Delta is the lifeblood of the salmon fishery in California. The closure of the salmon fishery in 2008 and 2009 resulted in thousands of lost jobs in California and Oregon and hundreds of millions of dollars in lost income each year. The economic well-being of commercial and recreational salmon fishermen, Bay-Delta farmers, fishing guides, tackle shops and communities across California and along the West Coast depends on the environmental protections that the National Wildlife Federation has long supported and that H.R. 1837 would kill.

Continue to support NWF and help us fight to preserve the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and other wildlife and wild places for future generations.