As Congress debates the Farm Bill, National Wildlife Federation encourages you to think about how time on a farm inspires you to protect wildlife.

Take action today and tell your House Representative to pass the Farm Bill with its conservation measures

How Did Time on a Farm Inspire You to Be a Conservationist?

Staff and volunteers from National Wildlife Federation share their farm memories and how it impacts them today:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Get to Know the Storytellers

Cynthia Radcliffe is a long-time and much appreciated volunteer at the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes office doing wolf education. Time on her grandparents’ farm as a child, exploring the woods and pastures, was a critical factor inspiring her lifelong conservation work.

John Gale is a regional representative for National Wildlife Federation in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico and Utah. He builds relationships with sportsmen and other partners in the region. He lives in Colorado now, but grew up in Idaho on a farm. John is inspired to protect wildlife in particular for his daughter, Harlan.

Simone Lightfoot works with National Wildlife Federation on Regional Urban Initiatives. She collaborates with leaders in urban centers throughout the Great Lakes Region to strengthen the work being done on energy and sustainability; green job development; air and water quality; brown field and hazardous waste clean-up; and environmental justice issues. Simone first became interested in conservation when visiting farms with her grandmother.

Day Breitag cultivates relationships with National Wildlife Federation donors from her farm in South Dakota. She grew up in Chicago and has lived in many places, but her heart is now on the farm, where her family competes in rodeos and gets inspired by prairie vistas.

Share Your Farm Stories In the Comments Below

Did time on a farm inspire you to care about conservation?

Dry, hot weather is driving wildfires in the West. Flickr photo by Anthony Citrano.

A wildfire driven by drought, wind and record-breaking heat has killed two people, destroyed an estimated 360 homes and blackened at least 15,700 acres in rural subdivisions north of Colorado Springs. If  the preliminary numbers hold up, the fire will surpass last summer’s Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs as Colorado’s most destructive in terms of lost homes.

And it’s early in the wildfire season, which grows longer every year in the West. Wildfires erupted even earlier this spring in New Mexico and California. People and wildlife are still dealing with the fallout from last year’s wildfires — property losses, important trout waters choked by ash and erosion flowing down barren mountainsides.

A seemingly never-ending wildfire season has become the new norm in the West. The changing climate has unleashed  record-breaking heat and drought in the Rockies. The National Weather Service reported that on June 12, Denver recorded its earliest 100-degree temperature on record. The previous record was June 14, 2006.

Unrelenting drought, heat

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows that much of New Mexico is in extreme to exceptional drought. Colorado ranges from moderate to exceptional, portrayed as dark red blotches on the U.S. map. Climate change is already transforming the landscape, threatening endangered species, stressing fish and other wildlife and affecting hunting and fishing opportunities. Last summer, anglers across Colorado were urged to forgo casting their lines in some spots because of the pressure fish were under due to the extreme heat. The full impact of a wildfire that blasted through northern Colorado’s Poudre Canyon last year is still unclear.  State wildlife biologists are monitoring the effects of erosion on the Cache la Poudre River, a favorite trout fishery.

Hunters and anglers, who are on the ground, walking through the backcountry and wading through streams, are making the connections between what they see happening to the landscape and fish and wildlife habitat with our energy choices. Todd Tanner, founder of the sportsmen’s advocacy group Conservation Hawks, calls climate change “the biggest threat we’ve ever faced.”

Warmer water and erosion from wildfires are threatening fisheries in the Rockies. Photo by Lew Carpenter

Smoke from the fires near Colorado Springs,  Canon City in central Colorado and in Rocky Mountain National park hangs over the Front Range, obscuring the view of the mountains from Longs Peak in the north to Pikes Peak in the south.

And it’s not even summer yet.

Read more about the threats to wildlife in the report “Wildlife in a Warming World” and learn about ways we can confront the climate crisis.

Take Action

Speak up for wolverines! Tell Congress to pass legislation that will preserve habitat for wolverines and other wildlife>>

June 13- National Wildlife Federation, whose mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future, is pleased to announce a new partnership with FamilyFun magazine, a trusted, go-to source for travel recommendations and family activities for more than 20 years.

FamilyFun magazine has released a special “Get Outdoors” themed issue this month to help families spend more time in nature. The “Let’s Get Outdoors!” feature story appears in the June/July issue of the magazine, on newsstands June 5, and includes dozens of ideas ranging from mapping the neighborhood’s natural wonders to going on a photo safari.

Learn more about NWF’s outdoor programs for kids!

Tar Balls Cannot Be the ‘New Normal’

June 11- BP announced on Monday that the U.S. Coast Guard is ending active cleanup operations in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and that the three states are expected to complete the transition back to the National Response Center (NRC) reporting system by mid-June 2013.

David White, director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf of Mexico Restoration Campaign, said in response:

“As much as one million barrels of oil from the disaster remains unaccounted for, and tar mats and tar balls from the spill continue to wash up on the coast. Regardless of how our shorelines are monitored, BP must be held accountable for the cleanup. We cannot just accept oiled material on our beaches and in our marshes as the ‘new normal.’ In particular, we need be sure that there is a rapid and proactive assessment and cleanup of our shorelines in the aftermath of storms.”

Take action and demand justice for Gulf wildlife.

Senate Poised to Pass a Strong Farm Bill

June 10- National Wildlife Federation applauds the final Farm bill and the leadership of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-MS), for crafting a bill that maintains adequate funding for conservation, includes a national Sodsaver provision, and re-links conservation compliance provision to crop insurance premium subsidies. The bill also authorizes funding for an innovative regional partnership program which would target conservation funding to as many as eight priority conservation regions.

“We are very pleased with the Senate’s version of the farm bill and congratulate the Senate Agriculture Committee and Senate leadership for all their hard work,” said Julie Sibbing, director of Agriculture and Forestry Programs for National Wildlife Federation. “In the present climate of kicking the can down the road and paralyzing lack of compromise in Congress, it is refreshing to see members on both sides of the aisle roll up their sleeves and pass a balanced farm bill that ensures a robust safety net for farmers and for natural resources. The House should follow the example.”

For more information visit our Farm Bill webpage.

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• CNN.com: Coast Guard, BP end Gulf cleanup in 3 states
• Baltimore Sun : Program gets kids off the couch and into the tent
• New York Times:  Debate on environment grows as drought tests Texas rivers
• Politico.com: Obama climate rollout may come in July
• The Food Channel: Great American Backyard Campout
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Butterfly enthusiasts fear few Monarch sightings
• Seattle’s Child: Old-Fashioned Fun at the Great American Backyard Campout
• Yahoo!News: Proposed Legislation Would Strengthen Protections Against Invasive Animal Species
• Dr. Green.com: What is this Great American Backyard Campout?

For more visit www.nwf.org/news

Tongue River Valley in southeastern Montana. Photo by: Alexis Bonogofsky

Well, it will not be a surprise to any of you that southeastern Montana is my place, and I want it to be yours too. It is a place worth protecting. It is beautiful, remote, rugged and amazing. And it needs your help.

If you are looking for a way to help stop the largest proposed coal mine in the country that will devastate important wildlife habitat and exacerbate climate change, there are two great documentary projects that need your social networks and your money.

Bill McKibben recently stated,

“There are a few crucial choke points on this planet where we have some chance of stanching the endless flow of carbon into the atmosphere. On that list, none may be more important than Montana.”

Clint and Wally McRae, ranchers whose land would be crossed by the Tongue River Railroad. Photo courtesy Sierra Club

1. Things of Intrinsic Worth

Filmmakers Carly Calhoun and Same Desperaux visited my friends Clint and Wally McRae last winter and put together a moving video of their struggle to protect their land and water from leaking coal ash ponds from the nearby Colstrip coal-fired power plant. The video is expertly done and a testament to the filmmakers commitment and dedication to the region.

During their visit to the McRaes ranch they learned about the proposed Otter Creek coal mine and Tongue River railroad.

The goal of the documentary, Things of Intrinsic Worth, is to follow the McRaes as they struggle to save their ranch and the Tongue River Valley from the coal companies who are trying to take their land so they can make billions of dollars in profits from Montana’s natural resources, leaving us with polluted water and devastated land.

Their Kickstarter site rightly states that the McRae’s ranch sits in the epicenter of a battle over the power of corporations, the governments role in protecting citizens and the environment, and the future of the climate. The film weaves together a story that travels from the grasslands of Montana, to the Pacific Northwest, to energy hungry Asian markets.

Click here to help fund Things of Intrinsic Worth.

Filmmakers Andy, Eric and Robin deep in coal country during the initial research trip

2. Momenta

A second important documentary proposal comes from Plus M Productions and Protect Our Winters and is about the proposed coal exports in the Pacific Northwest, where that coal is coming from in the Powder River Basin and our hopes for a clean energy future.

I met them when they came through the small community of Ashland, Montana, on the border of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, to interview Vanessa and Otto Braided Hair for their trailer.

They are committed to their project and I know they will produce a great documentary. Check out their well done and inspiring trailer for the film that features many dedicated advocates for for our land, water, wildlife and communities including:

• Ed Gulick - Northern Plains Resource Council, Billings, Montana
• Otto Braided Hair - Northern Cheyenne Tribal Member and ecoCheyenne founder, Montana
• Vanessa Braided Hair - Northern Cheyenne Tribal Member and ecoCheyenne founder and organizer, Montana
• Beth Doglio - ‘Power Past Coal’ Campaign Director, Washington
• Jason Shogren - Environmental Economist, Professor, Univeristy if Wyoming, member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, Wyoming
• Jeremy Jones - Professional Snowboarder, Founder of Protect Our Winters
• Bill McKibben - Environmentalist, Scholar, Author, Founder of 350.org
• LJ Turner - Cattle Rancher, Wyoming

Click here to help fund Momenta. 

Both documentaries will tell different angles to the same important story. Please help them today and spread the word!

But first, a busted myth on soil temperatures

The soil temperature of a no till cover crop field shows 63 degrees.

Most farmers hold the belief that no till cover crop fields are wetter and colder than conventionally tilled fields. Soil temperature readings showed my neighbor’s heavily tilled soil at 54 degrees and my no till cover cropped field at 63 degrees. (Thanks to Dave Robison for first examining the soil temperature question: http://plantcovercrops.com/myths-debunked-on-cover-crops-and-colder-soil-temperatures-final-report/). Improved drainage has made all the difference.  And for me, no till and cover crops provide the best drainage system.

Cover crops and No till help me to mitigate the impact of poor field conditions caused by continuous rains

Despite heavy rains that have prevented most field work on tilled fields in the area, I have been able to move forward with my management thanks to no till and cover crops.

Microorganisms and wildlife returning to no till, cover cropped acres

Most of this winter wheat field has little to no weed pressure yet.

This week, conservation champions from across the country spoke for the oceans.

"The benefits of investing in nature FAR outweigh the costs," Dr. Polasky #GulfHearing

— Sara G-R K (@Sara_GRK) June 6, 2013

At the National Wildlife Federation, we couldn’t agree more.

In a hearing yesterday, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) examined progress towards restoring the Gulf of Mexico three years since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. The witnesses recognized the urgent need:

Rachel Jacobsen, Acting Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks for DOI, "The time to start restoration is now." #Gulfhearing

— Restore the Delta (@RestoreDelta) June 6, 2013

Sen. Landrieu, Gulf restoration is important "not just for our states, but for the Nation." #GulfHearing

— Sara G-R K (@Sara_GRK) June 6, 2013

"The Gulf is one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and harbors over 15,000 species," @SenatorWicker #gulfHearing

— Sara G-R K (@Sara_GRK) June 6, 2013

There’s a reason that the Senate Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over the oceans. Every witness acknowledged how integral the health of the marine environment is to national economic prosperity.

"Jobs and the environment go hand-in-glove here [in the Gulf]," @NOAA's Lois Schiffer #GulfHearing

— Sara G-R K (@Sara_GRK) June 6, 2013

"Our economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment" says George Neugent, Monroe County, FL Mayor. #Gulfhearing

— Restore the Delta (@RestoreDelta) June 6, 2013

"The environmental interest is also the people's interest," @SenBillNelson #GulfHearing

— Sara G-R K (@Sara_GRK) June 6, 2013

Tomorrow is World Oceans Day.

But our lives are tied to the fate of our natural resources every day. So to Senator Whitehouse’s point (and Senator Landrieu’s, Senator Nelson’s, and Senator Wicker’s too!), speak up for the environment. Government officials just might join the conversation.

Taken by Sara Gonzalez-Rothi Kronenthal, NWF

Ranger Rick’s Tree House App Takes Home the Gold

June 7-National Wildlife Federation is pleased to announce that its Ranger Rick’s Tree House app for the iPad has won the award for best Mobile/Wireless Learning Tool and the Gold Award for the Best Educational Innovation of the Year from the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP).

“National Wildlife Federation has a proud history of entertaining and educating children about the wonders of animals and nature,” said Mary Dalheim, Editorial Director of Children’s Publications for National Wildlife Federation. “From our beloved children’s magazines like Ranger Rick to our new apps, our products make reading and learning about wildlife fun for kids of all ages. We are thrilled to be recognized by AEP for our achievements in educational publishing.”

To learn more visit nwf.org/treehouse.

Gray Wolves Not Ready to Come Off Endangered Species Act List

June 7-The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed to remove all gray wolves outside of New Mexico and Arizona from the list of threatened and endangered species. The National Wildlife Federation opposes the proposed rule.

John Kostyack, vice president for wildlife conservation, had this to say:

“NWF has long supported Endangered Species Act de-listings when supported by the science, and we believe that the recovery of two gray wolf populations in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rockies are historic ESA success stories,” said John Kostyack, Vice President Wildlife Conservation. “However, the job of wolf recovery in the U.S. is not yet complete.”

Learn more about Gray Wolves.

Turn the Family Cookout into a Campout for this Year’s Great American Backyard Campout

For more information on the Great American Backyard Campout, check out the website www.backyardcampout.org

Crop Insurance Accountability Act Closes Loophole in House Farm Bill

June 5-The National Wildlife Federation commends Congressmen Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) for their leadership in introducing The Crop Insurance Accountability Act today in the House of Representatives.

This important legislation would ensure the continuation of a “conservation compact” between taxpayers and farmers that has been in place for decades, whereby producers protect wetlands and reduce soil erosion on their land in exchange for taxpayer subsidies. The bill mirrors a provision in the Senate Agriculture Committee’s version of the Farm Bill, which makes producers ineligible for crop insurance premium subsidies if they drain wetlands or fail to use a conservation plan on vulnerable land. This commonsense measure is supported by the major conservation, commodity, and crop insurance groups. Unfortunately, the House Agriculture Committee failed to include this important link between wetland and soil conservation and crop insurance subsidies in their version of the bill, despite overwhelming support.

 “Taxpayer dollars should not be used to underwrite the risk of draining wetlands or foregoing good conservation practices” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “We are at risk of repeating the mistakes leading to the Dust Bowl, if we do not close the loophole that would allow farmers to receive crop insurance premium subsidies without being held accountable for practicing good stewardship on the land.”

For more information visit our Farm Bill webpage.

Great Lakes Coalition Names Todd Ambs as Director

June 3-The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition today named Todd Ambs as its new director. Ambs previously served as president of the national conservation group River Network, a job he assumed after serving as chief of the water division for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

“Todd Ambs is a champion of the Great Lakes and will help keep restoration efforts on track,” said Lynn McClure, Midwest Regional Director at the National Parks Conservation Association and co-chair of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “The Coalition will be in good hands under his leadership.”

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

Dragonflies, Downy Woodpecker, swans, Garter Snake, ladybugs, Red-winged Blackbirds, beetles, ducks and a just hatched aquatic turtle who really wanted to make its first trip to the pond.  That is not typically the list of wildlife one expects to find while viewing the skyline of downtown Manhattan, but all of these species are living just behind the Statue of Liberty.

Google Maps, Gmail, Images, Earth, Finance and Analytics are all products on which much of the world has come to rely for living on the internet.  On June 5, Liberty Park relied on a group of Googlers to help them restore park wildlife habitat after hurricane Sandy.  Liberty Park is just across the Hudson River from downtown NYC, just offshore is Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. The park was devastated by the hurricane – the park staff only recently was able to return to occupy their offices after severe flooding.  Liberty Park is an urban park jewel, it includes a natural area with wooded trails, pond and butterfly garden.  Naturally this is the kind of area where National Wildlife Federation wanted to focus a restoration effort.

Snapdragon, American Holly, Milkweed, Bayberry, Foxglove, Coneflower and Winterberry are all plant and tree species that Google trucked in to put in the ground one by one.  National Wildlife Federation partnered with Google to bring in this native vegetation to repair a site that will benefit the whole community, this natural area and garden is used for educational programs for the public and school groups.  Inner city school kids, many of whom never play in outdoor settings, will now be able to spend time here learning about ecosystems, exploring a new environment and getting connected to nature.  Googlers in NYC now know where they can escape the city, view local wildlife and maybe get inspired to create a new app – Google Wildlife.

Duck coated in Exxon Pegasus tar sands oil in Mayflower, AR, April 2013 (Photo: Lauren Ray)

In the days following the disastrous pipeline rupture, Exxon rushed to take control of the spill site and wildlife cleanup. But as Debra Hale-Shelton of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (sub. req.) reports, that urgency hasn’t carried over to Exxon’s safety investigation:

More than two months after an aging pipeline cracked open, spilling more than 100,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into a Mayflower neighborhood and a cove of Lake Conway, Exxon Mobil still has not provided federal regulators with even a preliminary cause for the break and has not requested approval to resume transporting oil through that pipeline.

Before Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. can reopen the 850-mile-long Pegasus pipeline, which was built starting in 1947, it must comply with several corrective measures ordered April 2 by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Exxon Mobil has neither updated its April 26 accident report filed with the federal agency nor asked to reopen the pipeline, which spilled an estimated 147,000 gallons of oil March 29, leading to the evacuations of 22 homes, dead and injured wildlife, several lawsuits, and federal and state investigations.

Exxon’s “before” & “after” photos of the Pegasus tar sands oil spill in Mayflower, AR

“These photos aren’t before and after – they’re mid-disaster and mid-cleanup,” says National Wildlife Federation South Central Representative Geralyn Hoey. “What does Exxon plan to do for wetland restoration? Are they going to try to recreate what was a thriving habitat for waterfowl, beavers, and other wildlife?”

Exxon’s celebratory news release doesn’t say. Exxon has released few details about exactly how it conducted the cleanup. When Geralyn and I visited the Exxon command center and offered the National Wildlife Federation’s assistance, we were told we would not be allowed anywhere near the spill site and were told to stop taking photos of the spill by an Exxon contractor (we moved to another location and kept taking photos). Especially since this was heavy, toxic tar sands oil, it’s impossible to say for sure if the oil is gone without taking samples several feet below the surface.

“These photos are a horrible reminder of what the people and wildlife in Mayflower have gone through and the high price to America of serving as the middleman as oil companies pipe Canadian tar sands to the international market,” says Geralyn. It’s not just Arkansas – spills of toxic tar sands have fouled communities, waterways and wildlife habitat from Michigan to Missouri. A National Wildlife Federation-led coalition has asked two federal agencies to set stronger safety standards for tar sands pipelines.

Now the tar sands industry wants to build a massive new tar sands pipeline in Keystone XL. Spills are only part of Keystone’s threat – all of us would be on the hook for its massive amounts of climate-disrupting carbon pollution.

But just last week, officials with British Columbia’s government told national authorities that the province wants nothing to do with the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline that would bring tar sands west for export. Officials said the tar sands industry has failed to answer questions about the impact of spills on clean water and the communities and wildlife that depend on them.

“If Canada doesn’t want to accept the risk of transporting Canadian tar sands, why in the world is Arkansas suffering for it?” asks Geralyn.

It’s time to say no to tar sands. Tell President Obama to reject the climate-disrupting Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Go to David’s site at www.nwf.org/naturegeek to learn more about NWF’s wildlife conservation programs. Also, remember NWF’s Great American Backyard Campout  is on June 22. So sign up and enjoy the great outdoors with friends and family!

Check out the fun segment where Wendy gets up close and personal with a few wildlife ambassadors!

Click here to view the embedded video.