Salmon Salmon!

Occasionally lost in the limelight of nude bicyclists, triple IPA’s and feminist bookstores is our amazing Chinook Salmon fishing.

How many places on our planet exist where on your lunch break you can cruise the river that bisects your downtown metropolis, go catch a salmon, and be back to work before your boss notices? Not too many.

This salmon fishery defines our state and is why the conservation work that the National Wildlife Federation is doing throughout the Pacific Northwest is so important.

Check out the video for proof that salmon fishermen are a little wacky and why many salmon fishermen will fight like hell against threats to the fishery.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Say “No” to Big Coal

Right now, Big Coal is attempting to transform Oregon’s majestic Columbia River from the heart of  our renewable energy corridor and salmon fishing paradise into the nation’s hub for exporting dirty coal to China.

If the big coal companies get their way, up to 38 million tons of coal per year could soon be shipped through Oregon on uncovered trains and exported through the Port of St. Helens- directly adjacent to one of the hottest salmon fishing spots on the river come late summertime. 

This is not the Oregon I know. No room for coal, lets keep it Bikes, Brews, Books, Salmon and more Salmon!

Live in Oregon? Speak up to stop coal export terminals today.

National Wildlife Federation’s Storytelling Video Diary Series shares the candid tales of 10 NWF staffers from around the country; armed with their cameras in California, Wisconsin, the Pacific Northwest, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC, these nine staffers will share with you their individual trials, epiphanies and stories as they unfold in their daily adventures.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Already, 500 wolves have been cruelly killed this way in nearby developed areas, and this persecution is planned to expand in the tar sands area. If we don’t fight back, 6,000 more wolves may face the same fate.

Stopping the massive Keystone XL pipeline–which would roughly double imports of dirty tar sands oil into the United States–is a critical step in protecting wolves from the dangerous expansion of tar sands. Legislation to force the approval of Keystone XL is moving quickly, and your help is urgently needed to ramp up the fight to make sure Congress votes the right way for wolves.

Save wolves from dirty oil–urge your members of Congress to stand up against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

No more than 1 day old, this killdeer chick was already scurrying around its home in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Jack Rogers.

More Adorable Wildlife Photos, Please.

Vote for your favorite wildlife photos in the 2012 National Wildlife Photo Contest. Or enter your own by July 16th for a chance to win!
 
 

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.

A bison mother comforts her calf after an exhausting swim across the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by David Bahr.

Happy Mother’s Day!

• Thanks Mom, For the Gift of Nature – How did your mom give you the gift of nature? Share your story and read others’ memories!
• Wildlife Moms Photo Gallery – See more photos of wildlife mothers from the National Wildlife Photo Contest.

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.

Swainson’s Hawk

Photo by Flickr member JosieN2010

Your Photo Could Be Here

We want one of your nature photos to be the next Photo of the Day! Share your images with our Flickr group and tag them with “PhotoOfTheDay-NWF12“.

Don’t have a Flickr account? It’s free and easy to create one.

Welcome to the second week of Garden for Wildlife Month! This week, we are featuring backyard flora and fauna that are blue–a cool, soothing color.  (Did you miss last week’s color? View the RED blog here.)  Which of these blue beauties do you find in your backyard?

These photos were donated by past participants in the National Wildlife® Photo Contest. To enter your photos in this year’s contest, visit the contest site.

Source of bird facts: Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s All About Birds

Indigo Bunting

Like all other blue birds, Indigo Buntings lack blue pigment. Their jewel-like color comes instead from microscopic structures in the feathers that refract and reflect blue light, much like the airborne particles that cause the sky to look blue. (Photo: Steve Creek)

Bluebells

Bluebells have smooth gray-green foliage and nodding clusters of pink buds that open into light blue trumpet-shaped flowers. When they grow in masses, bluebells make a spectacular show. (Photo: Sandra Brooks-Mathers)

Tree Swallows

Outside of the breeding season the Tree Swallow congregates into enormous flocks and night roosts, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands. They gather about an hour before sunset at a roost site, forming a dense cloud. (Photo: Paul Lackey)

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebirds typically have more than one successful brood per year. Young produced in early nests usually leave their parents in summer, but young from later nests frequently stay with their parents over the winter. (Photo: James Alligood)

American Robin Eggs

An American Robin can produce three successful broods in one year. On average, though, only 40 percent of nests successfully produce young. Only 25 percent of those fledged young survive to November. (Photo: Laura Epps)

Blue Jay

Blue Jays are known for their intelligence and complex social systems with tight family bonds. Their fondness for acorns is credited with helping to spread oak trees after the last glacial period. (Photo: Ray Whitt)

Spicebush Swallowtail

The Spicebush Swallowtail is a common black swallowtail butterfly found in North America, also known as the Green-Clouded butterfly. The swallowtails are unique in that even while feeding, they continue to flutter their wings. (Photo: Joyce Walton)

Great Blue Heron

Despite their impressive size, Great Blue Herons weigh only 5 to 6 pounds thanks in part to their hollow bones—a feature all birds share. The oldest Great Blue Heron, based on banding recovery, was 24 years old. (Photo: Steve Duffey)

Blue Dasher

The Blue Dasher is a dragonfly of the skimmer family. It is common and widely distributed in the United States. Although the species name P. longipennis means "long wings", the wings are not particularly long. (Photo: Bill Houghton)

Steller’s Jay

Steller’s Jays have the dubious honor of being one of the most frequently misspelled names in all of bird watching. Up close, the bird’s dazzling mix of azure and blue is certainly stellar, but that’s not how you spell their name. (Photo: Lori Zappas)

Create a haven for birds and other critters in your own backyard and have it designated as an official Certified Wildlife Habitat site. Certify in the month of May and we’ll plant a tree in your honor!>>

Green heron

Photo by Flickr member: East Wind
 

Your Photo Could Be Here

Would you like one of your nature photos to be Photo of the Day? Submit images by sharing your photos with our Flickr group and tagging them with “PhotoOfTheDay-NWF12“. Help create a little daily inspiration with your photos of wildlife and wild places!

If you don’t have a Flickr account, it’s free and easy to create one.

A loggerhead hatchling crawls through the surf, its first struggle to reach the water nearly over and a new journey ahead in the ocean. Photo by Jacqueline Orsulak.

Your Photo Could Be Here

Would you like one of your nature photos to be Photo of the Day? Submit images by sharing your photos with our Flickr group and tagging them with “PhotoOfTheDay-NWF12“. Help create a little daily inspiration with your photos of wildlife and wild places!

If you don’t have a Flickr account, it’s free and easy to create one.
 

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.

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.

Craig Newmark's love for squirrels inspired me to draw him one!

That’s why I got so excited when I learned that Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and lover of squirrels, wanted to donate $1 to National Wildlife Federation for every mention of #squirrels4good. What a perfect example of celebrating wildlife that both amuses us and keeps us company in life!

So if squirrels inspire Craig, what inspires you?

We’re encouraging you to tweet what animals you love seeing in the wild while using the hashtag #squirrels4good!

Attracting backyard visitors that you love

Part of the reason why many of us garden for wildlife and celebrate Garden for Wildlife Month is because it increases the chances we’ll see those animals that bring joy to our backyards and balconies.  Whether you’re trying to see more hummingbirds, bats or butterflies, many species use the habitats we create for them and will coexist peacefully when allow them some room.

So please tell us the wildlife you love seeing by doing one of the following things:

• Share Facebook photos or stories about your favorite wildlife on our Facebook wall (using #squirrels4good).
• Tweet photos or stories about your favorite wildlife (using #squirrels4good).
• Draw, write or paint something in honor of your nature visitors.