Weekly News Roundup – October 14, 2011

Want to know what National Wildlife Federation was up to this week? Here is a recap of the week’s NWF news:

NWF applauds Udall for bill protecting San Juans

October 12 – A bill by Colorado Sen. Mark Udall that would conserve about 61,000 acres in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado recognizes the grassroots support for  protecting backcountry prized by hunters and anglers across the state and the country, John Gale of the National Wildlife Federation said Wednesday.

The San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act would designate 33,000 acres as wilderness, mostly through expansion of the Lizard Head and Mount Sneffels wilderness areas. It would include McKenna Peak, which encompasses sandstone cliffs rising 2,000 above the plain, and classify 22,000 acres as a special management area where current recreational uses will continue.

Healing Our Waters in Motown: Great Lakes Restoration Conference

October 12 – Motown is known for great music and keeping things moving on the assembly line. This week, hundreds of people from across the country are keeping things moving in Detroit to protect a unique and precious natural resource in the region.

Detroit is hosting the Healing Our Waters® – Great Lakes Coalition’s 7th annual Great Lakes Restoration Conference. Lawmakers, scientists, clean water advocates, conservationists and others are discussing the challenges, game changers and safeguards for the world’s largest fresh water system. Green returns on blue investments, pollution, environmental justice, invasive Asian carp, off shore wind and organizing for clean and affordable water are just some of the conference workshops and highlights at the conference.

Say No to Keystone Pipeline, Chorus of Advocates Urge

October 11 – “Yes you can. Stop the pipeline,” chanted Keystone XL pipeline opponents on Friday, directing their call toward the White House three blocks away and echoing President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign slogan. Opponents held a rally outside the Reagan Building, site of the State Department’s last hearing on the proposal.

The diverse coalition of landowners, ranchers, Canadian and American indigenous peoples, national security experts, conservationists, students and religious leaders urged the Obama administration to reject TransCanada’s permit application to send 800,000 barrels of crude tar sands oil through a 1,700-mile pipeline every day through Midwestern five states. Hundreds packed the Reagan Building hearing room.

Larry Schweiger, NWF president and CEO, said, “Tar sands pipelines are dangerous and put our precious natural resources at risk while making the fight against global warming all but unwinnable.”

Volunteers from NWF, ScottsMiracle-Gro Kick Off Natural Playscape Project in Charlotte

October 10 – Volunteers from National Wildlife Federation, ScottsMiracle-Gro and Charlotte Nature Museum convened this weekend to begin transforming outdoor spaces into natural playgrounds for kids, with an eye toward eventually increasing opportunities for children nationwide to engage in unstructured play in and with nature.

The Charlotte Natural Playscape, which is scheduled to be officially unveiled in the spring of 2012, is the first in a series of planned Natural Play Areas intended to increase natural play opportunities.

The campaign is an integral part of a broader goal of connecting young people with nature, both for their health and the future of the conservation movement.

Campus Conservation Nationals Spur Colleges to Reduce Electricity Consumption, Emissions, Costs

October 10 – The National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program has joined Lucid Design, U.S. Green Buildings Council, and Alliance to Save Energy to announce the launch of Campus Conservation Nationals 2012, a nationwide electricity and water use reduction competition among colleges and universities.

Between February 6 and April 23, 2012, students across the country will compete to achieve the greatest reductions in their residence halls’ electricity consumption over a three-week period of their choosing. The sign-up deadline is Nov. 1, 2011, and more than 100 schools are currently registered for the program.

“Colleges and universities represent the front lines of conservation at a crucial moment in this nation’s history,” said Jen Fournelle, Campus Program Coordinator at National Wildlife Federation.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News:

For more, visit www.nwf.org/News