Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Getting a Glimpse

It’s not every day one gets a chance to make the long trip up to the state of Alaska, so when Defenders gave me the offer, I seized it! And in my ten days there, I did my best to see as much as I could of the state. But as anyone who’s been to Alaska knows, it’s a big place! I was fortunate enough to get a taste of what natural treasures the state has to offer, and squeezed in trips to Fox Island, Denali National Park and Kenai Fjords National Park. Between those unique, breathtaking places and my experiences below, this was truly a trip to remember.

During my trip, I visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (AWCC), a nonprofit that takes in displaced, injured or orphaned animals and works to return those they can to the wild. It was there that Dr. Jordan Schaul, the center’s conservation biologist and curator, gave me the offer of a lifetime: feeding some Kodiak brown bear cubs. Don’t be fooled (as I was) – these were no teddy bears. These “cubs” were 18 months old, each weighing more than 200 pounds! Discovered as orphans in the wild nine months ago, the center has been their home ever since. In addition to providing homes for bears, moose, caribou, wood bison and more, the AWCC provides education opportunities about Alaskan wildlife, and works on conservation efforts like the Wood Bison Reintroduction Project.

Our next stop was the Alaska SeaLife Center on Resurrection Bay. Alaska’s only public aquarium and ocean wildlife rescue center, it is dedicated to research, rehabilitation and education, and will be the key facility for the rescue of any marine animals and birds in the event of an oil spill in the area. While there, we were able to get a behind-the-scenes tour by center president Dr. Ian Dutton (husband to Defenders’ own Karla Dutton), who showed us a new energy system he just installed that uses sea water to heat and cool the building. When completed, the system will supply approximately 60% of the annual heating requirements of the center while reducing carbon emissions by approximately 1.3 million pounds.

Getting Some Perspective

As I said, one of the things that struck me the most about this trip was seeing firsthand just how vast Alaska is. For years, Defenders has been working to protect the Arctic Ocean from offshore drilling, and having been here I can’t imagine what anyone would do if there was an oil disaster in the state’s remote waters, particularly with the Arctic’s extreme and unpredictable weather. As of yet, the offshore drilling industry has not been able to prove they have clean-up technology should a catastrophe like the one that happened in the Gulf of Mexico last year take place. And with the nearest Coast Guard station 1,000 miles away, they won’t be able to count on the government for backup. Being here strengthened my resolve to fight risky drilling in the fragile Arctic Ocean, and protect the incredible wildlife I’d come to know.

The Alaskan Conservation Community/Rock Star Alaskan Citizen Advocates

Of course, the main purpose of my trip was work! In addition to building Defenders’ Alaska’s office outreach program with Karla Dutton and Theresa Fiorino, I conducted two outreach trainings in Anchorage and Mat Su Valley. The trainings themselves were incredible, with motivated people coming together to build their skills on strategic campaign planning, communicating with elected officials and federal agencies, working with the media and community organizing. I wasn’t the only one doing the training – one of the best parts of these two days was learning about the innovative ideas the local organizations and volunteers were already implementing to achieve their advocacy goals.

While it is apparent very quickly that Alaska is a different kind of place, it is also very clear that there are some incredibly dedicated people and organizations there working to protect all that makes it special. I came out of this experience feeling recharged and convinced now, more than ever, that by working together, we really can win the daunting conservation battles we are facing.

Learn more:

See what Defenders’ Alaska office is doing to protect the state’s unique wildlife and breathtaking natural places.

See more images from my trip below!

Eastern North Carolina is home to a rich diversity of wildlife that rivals any other region in the United States, and the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge is one of the best places to experience it.

The 150,000-acre refuge was established in 1984 to protect the area’s unique swampy pocosin (sandy or peaty) wetlands and surrounding habitat. It is part of the North Carolina Coastal Plain Refuge Complex, which includes the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. The Alligator National Wildlife Refuge manager also oversees Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge, Currituck National Wildlife Refuge and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

The small streams and tributaries from the Alligator River and dense vegetation provide ideal habitat for deer, black bears, frogs, alligators, shorebirds and other critters. There is plenty of wildlife to go searching for, and the refuge hosts a number of programs specifically designed to educate visitors and provide the opportunity to experience wildlife up close.

What To Do

One of the premier events held on the refuge (and the surrounding areas) is Wings Over Water. This annual six-day event—held from Nov. 8-13, is highlighted by alligator searches, teaching sessions by wildlife photography experts, and canoe rides including a stop at the famous pirate Blackbeard’s hangout on Ocracoke Island.  Thousands of visitors come out to enjoy the festival.

The Sandy Ridge Trail ambles through cypress swamp and runs alongside the paddling trail. Hikers can often watch kayakers and canoers glide by.

Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and the surrounding areas are also the only places in the world where the endangered red wolf lives in the wild. An epic success story, red wolves were declared extinct in the wild in 1980. But in 1987, four captive bred wolves were released into Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. Since their return, more than 100 wolves now roam the area, and recent studies confirm that the wolves’ return has helped strengthen the ecosystem.

The refuge hosts Red Wolf Howling Safaris (guided tours where visitors have the chance to hear wolf packs howling in the wild) from April through December–attracting millions of visitors from all over the world.  You can register until Aug. 31 for one of the weekly scheduled summer tours or wait for special events like the Wings Over Water festival, which also includes a “wolf howl”.

Eastern North Carolina also has one of the biggest concentrations of black bears in the country. A special tour provides information about black bears and their habitat followed by an excursion to spot a bear or two on the refuge. But don’t worry, the tour guides will get you back in time for a wolf howling session.

Two hiking trails meander through the wetlands and forest. A kiosk provides info about the refuge and its wildlife at the start of the Creef Cut Wildlife Trail, which has access ramps for wheelchairs and walkers. The trail ends at a massive boardwalk overlooking freshwater marshlands, where waterfowl and shorebirds gather.

The dedicated staff has made this a paradise for nature enthusiast and the refuges natural beauty makes it one of the top destinations for wildlife observers in the country.

The Sandy Ridge Trail ambles through cypress swamp and runs alongside the paddling trail. Hikers can often watch kayakers and canoers glide by. Lucky observers might even spot an alligator swimming in the streams.

The refuge stands out for its long list of special events, interactive activities, and opportunities for natural observation. Other attractions include a car tour route, overlooks for photography and 15 miles of paddling trails.

The dedicated staff has made this a paradise for nature enthusiast and the refuge’s natural beauty makes it one of the top destinations for wildlife observers in the country.

Go experience all that this amazing place has to offer and TAKE REFUGE at the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Dare and Hyde counties in North Carolina.

About a year ago, our colleagues in the Rocky Mountain Region office, Mike Leahy and Lacy Gray, came to us with an interesting design challenge. They wanted to raise funds and awareness for wildlife on roads across Montana by having a license plate design available through the state that honored the rich wildlife tradition of the area.

Immediately, we knew this had to be easy on the eyes, but also easy to read from a distance with very limited space to fit all of our favorite animals. Where to start? Well, I headed straight for Montana’s DMV website, and like any DMV I’ve ever frequented, there were a lot of rules. All of the measurements were there, and no boundaries could be crossed where those license plate numbers belonged. I had my framework, but now I needed to give it some life.

On the computer, I began drawing the animals we hoped to use, selecting amber colors and rich shadows to make the animals emerge from the powder blue Montana sky in the background. Soon we had a grizzly bear, bison, elk and gray wolf drawn and ready to work into the layout.

Below is what the design looked like as I worked, just pieces of a puzzle, each comprising layers of shapes, color and shade.

After a lot of testing, and sizing the animals so they fit just right, we had our license plate!

Now all our Montana supporters can show their support for wildlife whenever they drive across town. As an added bonus, Defenders gets a $20 donation every time a  license plate is sold or renewed, so we can keep working together to protect wildlife in Montana and across the Rocky Mountains.

Montana residents who would like to purchase a Defenders’ license plate can find more information on the Montana DOJ site.

Visit our Rocky Mountain office page to learn more about our programs.

The vitality of America’s wild landscapes, such as those found in the majestic 20-million-acre Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, depends on budgets passed by Congress.

But the U.S. House of Representatives’ funding proposal contains dozens of non-spending related, anti-environmental policy provisions that could bankrupt citizens of their right to weigh in on decisions that affect public lands and wildlife.

Two of these so-called “riders” aim to make it difficult for concerned citizens and member-based conservation groups, like Defenders, to be involved in critical public lands decisions that affect wildlife and wild lands.

These riders would severely limit the public’s ability to have a say on how national forest lands, which belong to the American people, are managed.

One provision (in section 118) impacts Bureau of Land Management lands — some 253 million acres throughout the West, including millions in the Greater Yellowstone area such as the Bighorn Basin. It would require the public to engage in time consuming bureaucratic reviews before having the opportunity to get a fair court hearing on environmentally damaging actions.

The legislation would let the BLM move forward with harmful oil and gas drilling in places such as the Bighorn Basin without the benefit of reasonable pubic and judicial oversight.

The other (in section 437) targets the National Forest System — 193 million acres in 155 forests across the country, including seven national forests within the Greater Yellowstone region. This provision would block the public from legally challenging potentially harmful Forest Service activities such as logging and road-building. And instead of having 45 days to object to a final decision on a harmful project, the public would be forced to protest prior to a final decision. But even then the agency would have the power to ignore public concerns and exempt some projects from any appeal.

These riders would severely limit the public’s ability to have a say on how national forest lands, which belong to the American people, are managed. In a Democracy, it is critical that the public be allowed to participate in decision-making regarding the future of public lands.

Do these proposals blocking the people from having a say in the management of their own public lands sound American to you?

Contact your Representative today and tell them to put people ahead of special interests — vote against this bad bill!

What comes to mind when you think of wilderness?  For me, it is the grizzly, the epitome of the west and all that is wild.  Once ranging in great numbers throughout the mountains and the Great Plains, grizzlies have been reduced to less than 2% of their historic range in the lower 48.  Fewer than 1,500 now remain in five distinct populations.

Since being listed as a threatened species in the lower 48 under the Endangered Species Act in 1975, grizzlies have made great strides towards recovery.  Numbers have nearly tripled to over 600 in the Greater Yellowstone Area in the past three decades.  The Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem grizzly population has increased to over 800, where 48% of the bears now call Glacier National Park home.  Grizzlies have also begun to move back to their historic range on the plains.  However, this iconic animal is not out of the woods just yet.

If you have been following the news in the west, you have probably noticed the rise in human/bear conflicts in recent years.  Human-caused mortality is one of the biggest threats to grizzly bear survival in the lower 48.  As with all wild things, grizzlies need room to roam – and a lot of it.  With human population growing steadily in the west, habitat is declining.  While more and more people are making efforts to reduce these conflicts, there is still a long way to go.

The recent success in grizzly bear recovery has brought to the table an important –and familiar – question.  Are grizzlies ready to be delisted – removed from the protection of the Endangered Species Act – in areas where they are doing well?  For any species, the answer is not just about numbers of animals, but also about whether adequate protections are in place to ensure they won’t need to be put back on the Endangered Species List in the future. An article in the Missoula Independent provided some much needed insight on this debate, including some great quotes from our Northern Rockies Representative, Jonathan Proctor:

Grizzlies are “a success story in the making right now,” says Jonathan Proctor, Rocky Mountain Region representative for the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife. “The population is expanding, protections are working, more and more people who live around the NCDE area are taking great steps to coexist with grizzlies…Everyone wants the grizzlies to recover to the point where delisting can occur. Obviously we do. The question is, is it at that point or not?”

Read the article and check out our grizzly page for more information.

*NEW COLUMN*: A weekly homage to endangered species, large and small

Today is Endangered Species Day, and that means it’s time to pay homage to all those critters large and small, charismatic and not, that keep the world turning. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be highlighting a handful of imperiled plants and animals that benefit the environment and the economy, alternating each week between familiar and oft-forgotten wildlife. Each one is a vital part of the web of life that provides clean air, clean water and a healthy environment for generations to come. And each one should give us a chance to reflect on the incredible diversity of plants and animals that we are fighting to protect.

“Teddy’s” bear

To coincide with the end of Bear Awareness Week, we’re starting with the most iconic of all animals—the teddy bear.

Ever wonder where those cute and cuddly stuffed kids toys got their name? Back in 1902, President Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt was on a hunting expedition down south and refused to shoot a Louisiana black bear that others had captured and tied to a tree. A newspaper cartoonist poked fun at the President by drawing a fuzzy, stuffed bear that he called “Teddy’s bear.” The name stuck.

The Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) is subspecies of the American black bear that was once found throughout the bottomland hardwood forests of eastern Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and southern Arkansas. At the time of President Roosevelt’s teddy bear incident, nearly all of them were gone and populations remained low throughout the 20^th century. By 1992 when the species was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, just a few hundred survived as a result of habitat loss, poaching and vehicle collisions.

Today, Louisiana black bears are on a path to recovery thanks to increased awareness and local conservation efforts. Through the efforts of the Black Bear Conservation Committee, a coalition of local businesses, concerned citizens and wildlife agencies, bears have become a source of pride and a hot commodity. Each year, between 5,000 and 7,000 people attend the Bayou Teche Bear Festival in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, to learn about bears, take field trips and enjoy good food and music. The festival was named the #1 “Best New Event” in 2006 by the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals and has since expanded to include bird watching as well.

Other towns are getting in on the action too. Some 6,000 people attend the Great Delta Bear Affair in Rolling Hills, Mississippi to tour local wilderness areas and give their best Roosevelt impersonation.

In 2001, wildlife watching in Louisiana totaled nearly $370 million even before the influx of tourism dollars for the bear festival. It’s investments like these that make wildlife conservation a boon to local economies in addition to a vital part of the environment.

Click here to learn more about what Defenders is doing to protect America’s bears.

Celebrate Endangered Species Day!

If you’re not already partying down for ES Day, take a look at this list of events. Defenders is officially partaking in at least two of these (listed below), so drop on by if you’re in the neighborhood.

Endangered Species Day Fair in DC
Friday, May 20, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. (Stop by the Defenders table!)
U.S. Botanic Garden
100 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20001
Washington, DC 20001

Live Wolverine and Movie at ZooMontana
Meet Cass, a wolverine from ZooMontana then watch PBS Nature’s feature documentary, “Chasing the Phantom.” Stay for a panel discussion with the film’s director and other wolverine experts including Defenders own David Gaillard.

Friday, May 20, 5:30 p.m.
2100 S Shiloh Road
Billings, MT
Get more details here.

Get the Bear Facts

Download our Saving America’s Bears fact sheet to learn about the threats facing bears in the United States today, what Defenders of Wildlife is doing to protect them—and what you can do to help.