Defenders of Wildlife Blog

A couple of weeks ago, we linked to a Sacramento Bees series about Wildlife Services, the federal agency responsible for killing millions of animals over the last decade. The articles showed how the agency uses a kill-first mentality when it comes to managing wildlife conflicts, resulting in significant numbers of accidental animal deaths—including family pets and endangered species like golden eagles—and imbalances in predator-prey numbers that could have serious environmental consequences over the long term.

We then put out an action alert to urge Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to reform Wildlife Services from the federal government’s top wildlife killers to a program that can truly resolve wildlife conflicts. And nearly 55,000 Defenders supporters responded!

Now the Sacramento Bee is reporting that two Congressman have called for an investigation by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee into the agency’s activities.

It’s clear the movement to reform Wildlife Services is gaining momentum and you can help keep it going! Your donation will help Defenders:

• Continue to expose Wildlife Services’ “kill-first” mentality through media outreach, public education and grassroots mobilization;
• Pressure federal officials to reform Wildlife Services into a program that can effectively prevent and address wildlife conflicts by emphasizing non-lethal methods;
• Expand our pioneering on-the-ground coexistence work with ranchers to keep wolves and other predators out of harm’s way; and
• Much more to protect our wildlife and wild places.

Please donate now to support our work to reform Wildlife Services from a program that relies on killing to one that can more effectively resolve wildlife conflicts using proven non-lethal tools.

 

 

Located on the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is internationally recognized as an important wetland, protected as a wildlife refuge and designated as a Wilderness Area.

It’s one of Alaska’s most ecologically diverse refuges, with lagoons, tundra and stunning mountain peaks. This incredible habitat is home to brown bears, wolverines, caribou and other wildlife.

Tens of thousands of waterfowl, seabirds and shorebirds rely on the Izembek for nesting and feeding. In fact, each fall the refuge shelters nearly the entire population of Pacific black brant and emperor geese.

But federal officials are under pressure to move forward with a plan to build a road through the heart of this amazing place.

Please speak out now to urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service NOT to allow a road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

There are so many things wrong with the proposed road through Izembek National Wildlife Refuge.

• It would slice through the ecological heart of this amazing place, devastating fragile habitat and the wildlife that lives there.
• It would cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
• It would also set a terrible precedent, threatening other refuges and Wilderness Areas.
• It is unnecessary—faster transportation alternatives already exist for the area.

The deadline for public comments is Friday, May 18th so please take action today.

Just in time for Earth Day, Defenders announced today that it spent over $300,000 in 2011 to help ranchers and communities coexist with wildlife and maintain a healthy environment.

Through our Wildlife Coexistence Partnership program, Defenders implemented or provided incentives for more than 100 projects in nine states across the country, including Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, as well as Mexico. Projects included hiring range riders, creating buffer zones for prairie dogs, paying for electric fencing, purchasing bear-proof food lockers and dumpsters, purchasing trail cameras to document panther activity and compensating ranchers for lost livestock. These projects benefited prairie dogs, bison, gray wolves, grizzly bears, jaguars, polar bears, Florida panthers and Florida black bears.

“The nonlethal tools that we’re testing in places like Idaho, Oregon and Montana are showing that people really can share the landscape with wolves with a little extra effort,” says Suzanne Stone, Defenders Northern Rockies representative in Boise, Idaho. “Fladry, guard dogs, range riders—these basic deterrents have all proven effective when they’re given a chance. We’ve demonstrated that losses to wolves can be dropped to near zero levels if appropriate, proactive steps are taken to prevent conflict. Ranchers are able to safeguard their livestock while helping to maintain healthy populations of native wildlife.”

“We recognize that living in areas with grizzly bears or roaming bison isn’t always easy. That’s why we’re investing in projects that benefit people and wildlife,” says Jonathan Proctor, Defenders Rocky Mountain representative in Missoula, Montana. “For example, we helped pay for dozens of projects to keep grizzly bears out of chicken coops, beehives, and trash, primarily by installing electric fencing. These methods work and can prevent conflict with minimal upfront cost to individual property owners.”

“By working together, we are able to bring imperiled wildlife back from the brink of extinction and ease the burden on livestock owners and ranchers,” says Craig Miller, Defenders Southwest representative in Tucson, Arizona. “Our coexistence projects offer a bright future for rare and unique wildlife such as wolves and jaguars and also for ranchers and landowners who are taking steps to help make that possible.”

“The Florida panther’s downward spiral toward extinction has been reversed in recent years and the number of cats has been growing. But for the population to continue to recover, it’s essential the endangered cats avoid conflicts with ranchers and livestock as well as pets and farm animals,” says Laurie Macdonald, Defenders Florida director in St. Petersburg. “By exploring coexistence, compensation and incentive programs that work for both panthers and property owners, we can find effective, long-term solutions that protect the big cats and preserve the Florida rancher’s way of life.”

 

2011 Totals

Minimum number of proactive projects and incentives by region:

• Northern Rockies – 60
• Southwest and Mexico – 20
• Southeast (Florida) – 21
• Great Plains (Kansas & Wyoming) – 3

Number of compensation payments by region:

• Northern Rockies – 38
• Southwest and Mexico – 2

Minimum number of projects and incentives by species:

• Wolf – 34
• Grizzly bear – 39
• Prairie dog – 3
• Bison – 5
• Jaguar – 2
• Florida panther – 10
• Florida black bear – 11

Number of compensation payments by species:

• Grizzly bear – 31
• Wolf – 9

Minimum amount spent on various project and incentive types:

• Fladry –$20,497
• Range riders – $65,960
• Technical field assistance, workshops and information – $126,509
• Compensation for livestock depredation – $56,650
• Dumpsters, garbage bins and food lockers – $17,483
• Fencing and buffers – $18,650

Read our full press release.

 

One man’s trash is a Florida black bear’s treasure. And unless you take action to keep your garbage out of reach, you could play host to one of these furry foragers over and over again. Fortunately, Defenders is on the job. As part of our efforts to help Sunshine State residents live safely in bear country, we provide support for placing bear-proof dumpsters in locations around the state. Watch this video to learn more about our dumpster project in De Leon Springs State Park–and the instant results it saw–from Defenders’ Laurie Macdonald and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Mike Orlando.

13th Annual Black Bear Festival a Success

Last month, Defenders staff and our 12 volunteers were proud to host the 13th Annual Black Bear Festival in Umatilla, Florida, the “Gateway to the Ocala National Forest” and prime black bear country. With live music, good food, arts and crafts and field trips to the Ocala National Forest and Black Bear Scenic Highway, it was a day of family fun but also education for the nearly three thousand Sunshine State residents who attended on how to live peacefully alongside a rebounding bear population. To the right, Defenders’ Shannon Miller demonstrates how to build a livestock enclosure to help protect hobby livestock and pets from predators such as black bears.

Bears Get Love in Alaska, Too!

Since many of Alaska’s bears emerge from dens in early spring, April was the ideal time for Governor Sean to declare “Bear Awareness Month” throughout the Last Frontier. The move is an effort to “encourage all Alaskans to educate themselves on the importance of awareness and safety issues surrounding Alaska’s bears and wildlife, thereby helping to ensure the future of our Alaskan wildlife heritage.”

How many bear biologists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Probably just one. But it takes a whole lot more of them to keep bears out of trouble across the country and around the world.

That’s why 300 wildlife professionals descended on Missoula, Montana two weeks ago for a three-day workshop to learn how they can better protect both bears and people. Attendees of the 4^th International Human-Bear Conflicts Workshop included NGOs, international and national agencies, tribal members, corporations and other interested parties who are looking for ways to help bears and people coexist.

To coincide with the workshop, Defenders launched an expansion of our highly successful grizzly bear electric fence incentive program (see full press release). This year, landowners in eligible counties in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming will be reimbursed 50% of the cost of electric fencing (up to $500) to secure bear attractants, including chicken coops, beehives, compost piles and more.

Check out the nifty advertisement and poster we created to help promote the program, and click here to download the incentive form.

Bear Aware Coordinator Erin Edge represented Defenders very well during the workshop, providing important information about all our bear coexistence projects. On Wednesday, she was even given a round of applause for all Defenders work to protect grizzly bears and called on stage by Mike Madel, Montana Fish Wildlife and Park’s bear management specialist, to talk about the fencing incentive program.

The following day she was also quoted in the Missoulian:

Fencing systems cost around $300 and up, depending on the size and complexity. The nonprofit group Defenders of Wildlife has contributed more than $200,000 to subsidize private fencing projects, and currently offers grants paying 50 percent of the project cost up to $500.

Ranchers and sheep herders have been quick to adopt the fences, while smaller operations like the ones that raise chickens or goats have been slowly coming along, according to Erin Edge, the group’s Bear Aware coordinator. In addition to solar cells, some people have had success with wind turbines in places with less sunlight.

“Every single fence is a different situation,” Edge said. “It’s picking up each year since we started the program.”

Various agencies and NGOs from around the world inquired about the program and were excited about the potential results of such an incentive.  We plan to organize two electric fencing workshops this spring to help others learn how to reduce attractants on the landscape and minimize human-related grizzly mortality.

Great work, Erin and congratulations to our entire grizzly bear coexistence team!

By Glen Gardner, Public News Service

Listen to the Public News Service Story

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BRISTOL, Fla. – The state’s black bear management plan was the topic of discussion Tuesday night at a public workshop here. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says Florida black bear numbers have increased and the bear should no longer be on the state’s list of threatened species.

Laurie Macdonald, director of Defenders of Wildlife’s Florida program, says her group is celebrating the bear’s progress, but she notes that several isolated sub-populations are struggling and facing issues such as inbreeding. She thinks the plan should do more to protect them.

“Be sure they bolster the habitat protection provisions; that they bolster the prevention of human-bear conflict provisions.”

Unless the state creates habitat links between the small black bear sub-populations, she says, they face extinction threats, shrinking the overall gene pool and undoing their progress. She adds that any plan will take cooperation from the public and other state agencies which oversee public lands and enforce laws.

Ensuring that bear populations are not affected by development, Macdonald says, means identifying lands that could be used as habitat to link the bears rather than separating them.

“We want to be sure that populations are not isolated and that they remain very healthy in their connection with the other subpopulations of bears.”

Macdonald believes another key to bear survival in Florida is preventing human-bear conflict by education and enforcing laws that deter people from feeding bears.

“But if they continue to do it – they know what’s right and they’re not doing it, they’re doing what’s wrong – and they’re causing a bear to be a bad bear, then law enforcement needs to step in and prosecute.”

Defenders of Wildlife says intentional and unintentional feeding and not enforcing the law can result in bears damaging property, which often results in the death of the bear.

Information on the draft bear management plan and the three remaining workshops are online at myfwc.com. The next workshop is Nov. 29 in Naples.

Learn more:

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories.

Defenders is working to help people and black bears live together peacefully throughout the state of Florida. Watch this video to learn more about our bear-proof dumpster program.