Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Thousands of birds faced a special threat this year: wetlands habitats damaged by the massive Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

But thanks to local landowners, many migratory birds may have dodged disaster. Early this summer, the Obama administration set up an initiative to urge landowners to create additional habitat for these birds by flooding fields and croplands. The goal was to get enough landowners involved to total 150,000 acres of flooded and fallowed lands. Gulf Coast landowners and others along important migratory “flyways” responded to the call, cobbling together an area more than three times the size of the initial goal!

The response to the crisis was unprecedented, but so was the BP oil spill and the havoc it caused to the environment.

The initiative, created by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, was launched on June 28, 2010 as an effort to lessen the chances that migrating birds would cross paths with oil, according to a Delta Farm Press report, giving birds cleaner places to rest and safer, uncontaminated food to eat.

“Private landowners play a critically important role in protecting wildlife every single day,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said in an October statement.  “And I am proud that so many landowners in these eight states stepped up to be a part of this unprecedented effort to increase migratory bird habitat and protect wildlife from any lingering effects from the oil spill.”

“The outpouring of support for this effort far exceeded our expectations, and it will have an impact on countless migratory bird populations for years to come,” he said.

An Unprecedented Effort

The response to the crisis was unprecedented, but so was the BP oil spill and the havoc it caused to the environment. The worst in American history, the Deepwater Horizon spill affected at least 650 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline, including more than 380 miles in Louisiana, 110 miles in Mississippi, 75 miles in Alabama and 90 miles in Florida. But only with time, will the full  impacts of the spill on Gulf Coast fisheries and Gulf of Mexico ecosystems come to light.

What’s Next for Migratory Birds…

As climate change alters or destroys habitats, bird migration – a miracle of nature – is itself at risk. In addition to the short-term goals that cover this year’s migration season, this Gulf Coast initiative has long-term objectives as well. With luck, future migrating birds will find also refuge on the land of these nature-loving landowners.

Check out more of our coverage on the BP oil disaster.

Find out what you can do to help wildlife impacted by the Gulf disaster.

Are polar bears becoming the real bad news bears? Today, Defenders released a new report that takes a look at the status of polar bears in Alaska and the ongoing threats posed by climate change. But while the world’s only marine bear is in serious trouble, the report, Sea Bear Under Siege: Polar Bears and Climate Change in Alaska offers a list of actions that – if undertaken soon – could be the key to saving this Arctic icon.

Karla Dutton, Alaska director for Defenders of Wildlife said, “Warming temperatures are devastating key polar bear habitat. The alarming loss of Arctic sea-ice has negative implications for every aspect of the bears’ lives, from hunting seals to raising cubs. Without help, climate change could be the final straw for the animals in Alaska. As the marine bears turn increasingly to land, our response must be quicker and more ambitious than ever.

“In addition to working to reduce greenhouse gas pollution responsible for climate change, Defenders is exploring measures to keep both polar bears and Alaskans safe as the loss of sea-ice forces the marine mammals farther inland. This includes developing polar-bear-resistant food-lockers for Alaska Native communities, and considering supplemental and diversionary feedings of bears to prevent conflict with humans as bears search for food on land. With bold action, we can prevent polar bears from disappearing from U.S. shores.”

The report, Sea Bear Under Siege: Polar Bears and Climate Change in Alaska, offers an extensive list of actions, among them banking polar bear DNA, supplemental feedings of starving bears and bear-resistant food storage, that should be undertaken to assist these Arctic marine animals. Several of these recommendations are particularly relevant now, as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — the most important onshore denning site for polar bears — celebrates its 50^th anniversary and prepares for the future.

With bold action, we can prevent polar bears from disappearing from U.S. shores.

Learn more:

Read Defenders’ new report, Sea Bear Under Siege: Polar Bears and Climate Change in Alaska.

See Defenders’ factsheet on the importance on the Arctic Refuge to dwindling Alaskan polar bear populations.

In a long-awaited move, the Obama administration today announced that it will not allow offshore oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico or off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as part of the next five-year drilling plan. This is a welcome reversal of an announcement less March – made less than a month before the disastrous Deepwater Horizon blowout – that the administration had approved new offshore drilling off of Virginia, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and both coasts of Florida.

But not all of America’s coasts are safe from dirty and dangerous drilling operations. The five year plan still allows for the permitting process for Arctic drilling to move forward, although there will be further scientific evaluation of the operation.

Richard Charter, offshore drilling expert and senior policy advisor said, “The administration’s decisive move to restore protection of much of America’s coasts from the dangers of offshore drilling for the next five years demonstrates that it took the hard lessons of the BP Gulf oil disaster to heart. We continue to witness the devastation that drilling operations can have on our economy, coastal communities and wildlife. Prohibiting oil and gas exploration in these fragile areas is the only way to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again.

The Arctic's Chukchi Sea, courtesy USFWS

“The President now needs to apply the same lessons to the more immediate and very dangerous plans for offshore drilling in the harsh conditions of the Arctic Ocean, where long dark winters and the absence of response infrastructure, combined with the complete lack of effective spill cleanup capabilities, would lead to catastrophic impacts.

“We are confident that further scientific studies of the impacts of drilling in the Arctic will show that the drilling ban should be extended to this region as well.”

Learn more:

Read the full statement here.

See the threats offshore drilling poses to the fragile Arctic environment.

The answer is, we don’t know yet. But as energy companies increasingly seek to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic, increasing the chances of a catastrophic oil spill, “we don’t know” isn’t good enough.

And that’s why I found myself at an exciting hands-on marine mammal de-oiling workshop in Seward, Alaska. Along with more than 30 first responders, I joined conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Clean Seas, the Alaska SeaLife Center, the North Slope Borough, BP and Exxon to share knowledge about the current state of marine mammal de-oiling practices.

Over the course of two days, we  examined the lessons we’d learned from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which oiled approximately 2,500 sea otters, as well as from SeaWorld experts Dr. Pam Yochem and Bill Winhall, who respond to oiled marine mammals off the coast of California. We also got to experience hands-on just how difficult it is to remove even a small amount of oil from the thick fur of marine mammals by vigorously cleaning an oiled sea otter pelt.

On the left, Karla helps clean an oiled sea otter pelt

The Arctic presents many challenges to us. We have little marine mammal oil clean up equipment in place, few roads, darkness and hostile weather much of the year. These known challenges make this workshop so important and timely – providing us with time to examine what we know, what we do not know and what resources and training we need to prepare for a spill.  This type of training is likely to become an annual event, in order to establish a timely, trained response team in place with the resources and tools needed to treat oiled marine mammals like polar bears.

Federal help for polar bears

The Department of the Interior took an important stand for the future of polar bears last week,  announcing it will protect more than 187,000 square miles of onshore barrier islands, denning areas and offshore sea ice as critical habitat. Critical habitat designation will ensure that the federal government considers the impacts on polar bear habitat of actions it authorizes, funds, or carries out to ensure that critical habitat will not be adversely modified or destroyed.

This decision will provide crucial protection for polar bears, a species watching its habitat melt from beneath its feet. Designating critical habitat will help ensure that federal actions will not contribute to the polar bear’s plight.

Post by Karla Dutton, Alaska program director for Defenders. The Alaska office is focusing increasingly on initiatives on climate change and the related habitat impacts on polar bears.

Learn more about polar bears and how Defenders is working to save this Arctic icon.

Oiled Pelican (Copyright AP / Charlie Riedel)

The Obama administration today lifted its moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, more than a month before the scheduled end date. The administration has not adequately addressed failures to comply with environmental laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act.

Richard Charter, offshore drilling expert and senior policy advisor for Defenders of Wildlife said, “It is premature to lift the deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf. Although the increased safety and spill response requirements imposed by Interior Secretary Salazar are important, there are still no new measures in place to protect species such as endangered sea turtles and sperm whales, and imperiled bluefin tuna.”

“Before Secretary Salazar approves any applications to resume drilling, potentially opening the Gulf up to future environmental disasters, he must ensure that the potential impacts on wildlife have been fully evaluated and strong measures are in place to protect them.”

“Although the increased safety and spill response requirements imposed by Interior Secretary Salazar are important, there are still no new measures in place to protect species such as endangered sea turtles and sperm whales, and imperiled bluefin tuna.”

“The potential resumption of deepwater drilling in the Gulf makes it increasingly critical for Congress to pass legislation that ensures safer operations in any water depth, provides better spill response, lifts the grossly inadequate liability cap currently in place and secures funding for restoration efforts in the Gulf. The Obama administration should push the Senate to act and remain steadfast in its efforts to ensure that there will be no repeats of last summer’s disaster in the Gulf.”

Read more about the lifting of the moratorium.

Ask your Senators to pass comprehensive legislation to promote clean energy.

Last night, Canadian TV’s news staff got on the phone with Richard Charter, offshore drilling expert and senior policy adviser at Defenders of Wildlife, to hear what he had to say about the explosion of the Vermilion 380, an offshore drilling platform owned by Mariner Energy of Houston.

After monitoring the aftermath of the explosion almost 100 miles south of Louisiana, Richard said, “Everyone is relieved that 13 workers were rescued safely from the waters, but in terms of environmental consequences it’s too early to tell.”

He told CTV of the company that owned the rig, “Mariner Energy since 2006 has had nine reported incidents in the Gulf of Mexico, including four fires and one blowout. There are these smaller events consistently throughout the Gulf of Mexico that we don’t usually hear about because they don’t occur – by coincidence – on the same day, today, that BP experts were removing the capping stack from the Deepwater Horizon Macondo well.”

The current moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would not have affected this rig, drilling at only 340 feet. Richard said, “The event today of course highlights that there are inherent risks of accidents in offshore drilling activities in any water depth.”

“We need to either make this activity safe or decide there are going to be  parts of hte planet that are too environmentally sensitive to go ahead with high risk drilling – the Arctic is of course one of  them. We’re getting some hard lessons as a society here.”

See the full interview here.

What you can do:

Write a letter to the editor. The House of Representatives has passed legislation to help protect our wildlife by improving safety and accountability in offshore drilling, but the Senate has yet to act. Help encourage your senators to act by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.

Support our work. Your tax-deductible donation will help us protect sea turtles and other wildlife from the dangers of reckless offshore drilling.