Defenders of Wildlife Blog

In the aftermath of the Gulf oil disaster, Defenders of Wildlife received hundreds of phone calls and emails from concerned Americans wondering what they could do to help wildlife and coastal habitat impacted by the catastropic spill. Having already built a tool called the Conservation Registry to track and map conservation projects across the country, we decided to create a section of the site geared specifically toward people looking to aid in Gulf response and recovery. 

With the help of Google Maps, the Gulf Oil Spill Recovery website combines the latest locations of oil along with information on important wildlife habitats.  Users are able to see what impacts have occurred, response steps taken already and what projects still need volunteers. The interactive site also invites people to record the impacts they have witnessed themselves, and spread the word about what areas need help most.

Proud that Defenders is using Google Earth as a tool to help change the world, a video explaining the site is being featured on Google Earth Heroes – a program that salutes ordinary individuals achieving extraordinary goals and shares their stories in the hopes that they will inspire even more initiatives to help make the world a better place.

Visit the Gulf Oil Spill Response and Recovery website at gulfoilspillrecovery.org and see how YOU can be a hero.

Photo courtesy of USFWS

Kayla DiBenedetto is a fisheries biologist in the Baton Rouge Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Louisiana.

“The way I figure it, for the last 3 ½ years I have had the best of two worlds: I’m working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doing what I love; and my field station is located in my hometown. I was born and raised in Baker, LA, 30 minutes north of Baton Rouge.  So I guess you could say that Louisiana’s coasts and wetlands with their abundant fish and wildlife resources are my “native habitat” and have helped shape who I am today. Read the full story

Meet Ron Britton, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. Ron started working on oil spills first as a biologist and then biological oceanographer. He worked on Exxon Valdez oil spill and is now helping with the crisis down in the Gulf of Mexico.

While down in the Gulf, he told Defenders, “You have to finally get to a point that emergency medical response teams have to get to, where you know you’re doing a good thing, amidst all the things around you that don’t seem  so appealing or attractive, and you just have to try to do the best job.”

Jack Bohannan works with the Coast Guard on Breton NWR. Photo credit USFWS/Greg Thompson

 Jack Bohannan is the  Refuge Manager of for Delta, Breton and Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuges in Southeast Louisiana.

Defenders asked him to tell us a little bit about how he’s dealing with the Gulf oil disaster.

Oil operations and the challenges that go with them are the part of the job when you work on refuges along the Gulf Coast. In fact, when the news broke about the Deepwater Horizon disaster, my staff and I were dealing with a 500-barrel spill in the heart of Delta Refuge caused by a spud barge striking a 10-inch pipeline. What’s happening now, however, is a whole new ball game. Read the full story

Jereme Phillips, courtesy of Jennifer Strickland, USFWS

Jereme Phillips has been with the US Fish and Wildlife Service for 11 years. He is the Refuge Manager at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, Gulf Shores, Alabama. 

Defenders: Jereme, what is your role in addressing the disaster in the Gulf?

Jereme: My primary role is to protect refuge wildlife and habitats from the oil spill. My staff and I also coordinate closely with the unified command to ensure that the response to the oil spill (surveys, cleanup, boom deployment) is directed to help protect the most sensitive refuge resources and so that any negative impacts are avoided. For example, we mark sea turtle and migratory bird nesting areas so that crews who need to use all-terrain vehicles can do so without affecting nests. Read the full story

Defenders’ vice president of Communications Cindy Hoffman introduces “Heroes in the Gulf, ” a series dedicated to the the men and women who are working tirelessly to mitigate the devastating effects of oil on the Gulf coast and its wildlife. Join Defenders as we hear stories from people from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Louisiana Fish and Game and more working at ground zero of the Gulf oil disaster.