Wildlife Promise

Coming Monday: A New Look Blooms

Checking In On Elmer's Island, LA

As one of the hardest hit areas in the Gulf oil disaster, Elmer's Island still remains closed to the public. Since heavy oil started washing ashore on the 1,700-acre island in late-May, it has been a ground zero for oiled bird rescues, field studies and clean-up operations. Although considerable progress has been made in restoring the area, the recovery is slow and it’s unknown when it will reopen to the public.

Watch this video to learn about Elmer's history, the role the island plays in providing habitat for coastal wildlife, and why groups like the Louisiana Wildlife Federation are eager to see it re-opened to the public.

 

The Nature of Childhood Needs More Nature

This post was written by Jaime Matyas, National Wildlife Federation's Chief Operating Officer who is a  soccer playing, working mom, trying to get her kids outside whenever she can.


It’s hard to believe 3 months have passed since the day I spent on a flat bottom boat, under the raging Gulf sun, surrounded by oil, meandering through the Gulf coast marsh with Rosina and her 8 year-old nephew. Back home in Maryland, where my routine varies with each sunrise, I find myself in awe of Rosina and her tribe, who’s daily routines have remained remarkably unaltered for generations (at least until the oil spill hit, threatening their culture and way of life). My time in and around Louisiana changed me. It sneaks up on me in unexpected ways.

At back-to-school night at my daughter’s middle school, the science teacher spent considerable time talking about the Outdoor Education program for the 6th graders.

Under the program, students get to:

• spend 3 days learning about the Chesapeake Bay watershed

• hike through the woods,

• collect water samples in the creek,

• sleep in bunks

• prepare their own meals

I don’t know who was more excited about the program - me or

my daughter. Yet, as I looked around the room, I noticed many did not share our level of excitement. This is likely due the fact that for this group of more than 100 pre-teens, the nature of their childhood doesn’t have much nature in it and sadly, they reflect the national norm. 
 
Realizing this, I am even more amazed at the kids in Rosina’s tribe. Unlike my daughter’s classmates,  they don’t need a 3 day outing to introduce them to nature. Not only do these kids know their native trees, local birds and critters but they know them in the way you know a best friend.  You know more than their name or color of their hair. You know their favorite food and when something is wrong.


This Saturday my family and I will participate in Hike & Seek.  As I encourage my friends and family 
to join us, I do so not only with the knowledge that it will be a fun outdoor experience but also with the importance that kids need to know their local trees and native wildlife so that as they grow, so too will their relationship with and desire to protect the significance and natural beauty of their place, the Chesapeake Bay.

 

Schwarzenegger: Polluters Playing Political Games in California

Recently, we highlighted a climate denial exhibit at the Smithsonian sponsored by Koch Industries. And this week, we told you how Koch is funding a campaign to keep California hooked on polluting fuels.

Now Koch has drawn the ire of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Warming Walruses: Watch NWF's Climate Capsule

From DC to Alaska, what impact is global warming having on America right now? What's the National Wildlife Federation doing to help promote green job training? And as Dirty the Global Warming Denying Sock Puppet attacks California's climate law, will he find himself in a Katy Perry controversy?

Watch this week's NWF Climate Capsule:

Here's a quick flashback at what Jim Everett would do to Dirty's bucket if he ever called him Chris.

Want the NWF Climate Capsule video delivered to you every week? Subscribe:

• Go to the NWF Climate Capsule archive on YouTube & click the yellow "subscribe" button in the upper right corner

• Subscribe to the Capsule as a podcast via iTunes

Got climate questions? Any global warming denier arguments you'd like to hear Dirty sock puppet? Email us!

(Audio) Blow the Whistle on Polluter Abuse!

Nebraska landowners and citizens will be able to blow the whistle on the heavy-handed tactics of Canadian oil giant TransCanada starting today.

TransCanada is the company trying to run the dirty fuel into the U.S. along a 2000 mile proposed pipeline almost certain to leak. The fuel is awful for the environment, emitting three times the carbon emissions of conventional oil and gas.

Widespread media reports say the company has attempted to strong-arm residents into putting a risky pipeline on their property. Having witnessed a series of high profile pipeline incidents around the country recently, area groups concerned the pipeline will eventually leak, spill or explode in sensitive areas like the Sandhills, Platte River and Ogallala Aquifer. A recent poll found Nebraskans oppose the pipeline by more than two-to-one.

The groups launched a toll-free tip line, radio ads and a website that urges landowners, concerned citizens and TransCanada employees to confidentially report abusive and questionable acts.  To learn more, report abuse, and listen to the radio ad, visit www.TransCanadaAbuse.com.

 

CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year 2010

Check out the winner!

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Unveils Strategic Plan to Respond to Global Warming

This just in: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its strategic plan to respond to global warming.
 
“This defining challenge for the conservation community requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners to apply the skill, determination, creativity and commitment to conserving the nation’s natural resources that have defined the American conservation movement since its inception more than 160 years ago,” according to the plan.

“The National Wildlife Federation is enthused about this latest step by the Fish and Wildlife Service to address the causes and effects of global warming,” said John Kostyack, executive director of Wildlife Conservation and Global Warming for National Wildlife Federation. “It is time to stop debating global warming as if it were solely a question of what might happen in the future. Warming is happening now and it is disrupting the natural systems that support both wildlife and people.”

For example, earlier this month nearly 20,000 walruses hauled themselves out of the Alaska's Chukchi Sea, abandoning their traditional habitat due to the rapid decline of sea ice. “These are warning signs that we need to get moving quickly to both reduce our global warming pollution and safeguard communities from the inevitable impacts of warming,” Kostyack said.

Learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s work to help safeguard wildlife and habitat from global warming impacts:
Effects of Global Warming on Wildlife and Habitats
Investing to Safeguard Wildlife and Ecosystems

Dr. Ian MacDonald: Over 50% of BP Oil Remains in Gulf

Dr. Ian MacDonald of Florida State University is scheduled to testify at today’s meeting of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Testifying on a panel entitled “The Fate of the Oil,” Dr. MacDonald will focus on the extent of the Gulf of Mexico’s ability to heal.

Dr. MacDonald’s testimony refutes claims by BP and the federal government response that most of the oil discharged into the environment has disappeared:

[T]he BP oil discharge was at least 10,000 times more concentrated in space and time and about twelve times greater in magnitude than the total annual release from natural seeps of the Gulf of Mexico. In my scientific opinion, the bulk of this material was dispersed in surface layers, from which about one third evaporated and ten percent was removed by burning or skimming. An additional ten percent was chemically dispersed. The remaining fraction -- over 50% of the total discharge -- is a highly durable material that resists further dissipation. Much of it is now buried in marine and coastal sediments. There is scant evidence for bacterial degradation of this material prior to burial.

Dr. MacDonald also cautions against a rush to judgment based on the limited wildlife impact data collected so far. “In Prince William Sound, for example, no dead orcas were found after the Exxon Valdez spill,” said Dr. MacDonald. “Nonetheless, the present orca population in the Sound was reduced by over half by the spill.” Dr. MacDonald recommends a long term approach to monitoring and restoring the Gulf’s ecosystem and economy funded by BP’s penalties.

The National Wildlife Federation is working with Dr. MacDonald and other scientists to monitor and respond to the Gulf oil disaster’s impacts, while fighting for full public disclosure of all available data.

“From Day One, BP and the government have lowballed the volume of the oil in the water and minimized the current and future impacts of this disaster. Dr. MacDonald’s testimony today is a wake-up call to those eager to declare the Gulf oil disaster over,” said Dr. Doug Inkley, National Wildlife Federation senior scientist. “Gulf residents and the ecosystem they depend on don’t need happy talk – they need a national commitment to restore the Gulf, along with real energy reforms to make sure a disaster like this never happens again.”

Read Dr. MacDonald's full written testimony (PDF) and learn more about the National Wildlife Federation’s response to the Gulf oil disaster at NWF.org/OilSpill.

Owl Movie Premieres Tonight

Friday night is movie night and National Wildlife Federation is the education partner on the great new animated film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. 

The film follows Soren, a young barn owl enthralled by his father's epic stories of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, a mythic band of winged warriors who had fought a great battle to save all of owlkind from the evil Pure Ones.

As education partner, NWF created a fun owl activity book for kids and families, a poster (see photo to the right for the front and here for the back, which is filled with owl facts), and an educator's guide to help teachers and parents use the film as an education tool.  Through NWF you can also symbolically adopt several of the owl species featured in the film, including a barn owl, a great horned owl, a great gray owl and a snowy owl.  Each adoption supports our work protecting owls and other wildlife.   

NWF also participated in the media events to promote the film. I spent most of this week out in Los Angeles hanging out with some beautiful barn owls and doing media interviews.  I got to see an advance screening of the film too, and I can say it's an action-packed, family-friendly adventure.  The animation is amazing and while it's purely a fantasy film, the owls look incredibly realistic.  As a naturalist, I was impressed.   The movie opens in theaters TODAY (Friday, September 24th) so be sure to check it out. 

Also, you can find out more about the amazing adaptations of owls over on my Animal Planet blog "Animal Oddities." 

Here's the official trailer:

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David Mizejewski is NWF's naturalist and media personality. _________________________________________________________________________________________