WildEarth Guardians

A Force for Nature

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Photo credit: Sam Parks

Species conservation – protecting western wildlife

Wildlife

The American West is home to an incredible diversity of life, from delicate checkerspot butterflies in the mountains of New Mexico, to silvery minnows in the waters of the iconic Rio Grande, to majestic grizzly bears roaming the valleys in and around Yellowstone National Park. Each of these species belongs in, and to, the Western landscape. Each has an unalienable right to exist and thrive. We have a duty to protect that right.

And the wildlife of the West badly need protection. These species face a barrage of threats, most of them human-caused: disappearing habitat, climate change, traps, poisons, intolerance. We already have tools to conserve the West’s diversity and protect its life—the most powerful of these being the Endangered Species Act—yet many of these tools remain underused, and many are under threat, even as many species march toward extinction.

We must shift the paradigm of wildlife management from persecution to protection. For wildlife’s sake, we are relentless advocates, reformers, and voices for the vulnerable.

 

Defend the Endangered Species Act

The Endangered Species Act is our country’s most essential environmental law protecting imperiled plants and animals, yet some members of Congress want to weaken the law. Tell Congress you value native wildlife and want to see all imperiled species protected.

ADD YOUR VOICE

 

Wildlife Program Work

WildEarth Guardians’ Wildlife program is focusing our energy on seven key campaigns, ranging from protecting endangered species to fundamentally reforming the federal wildlife-killing agency Wildlife Services.

Endangered Species Act Defense

Defending the Endangered Species Act, America’s most powerful environmental law

Endangered Species Act Protections

Ushering imperiled species onto the protections of the legal arc of the Endangered Species Act and using its full powers to ensure their survival and recovery

End the War on Wildlife

Fundamentally reforming the federal wildlife-killing agency, Wildlife Services, ending its use of cruel and indiscriminate weapons, and adopting a coexistence mandate

Defend Native Carnivores

Fighting for bears, wolves, lynx, and other key ecosystem engineers of the West

End Cruel Trapping

Organizing against the vicious practice of trapping, which threatens native wildlife, humans, and companion animals

Safeguard the Sagebrush Sea

Protecting the sagebrush ecosystem between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada and its resident wildlife, including sage grouse

Protect Prairie Dog Empires

Ending the persecution and extermination of prairie dogs; engendering coexistence with these key ecosystem engineers

How You Can Help

Help protect the incredible, vulnerable wildlife of the West! Be a guardian for the wild by joining the conversation, learning about current issues, and making your voice heard. Together, we're a powerful force for nature.

Recent Stories From Wildlife

Help us to Oppose Montana House Bill 372

March 13, 2023

HB 372 would open the door for catastrophic consequences to our native wildlife, providing a right to “hunt, fish, trap, and harvest wild fish and wildlife.”

Read more >

Wildlife Press

More work remains to ensure lobo survival

Santa Fe New Mexican | Mar 29, 2023

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the first Mexican wolves being reintroduced into the wilds of the United States. And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released its annual count of lobos in New Mexico and Arizona.

Read more >

All Wildlife Op-Eds

Jared Polis supports Endangered Special Act rule, but not Colorado bill tied to it

Colorado Politics | Mar 30, 2023

While Gov. Jared Polis backs the state Division of Parks and Wildlife obtaining a rule allowing Colorado to move forward on its plan to reintroduce wolves, a spokesman said today he does not support the process outlined in a bill introduced yesterday.

Read more >

All Wildlife In the News

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