Photo Credit: Sam Parks

Ways to protect wildlife – how we keep wildlife safe from Wildlife Services and promote non-lethal management

Reforming Wildlife Services

Though Wildlife Services’ slaughter of native wildlife is abhorrent, unscientific, and ineffective, it nevertheless takes time and effort to stop the agency in its tracks. WildEarth Guardians works at the county, state, and federal levels to reform Wildlife Services. If you would like to join us in giving voice to the animals forever silenced by Wildlife Services, download our Advocate Toolkit to learn three easy ways to get involved.

Our work begins at the local level, we work to cancel contracts or require nonlethal tools to be used in the contracts counties often draw up with Wildlife Services to kill local wildlife at the request of ranchers. At the state level, we endeavor to remove the most dangerous tools from the agency’s cruelty toolbox, such as getting a moratorium on M-44 cyanide bombs in Idaho and ceasing wildlife killing across wilderness areas in Nevada. And at the federal level, we go all the way to the halls of Capitol Hill and federal courtrooms to hold Wildlife Services accountable to the public and the wildlife they should be serving.

Each victory, whether at the local, state, or federal level, brings us one step closer to ending Wildlife Services’ killing for good.

Help End the War on Wildlife

Watch our film to learn more.

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What We’re After

Native wildlife deserves to exist and thrive in their home—the iconic landscapes of the American West. We are building a groundswell of support to end the cruel and outdated killing methods of Wildlife Services.

STOP

Stop poisoning, trapping, snaring, aerial gunning, and other inhumane practices.

PROTECT

Protect millions of wild animals from being targeted by Wildlife Services agents every year.

NURTURE

Nurture compassion for all animals through non-lethal wildlife management.

REFORM

Reform Wildlife Services to comply with modern science-based best practices.

Make Our Public Lands Cruelty-Free

Tell your elected officials to End the War on Wildlife. Stand with wildlife against the cruel and ecologically destructive practices of the federal wildlife-killing agency, Wildlife Services.

SIGN THE PETITION

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.

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Wildlife Press

Campaign launched to overhaul state management of wolves

Jun 23, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore.— A new s…

Time to terminate wildlife killing contests

The Register-Guard | May 18, 2021

"Wildlife Killing Contests" is — as intended — extremely difficult to watch. The recently released 25-minute documentary, produced by Filipe DeAndrade and Brian Moghari in partnership with Project Coyote, contains graphic footage of animals being callously slain for entertainment and prize money, only to be added to piles of carcasses used for vain photo opportunities.

Activists fear Biden’s climate pledges are falling apart: ‘We aren’t seeing grit’

The Guardian | Jun 22, 2021

On his first day at the White House, Joe Biden earned praise for following through on several campaign promises, committing the US to strict climate goals and a greener future. Now, nearly six months into his presidency, several of those commitments are being put to the test, and already, many are falling apart.

All Wildlife In the News

Environmental groups sue feds over highway plan through southern Utah conservation area

KSL.com | Jun 4, 2021

Wildlife lawyers: Flathead plan fails grizzlies, trout

KPVI | May 28, 2021

Conservation groups call for urgent action to protect grizzly bears

Bitterroot Star | May 26, 2021

Megan Sweeney

Wild Places Intern

Megan is a rising 3L at the University of Oregon School of Law. Originally from Jupiter, Florida, she grew up scuba diving, snorkeling, and hiking in a state with unique ecosystems such as everglades and coral reefs, shaping her into the environmentally conscious individual she is today. Working at a sea turtle hospital and watching toxic algae blooms negatively affect both coral reefs and endangered species inspired her to drive positive change and pursue a career in environmental law.

She attended the University of Florida and graduated in 2018 with a BS in Marine Science with minors in Mathematics and Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. After graduation, she worked as an intern at JLA Geosciences, a hydrogeological contracting firm where she learned the importance of sustainable water and land management. Megan is very involved with the environmental law community through her leadership roles in the Land Air Water Environmental Law Society. Megan helped organize both the 2020 and 2021 Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) through her positions as a 1L Representative and a Conference Co-Director. During her 3L year she will serve as a Land Air Water Co-Director. She has also been involved with the University Oregon’s Environmental and Natural Resources Center as a Fellow on the Oceans, Coasts, and Watersheds Project.

Her research is focused on Biocriteria and reforming the CWA to better protect coral reefs and better address agricultural runoff. During her 2L year she also competed in the Jeffrey G. Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. During the summer of 2020 she worked for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. In the fall of 2020, she had a judicial externship at the U.S. District Court District of Oregon working for the Honorable Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai. Megan is very excited to gain further litigation skills by working in the Wildlife Program at the Portland Office of WildEarth Guardians.

Tessa Archibald

WIldlife Program Intern

Tessa Archibald is a passionate animal lover with a desire to preserve our natural world and increase respect for all species. She obtained a BS in Biopsychology from Tufts University and is currently working towards a Masters in Animals and Public Policy at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. She hopes that an understanding of complex human animal interactions and policy will promote more empathetic management of wildlife across all lands!

Joe Bushyhead

Endangered Species Policy Advocate

Joe Bushyhead joined Guardians in May 2021 as our Endangered Species Policy Advocate. Based in Denver, he works to protect imperiled Western species as well as the integrity of the Endangered Species Act itself.

Prior to Guardians, Joe spent seven years as a staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and clerked for the Honorable Tena Campbell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. He holds a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis and a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law. Before law school, he worked for the Nez Perce Tribe Department of Fisheries Resource Management on, among other projects, a study of Chinook salmon in Idaho’s South Fork of the Salmon River watershed.

Hailey Zimber

Research Intern

My name is Hailey Zimber and I am a rising senior majoring in Politics at Whitman College. I am thrilled to be joining WildEarth Guardians as a research and community organizing intern for the Greater Gila Campaign. As a born and raised New Mexican, the Greater Gila is one of the silos of wilderness that have shaped who I know myself to be. Protecting the Gila means protecting myself, my state, and my community, and for this reason, this position is especially meaningful to me.

Tricia Snyder

Rio Grande Campaigner

Tricia, as a child of military parents, spent much of her childhood moving frequently in the U.S. and abroad, but calls El Paso, TX home. Growing up on the banks of the (often dry) Rio Grande and the water scarcity of the Southwest sparked a life-long interest in finding solutions for water conflicts in the arid and semi-arid American West. Tricia received a B.S. in Geography with a focus on human-environment connection from New Mexico State University. Her research while there centered on water management across borders. She spent 5 years working with the Southwest Environmental Center working to protect and restore the wildlife and wild places of the Southwest borderlands, particularly focused on the recovery of the Mexican gray wolf. In 2015, Tricia moved to Washington state to pursue a graduate degree, receiving an M.S. in Cultural and Environmental Resource Management from Central Washington University. Her thesis, which conducted an adaptive capacity assessment of the Upper Klamath Basin, utilized both quantitative and qualitative research methods. She worked for nearly four years on salmon recovery as the Lead Entity Coordinator for the Yakima Basin in central Washington, bringing together a diverse group of interests and perspectives. Tricia joined WildEarth Guardians as the Rio Grande Campaigner in 2021.

Ways to protect wildlife – how we keep wildlife safe from Wildlife Services and promote non-lethal management

Reforming Wildlife Services

Help End the War on Wildlife

What We’re After

STOP

PROTECT

NURTURE

REFORM

Make Our Public Lands Cruelty-Free

How You Can Help

Recent Stories From Wildlife

Wildlife Press

WildEarth Guardians protects and restores the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West.

Megan Sweeney

Wild Places Intern

Contact

Tessa Archibald

WIldlife Program Intern

Contact

Joe Bushyhead

Endangered Species Policy Advocate

Contact

Hailey Zimber

Research Intern

Dustin Martin

Member, Board of Directors

Francine D. Spang-Willis

Member, Board of Directors

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Tricia Snyder

Rio Grande Campaigner