The Unknown Story of the Mighty Muskoxen
Muskox, just say it out loud…muskox. In addition to being one of the great words (subjectively) to speak in the English language, it’s also a large arctic mammal known for its thick coat and strong smell. Seeing herds roam the Arctic tundra, they look like a long-extinct prehistoric mammal from the Ice Age akin to […]
Rocky Mountain Region: 2017 In Review
At the National Wildlife Federation we strive to unite all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. This means we have the distinct pleasure of connecting people from all walks of life — sportsmen and women, backyard gardeners, weekend birders, or just people with a desire to to protect the splendor that […]
The Sagebrush Sea: The Burrowing, Bustling, and Soaring Creatures of the Sage
Mule deer in sagebrush. Image credit: National Park Service There is a place in the West unlike any place in the world. The horizon stretches west over a rolling sea of sage, and when the wind brushes across the land it’s as though a person is watching the ebb and flow of waves at low […]
Save Our ______
As Congress and the White House continue the process of crafting the Fiscal Year 2018 budget, funding for environmental and other federal programs essential to protecting wildlife, maintaining our clean air and water, and preserving public lands is in jeopardy of being dramatically underfunded or even discontinued. President Trump’s FY 2018 Budget illustrates the severity […]
Journey Through the Canyons of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
In late April of this year, the Trump Administration issued an Executive Order to “review” national monuments established in the last 21 years, despite the President’s campaign promises to fulfill the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt. The review targets Utah’s Grand Staircase Escalante and another 26 monuments, which include irreplaceable habitats at risk of being shrunk […]
Give Sage-grouse a Home on the Range — Not in a Cage
Sagebrush — that’s just the scrubby vegetation you have to drive through to get to the pretty pine trees and the mountains, right? Who cares what happens to it? Well, greater sage-grouse and more than 350 other species do because they have nowhere else to go. And so do the sportsmen and women, hikers, ranchers […]
Wildlife, Public Health Endangered with Methane Rule Suspension
At the urging of fossil fuel interests, on June 12, 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a two-year suspension or “stay” of core components of its 2016 final rule to curb methane pollution from new and modified oil and gas facilities. This is an unwise and harmful move by a federal agency charged with […]
The Antiquities Act Turns 111! How About a Hundred More Years?
The Antiquities Act, which has been integral to building our nation’s public-lands legacy, is 111 years strong. Americans’ love of and support for our public lands remains strong, too. Support is strong despite attempts to transfer, sell off or carve up the lands that belong to all Americans, whether they live next door to a […]
Bears Ears National Monument: Of Spirit and Nature
Bears Ears National Monument is a place where Native American culture intertwines with the high desert of the Grand Gulch Plateau in southeastern Utah. Bears Ears butte. Photo by Chamois Andersen. Hiking through this expansive landscape, with lost canyons winding through the valley below, one feels a spiritual presence amid the sandstone outcrops and pinyon […]
A Win for Wildlife: Protecting America’s Public Lands from Methane Pollution
On Wednesday, 51 Senators—all Democrats plus Republicans Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, and John McCain—stood up for America’s outdoor heritage and wildlife by preventing the repeal of a Bureau of Land Management rule that prevents harmful methane from being released into the air as waste during oil and gas development on public lands. (See how your […]