Kristine

We have a rare opportunity right now to save a vast Arctic wilderness from rampant oil development — forever.

For the first time ever, the Obama Administration is considering a comprehensive management plan for Alaska’s Western Arctic Reserve that would protect key wildlife habitat from destructive oil and gas development.

Tell the Bureau of Land Management to safeguard the Reserve’s most special areas from industrialization.

The Western Arctic Reserve is less well-known than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but its different wildlife populations are every bit as spectacular and endangered.

Since the Western Arctic Reserve was set aside as a “National Petroleum Reserve” almost a century ago, it remains one of our continent’s most extraordinary — and threatened — expanses of wilderness.

It includes the prized Teshekpuk Lake region, which provides critical calving grounds for a large caribou herd that is essential to the Inupiat way of life, as well as summer habitat for polar bears. A staggering variety of birds also take refuge in these wetlands, some migrating from as far south as Antarctica.

Along the northwestern coast of the Western Arctic Reserve, up to 3,500 beluga whales gather in the Kasegaluk Lagoon every year to feed and bear their young.

One of the options now being considered by the Bureau of Land Management could permanently protect 11 million acres of the Reserve from being turned into an oil and gas wasteland.

Urge the Bureau of Land Management to adopt Alternative B and grant the Western Arctic Reserve the strong protection it urgently needs and deserves.

Act now … before
Big Oil does.

The Obama Administration is considering a management plan for the Western Arctic Reserve that would protect vital habitat for caribou, polar bears, beluga whales and millions of migratory birds. Help save this natural treasure from oil and gas drilling!

Thank you for taking action to keep the Arctic wild and free.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke

President

Natural Resources Defense Council

Here’s the buzz: American honey bees are disappearing at an alarming rate and the government knows why.

Scientists say a pesticide called clothianidin, made by chemical giant Bayer, is strongly linked to the rapid decline in bee populations. When exposed to the chemical, bees get lost: they are literally unable to find their way home back to the hive and drop dead from exhaustion.

Susan Mariner uses her backyard garden to grow extra fruits and veggies for her family and teach her children where their food comes from — and in the past few years, she’s seen the decline in bees firsthand.

When Susan heard about the recent studies linking this specific chemical to the widespread death of the bees who pollinate our food, she started a petition on Change.org to get the chemical banned. Click here to sign Susan’s petition asking the Environmental Protection Agency to ban these bee-killing pesticides ASAP.

One-third of the U.S. food supply relies on honey bees. Without bees to pollinate crops, many essential (and favorite) foods are at risk, including apples, squash, tomatoes, strawberries, almonds, and even chocolate.

Several countries, including Germany and France, have already banned clothianidin. And after the bans, bee populations began to rise again.

But in the U.S., clothianidin is used on millions of acres of crops and American beekeepers report losses of up to 90% of their bees. Many worry that their hives won’t survive another season. Sign Susan’s petition urging the EPA to save the bees and immediately end the harmful pesticide’s use.

EPA: Ban the pesticide that’s threatening American bees with extinction

Thanks for being a change-maker,

- Corinne and the Change.org team

• Target:

US Fish and Wildlife Service SW Regional Director Tuggle and US Senators Udall and Bingaman

• Sponsored by:

Southwest Environmental Center

There are only about 50 Mexican gray wolves (”lobos”) in the wilds of New Mexico and Arizona–not enough to ensure their survival. More than 300 lobos are in captivity, waiting to be released into the wild as part of a reintroduction program. Releasing wolves directly into New Mexico–where the best remaining unoccupied habitat exists–is critical to quickly boosting numbers and gene diversity in the wild population, but for bureaucratic reasons the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) won’t do it, citing an outdated rule that prevents direct releases into New Mexico. The FWS could easily change this rule by issuing an Environmental Assessment and putting it out for public review, but it refuses to do so. Tell the FWS to take action before it’s too late for Mexican wolves.

Sign Petition!

Why This Is Important

The diving horse show at the Atlantic City Steel Pier was shut down in the 1970’s, but the event is set to return this summer. Riders mount horses and then dive from the tall pier into the water below. This dangerous and cruel event is terrifying for the horses and causes injury to both the animals and their riders. There is plenty of summer fun to be had at the pier without harming these horses. Please ask Atlantic City Steel Pier President Anthony Catanoso and others in a position of influence to cancel plans to bring this event back after so many years.