THANK SENATOR FEINSTEIN FOR INTRODUCING THE CALIFORNIA DESERT PROTECTION ACT!Feinstein introduces bill to protect California’s spectacular desert heritage for future generationsBill would designate important wilderness in the California Desert and protect lands for recreation, wildlife and tourismThe California Wilderness Coalition in collaboration with business and conservation leaders from the California desert region are applauding a new proposal by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that would increase protection for 1.6 million acres of desert landscapes celebrated both for their contributions to America’s national heritage and to the local economy.The proposed legislation, known as the California Desert Conservation and Recreation Act, will designate 394,807 acres of wilderness from the Avawatz Mountains near Death Valley to the largest Sonoran woodland in North America along the Colorado River. The legislation would also create two new national monuments—the Mojave Trails and the Sand to Snow—and expand Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks and the Mojave... Read More

The following post comes from grantee Save our Wild Salmon

What Would You Do To Keep Snake River Salmon Spawning?

An array of holiday contests and giveaways are making their way around the web, but how about taking part in one that has a great cause in mind: saving salmon.

There are not many issues that people can agree on. But for 20 years, a diverse coalition of commercial, sport and recreational fishing groups, outdoor industry businesses, conservation organizations, and clean energy and taxpayer advocates have joined forces to save a icon of the American West - Snake River salmon.

These fish are bad ass. Snake River sockeye have the most epic migration of any salmon on Earth - swimming more than 900 miles inland and climbing nearly 7,000 feet in elevation to spawn in the rugged Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. That's right folks - these fish do it at altitude!

So, what would you do to keep Snake River salmon spawning? Between Dec. 1 and Dec. 21, give us your best answer to that question.

How to enter:
    * Answer the question by leaving a comment on the Save Our Wild Salmon Facebook page or...
    * Tweet your answer with the hashtag #salmondoit on Twitter!

On Dec. 21, we'll randomly choose who will win an Osprey Pack filled with 5 pounds of wild smoked salmon! It doesn't get much better than that!

A Vancouver mining exploration company claims it has found significant gold desposits in the Flathead River Valley, on a ridge just 10 miles from Glacier National Park. The find heightens the concerns of Sierra Club BC and other conservation groups that industrial development will proceed in the unprotected Flathead River Valley--the missing piece of Waterton Glacier International Peace Park. Read the New York Times story. Last week, after Max announced it had found significant gold deposits, two Senators from Montana asked U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to take action to stop the gold exploration and request that Canada work with them to establish permanent protection for the Canadian Flathead.The Flathead, which adjoins the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and World Heritage Site, is under threat from proposals for mountain-top removal coal mining, gold and phosphate mining and coalbed methane drilling. Sierra Club BC, Wildsight... Read More

Bill Protecting Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area Passes Key Senate Committee   (Washington, D.C.) – Today, Senator Murray announced that legislation she introduced that would expand the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and designate both the Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers as Wild and Scenic has passed the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Murray’s bill, S. 721, the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions and Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers Protection Act, would expand the existing wilderness by over 22,000 acres to include important lower-elevation lands and watersheds.   Senator Patty Murray introduced the bill in the Senate earlier this year along with Senator Maria Cantwell. The bill was introduced simultaneously in the House by Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-08), Congressmen Jay Inslee (WA-01), Brian Baird (WA-03), Adam Smith (WA-05), and Jim McDermott (WA-07).   “Today we have moved one step closer to new protections for the Alpine Lake wilderness area that... Read More

With sea ice breaking and oil drills threatening, polar bears' homes are disappearing fast!  The Obama administration recently proposed new protections for polar bear habitat.  A thoughtful holiday surprise!  But the sentiment proved sour when they approved new oil drilling within the same polar bear habitat.Please encourage your members and customers to tell the administration they can do better.  A home with oil drills is no home at all!... Read More

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (BLM) We look forward to working with the new BLM director Robert Abbey to help reverse the damaging decisions made by the Bush administration and establish stronger protections for threatened public lands in Alaska. We encourage Sec. Salazar to help direct the agency toward achieving this goal and return Alaska’s public lands back to public hands. For Bristol Bay, we ask him to direct the Department of Interior (DOI) to create a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that would adopt the strongest possible protections for the lands and waters of Bristol Bay; re-conduct the review of the rivers on BLM lands using a watershed-level approach; and incorporate findings from the Nushagak River Watershed Traditional Use Area Conservation Plan to ensure fisheries and traditional ways of life are not sacrificed to short-sighted development. ACTION: Click here to tell Secretary of the Interior Salazar to direct the BLM to create a... Read More

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing and ski manufacturer and Conservation Alliance member Black Diamond Equipment was awarded the Pfeifferhorn - Conservation Leadership award by six leading Utah conservation and environmental organizations. These organizations include: Save Our Canyons, The Nature Conservancy, Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, Wild Utah Project, Wasatch Mountain Club and the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society. This is a much deserved award, as Black Diamond has been a bold voice for the protection of our wild places. Congratulations, Black Diamond!

Click here for the full story.

Register for the Western Wilderness Conference today! Follow the link to more information about the conference and to register at the early bird rate, available until January 15th. http://calwild.org/giving/fundraiser.htmlWe'll see you on April 8th! The Western Wilderness Conference will be held from April 8-11, 2010 at UC Berkeley campus.  This conference will be a chance for wilderness advocates from all of the western states to come together and combine strategies for wilderness protection over the next decade. ... Read More

The first round of budget battles is over in New York State. The Adirondack Council's advocacy and letters from our members helped secure a victory (in the current context).  Of the $222 million designated for the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) this year, the recent debt reduction plan ($3.2 billion needed to be cut from the budget) removed $10 million from the EPF. Now we go on to 2010-2011 where we'll be asking the Legislature to meet it's target of $300 million in the fund, urging state officials to move forward on purchasing state conservation easements on the former Finch Pruyn paper lands (90,000 acres) and to begin efforts to acquire another 50,000+ acres for the Adirondack Forest Preserve.... Read More

ONDA joined up with a new online philanthropy movement. Find us on www.FortheNext.org... Read More

Wolves have made a comeback to Washington, good news for the Evergreen State. Wolves play an important ecological role, especially in the restoration of the predator-prey relationship and the effect that has on the overall health of ecosystems.After two years of hard work by members of the Washington State Wolf Working Group a draft wolf conservation and management plan is finally open for public comment. Please let the WDFW know that you value wolves and their positive effect on ecosystems and wish to see their recovery to our state's wildlife and habitat. Thank you.See www.conservationnw.org/wolf for more information.... Read More