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Mexican Wolf Comments to USFWS from Wildlands Network

Wildlands Network responds to the USFWS’s draft plan for Mexican wolf recovery: Our immediate concern is the draft plan falls far short of the mark needed for recovery of these critically endangered wolves, and that these shortcomings are driven by politics rather than the science of wolf recovery. If implemented, it would allow fewer than half the number of wolves in the wild that most of the previous recovery team scientists say are needed in the U.S. for recovery—with another small isolated population in Mexico—at which time the states would assume full management responsibility for Lobo survival. The prospect of premature downlisting and delisting, exacerbated by the relevant states’ record opposing wolf recovery discussed below, affords a recipe for extinction—not recovery— for one of the most critically endangered wild mammals in North America.

Florida Panther Comments to USFWS from Wildlands Network

Wildlands Network responds to the USFWS’s 5-year review of the Florida panther’s endangered status: The Florida panther’s recent population growth in south Florida is encouraging, and almost certainly speaks to the genetic rescue effect generated by introduction of cougars from Texas. However, urban development continues to quickly erode prime Florida panther habitat across Florida and in other southeastern states as well. This unmitigated pattern of urban development across the region is one of several signals that the current efforts to recover the panther are inadequate for achieving the goal of recovering the Florida panther to the point where it is no longer threatened with extinction in the wild.

Group Sign-On Letter: Transparency and Timeliness in WDFW Public Notifications of Wolf News

In this group sign-on letter, Wildlands Network and 13 other conservation groups express concern about transparency and timely notification issues by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW/Department) on wolf news. The signees ask the Department to take immediate steps to ensure transparency and timeliness going forward.

Group Sign-On Letter: Oppose H.R. 3219 Security Minibus – Vote No on Border Wall

Wildlands Network signed on to this letter to the U.S. House of Representatives, urging them to vote no on funding for the continued construction of the border wall. Not only is the wall an ineffective tool at managing border migration, it will also irreparably harm biodiversity in the Rio Grande Valley. Nearly 90 environmental, faith, immigration, and civil rights organizations signed on to the letter opposing the border wall.

Red Wolf Comments to the USFWS from Wildlands Network

In these comments submitted to the USFWS, Wildlands Network’s Dr. Ron Sutherland outlines the flaws in the agency’s plan to reduce wild red wolves to a small patch of federal land in Dare County, North Carolina. Ron lays out Wildlands Network’s recommendations to combat the plan’s flawed science, including maintaining the wild red wolf population, understanding the critical ramifications of gunshot mortality for the red wolves, and not limiting the wolves to captive population. We submitted these comments to the USFWS during the open comment period for their plan to reduce the wild red wolf population.

Potential Jaguar Habitat and Structural Connectivity in and Surrounding the Northwestern Recovery Unit

The goal of this work was to map habitat and connectivity for jaguars (Panthera onca) in southern Arizona and the Northwestern Recovery Unit (NRU) study area. To do this, we followed the general approach outlined by Sanderson and Fisher (2011; 2013) but updated it using finer-grained spatial data and a gradient-based (rather than binary habitat/non-habitat) model using the same observational data on jaguars.

Wildlands Network Comments on the Jaguar Draft Recovery Plan

These comments were written in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s jaguar draft recovery plan, for which the notice of availability and request for comments was published in the Federal Register on December 20, 2016. As a continental conservation organization, Wildlands Network has an interest in the recovery of jaguars and the protection of jaguar habitat in both the United States and Mexico.

Borderlands Connectivity Report

In recent years, Mexican agencies, non-profit groups, and academia have all made efforts to better address connectivity needs in the borderlands region of Sonora and northeastern Chihuahua. Some actions have focused on identifying impacts of U.S. border infrastructure, others have advanced protected area regulations, while still others seek to reduce habitat fragmentation generated by roads with a focus on Highway 2.

This report is our first effort to put some of the information resulting from regulatory actions, wildlife-friendly infrastructure, and research activities, into a series of maps that allows us to identify areas of the highest immediate concern for connectivity along the U.S. border with Sonora and northwestern Chihuahua. Geographically explicit data are not as readily available as literature, so this effort cannot contain all existing research, nor does it cover all fauna impacted by the border wall. Rather, the report focuses on a few wide-ranging species for which data could be readily collected.

Prioritizing Wildlife Road Crossings in North Carolina, 2017

In this study, we identify priority road segments across North Carolina using a suite of characteristics that predicts where wildlife and transportation conflict is greatest. We did this through the development of large, small, and all species models that integrate numerous road characteristics, such as traffic volume, species-specific connectivity data, and proximity to protected natural areas. The models provide a comprehensive outlook on roadways most deserving of intervention for wildlife, nuanced enough to help identify which mitigation structures or retrofits would be most appropriate for the particular species involved.

Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument Fact Sheet

Made up of public lands surrounding Grand Canyon, the proposed Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument is a magnificent landscape held dear by Native American Tribes, Arizonans, and Americans across the country. The area’s rugged cliffs, pine forests, deep canyons and grasslands protect and provide clean drinking water for this parched region and for millions of people downstream who depend on the Colorado River.

Information Packet about the Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act

This bill would establish the National Wildlife Corridors System to provide for the protection and restoration of native fish, wildlife, and plant species. The conservation of landscape corridors and waterways, where native species and ecological processes can transition from one habitat to another, is critical to conserving biodiversity and ensuring resiliency for wildlife—especially in the face of climate change.