Wildlife Weekly Wrap-Up: 04/14/17

Your weekly roundup of wildlife news from across the country.

Wild Sights:

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Wild stories from the Week:

It’s that time of the year again, when the sage-grouse and lesser prairie-chicken go to their ancestral breeding grounds and put on a show for potential mates. You’ve got to see this! http://dfnd.us/2paNEcW

The consequences of drilling in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans are stark and permanent. Even well-regulated oil drilling is a messy business, plagued by periodic spills and pollution that can poison wildlife. President Trump is planning to open up the Atlantic coast for oil drilling after 30 years: http://dfnd.us/2plKiAw

We’ve already seen the negative environmental impacts of existing fences on the border for more than a decade. New additions to the wall would only exacerbate that problem, as it would divide ecosystems and cut off migration routes for species that are struggling to survive. http://dfnd.us/2os26wp

Monday, April 10^th,was Gopher Tortoise Day! Read about 5 fun facts about these ecosystem engineers: http://dfnd.us/1S0ijzU

Our Defenders in Action

On the road:
Aimee Delach, Senior Policy Analyst for Climate Adaptation, spoke this week at Ohio University to an audience of students, staff, and community members about climate change impacts to wildlife. Her talk touched on the numerous ways that climate change is affecting wildlife – through higher temperatures, altered precipitation patterns and changing oceans—and discussed various strategies for protecting wildlife and habitats in the face of these threats.

In California:
Our Water Policy Advisor, Rachel Zwillinger, participated in a panel titled “Coming Changes in Water Law Practice: California Law Advances as Federal Law Recedes,” which is being hosted by the Bar Association of San Francisco. Rachel discussed the ways in which H.R. 23 would change the landscape of water law in California.