Today marks the 17th annual Endangered Species Day. Every year, thousands of people around the world participate in Endangered Species Day by celebrating, learning about and taking action to protect threatened and endangered species. To show their support, people of all ages and backgrounds can attend bird walks, nature hikes, garden plantings, litter cleanups, zoo and aquarium events, and educational talks and webinars. In addition to those great events, here are five ways you can help threatened and endangered species:
1. Support National Wildlife Refuges
National wildlife refuges harbor 513 endangered and threatened species—nearly one third of total listed species. Because refuge lands and waters are expressly managed to conserve and restore fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats, they offer one of the highest levels of federal land protection. This network of protected lands and waters spans the country, from Izembek will support species conservation, protect a diversity of plants and animals, and improve landscape connectivity. Expansion will support species conservation, protect a diversity of plants and animals, and improve landscape connectivity. Urge Your Members of Congress to Support Increased Funding for National Wildlife Refuges!
2. Protect Wolves in the Northern Rockies
Hundreds of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies have been killed in the last year, including more than 20 wolves from Yellowstone National Park. These wolves need our help, and we will not abandon them. Urge the Biden administration to stop cruel wolf killings and enact an emergency relisting for wolves in the Northern Rockies under the Endangered Species Act. Add your signature: Urge the Interior Department to protect wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.
3. Fund the Endangered Species Act
Congress will soon vote on a spending bill to fund the government in 2023. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ecological Services program is the primary federal program responsible for implementing the ESA. We are supporting a total of at least $356 million, an increase of $79 million, for FY 2023 and the same level as the President’s request. This increase would be the first in a 3-year ramp-up to significantly boost funding as supported in a recent community letter from over 150 national and regional conservation groups. Reach out to your senators and representatives to show your support for a funding increase of at least $79 million for the Endangered Species Act in the FY23 Appropriations bill.
4. Share Why You Care About Biodiversity
In January 2021, to address the biodiversity crisis, Colorado Representative Joe Neguse reintroduced the National Biodiversity Resolution (House Resolution 69), which details policy recommendations to address the five main drivers of extinction. The Strategy would direct a whole-of-government approach in which federal agencies work collaboratively and innovatively to pursue actions within existing laws and policies and identify where new ones may need to be developed to protect biodiversity. And, importantly, it would be developed through an inclusive and collaborative process. By answering a few short questions, you can share your story about biodiversity.
5. Donate to Save Wildlife
Help Defenders of Wildlife save endangered and imperiled species and the habitat they need to survive. For 75 years, Defenders has been the premier U.S.-based national conservation organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of imperiled species and their habitats in North America. Our approach is direct and straightforward: We protect and restore imperiled species throughout North America by transforming policies and institutions and by promoting innovative solutions. Though our challenges are greater, more urgent and more complex than ever before, so are the resources and tools we have to confront them.
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