Defenders of Wildlife announces new Southwest director, Bryan Bird

Defenders of Wildlife announces new Southwest director, Bryan Bird

Contact: Catalina Tresky, (202) 772-0253, ctresky@defenders.org

Washington, DC (April 4, 2016) – Defenders of Wildlife is proud to announce that Bryan Bird has joined Defenders of Wildlife as the Southwest program director in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Statement by Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife:

“Bryan comes to Defenders with 23 years of experience in wildlife conservation in the American Southwest. He brings a wealth of federal land policy and planning experience to Defenders and is well known as a valued conservation partner. Throughout the past decade, Bryan has developed and implemented numerous, large-scale land, water and wildlife conservation projects, from special designations to ecosystem restoration and conservation easements.

“Native wildlife in the Southwest are facing increasing natural and man-made threats. As the Southwest program director, Bryan will be working on maintaining and enhancing the ecological integrity of priority wildlife habitat and protecting imperiled species, such as Mexican gray wolves, jaguars, desert tortoises and California condors, in the face of a changing climate, drought, increasing development and inadequate water quantity.

“We look forward to nurturing our current relationships and creating new ones with elected officials, federal and state agencies, private landowners, wildlife activists and other conservation groups to implement focused, science-based and solutions-oriented programs to protect the region’s wildlife for the benefit of Southwestern communities.”

Statement by Bryan Bird:

“Defenders of Wildlife is a leading organization protecting wildlife and habitat across the country with extremely dedicated, professional staff. I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the organization’s Southwest team to conserve iconic species and landscapes in an area I have called home for over two decades.” 

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Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With more than 1.2 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit www.defenders.org and follow us on Twitter @DefendersNews.