Wildlife Weekly Wrap-Up: 03/17/17

Your weekly roundup of wildlife news from across the country.

Don’t miss your shot to be featured!
Defenders’ 8^th annual photo contest ends on Friday, March 24^th! You can submit six images into the different categories. Don’t forget to check out the list of 25 key species and 15 focal landscapes that we are especially interested in!

Learn more about the photo contest and see who won last year >>>

LWCF funding affected by new budget.
Despite bi-partisan legislation introduced by Senator Burr (R, NC) and Senator Cantwell (D, WA) last week, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) could lose 70% of its funding as part of the newly proposed budget.

Read more about the importance of LWCF >>>

A wildlife shop of horrors?
USFWS has a property repository of confiscated items that included shipments full of illegal wildlife products, like a taxidermic Hawksbill Sea Turtle which is an endangered species.

Find out more about illegal wildlife products seized entering the US >>>

The National Wildlife Refuge System turned 114!
On March 14^th, the National Wildlife Refuge System celebrated one hundred and fourteen years. Today it spans 850 million acres, including seven marine national monuments, 566 national wildlife refuges, and 38 wetlands management districts.

Check out some amazing images celebrating this milestone >>>

Great news for Cownose Ray!
Thanks to our coalition efforts, the MD cownose ray bill passed the House of Delegates this afternoon 119-21!

Read more about this important state legislation >>>