Wildlife Weekly Wrap-Up: 05/26/17

Your weekly roundup of wildlife news from across the country

WildSights:

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Wild stories from the Week:

We’re dedicated to restoring and protecting grizzlies while also helping people peacefully and safely coexist with one of nature’s top predators and often misunderstood animals: http://dfnd.us/2qhzdRy

Trump proposes sharp cuts at Interior Dept. while pushing for more drilling on public lands: http://dfnd.us/2qWxOmZ

Hilarious winners of the 1st annual ‘Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards’: http://dfnd.us/2rMcX3L

Melting of Arctic sea ice is taking a heavy toll on marine species: http://dfnd.us/2qXnU4q

Our Defenders in Action

In the Northwest:
Quinn Read, our representative in Oregon, gives a thumbs up to nervous activists waiting their turn to testify on behalf of wolves. Last Friday, Quinn testified at a hearing on Oregon’s Wolf Plan, asking the Fish and Wildlife Commission to maintain protections for Oregon’s 112 confirmed wolves. Over 150 people showed up to the hearing, and 63 signed up to speak out for wolves, many of them testifying for the very first time.

In the Southwest:

Aaron Hall, our Southern Rockies & Plains Representative, and Lauren McCain, our Federal Lands Policy Analyst, are continuing to apply the most cutting edge Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies to inform our work bolstering protections for wildlife on federal public lands including our national forests and grasslands, Bureau of Land Management land, and national wildlife refuges. For one of their ongoing projects, they are looking at where there are clusters or potential “strongholds” of key species habitat on national forests. For example, the above map features the Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico. Using GIS mapping, we overlaid habitat data for close to 500 species to identify areas where species habitats are most concentrated. This kind of mapping is one way we can prioritize areas on the ground to focus our attention.