The Montreal Gazette reports that two Gulf Coast teenagers thoughtlessly shot and killed two endangered whooping cranes that were part of a reintroduction program maintained by the U.S. and Canada: A major bi-national conservation effort linking the endangered whooping crane’s Canadian breeding grounds to a new experimental colony in Louisiana has suffered a “profound setback” […]

The Nature Conservancy recently announced a transfer of land to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that includes 56 acres in Old Lyme, Connecticut that were once part of the estate of acclaimed naturalist, ornithologist and author Roger Tory Peterson. The land will become part of Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge: “When […]

Seattlepi.com reports that ravaged wetlands and crops throughout Texas and New Mexico are waiting for migratory cranes, geese, and ducks that are making their way south for the winter season. Buffalo Lake and Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuges are seeing a decrease in birds due to drought conditions: “I don’t know where our birds are going,” […]

The Visalia Times-Delta reports that excited visitors were on hand to welcome the sandhill cranes back to Pixley National Wildlife Refuge — the birds’ winter home in California. Dave Ogden of Heart Flat knew nothing about birds about 12 years ago. Today, he can identify more than 100 birds. “Where I live, it’s rural and […]

The Washington Post reports that both the House and Senate have approved a bill that will rename the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Mississippi as the Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge. Hamilton was director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when he died of a sudden heart attack in early 2010 while […]

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released the draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, and it includes action alternatives that support recommending Wilderness areas for Congressional consideration. If the USFWS receives a strong enough response, this could be the first time that the Service could recommend Wilderness protection […]

Presently the Republican Party is pushing to drastically cut the budget of the National Wildlife Refuge System, but the National Wildlife Refuge Association reports that a study commissioned to determine the economics associated with natural resources conservation reveals America’s great outdoors is doing its share of providing a boost to local economies through jobs and […]