WildEarth Guardians: Difference between revisions
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'''WildEarth Guardians''' is a [[non-profit]] [[environmental organization]], with offices in Santa Fe NM, Denver CO, and Tucson AZ. Founded as Forest Guardians in 1989, the original mission of the grassroots effort was to fight a logging project on northern New Mexico’s Elk Mountain. As the evidence of environmental threats continued, the efforts of the Guardians expanded. The organization began to take on public lands livestock grazing industry. Seeing the devastation that cattle wreak on the southwest’s precious waterways, the organization launched a campaign to out-compete public lands ranchers for leases. In 1996, when a decade-long drought began in New Mexico and more than 10,000 Rio Grande silvery minnows died because the Rio Grande went completely dry for 60 miles, the organization took on river issues and began a campaign to advocate for water policy reform. Though focused on endangered species issues from the beginning because of the inextricable link between the endangered Mexican spotted owl and its threatened forest home, the Guardians launched an official endangered species program in 2001 to address the growing biodiversity crisis. In 2007, the Guardians formed a Climate and Energy program because the American West had become ground zero for new fossil fuel extraction and oil, and gas development on public lands significantly threatens wildlife and wild places. In 2008, Forest Guardians merged with a carnivore protection non-profit, Sinapu, from Boulder, CO and became WildEarth Guardians. Though they have significantly expanded their scope over the years, the core mission to confront the threats facing the beauty and diversity of the American West has not changed. <ref>WildEarth Guardians |
'''WildEarth Guardians''' is a [[non-profit]] [[environmental organization]], with offices in Santa Fe NM, Denver CO, and Tucson AZ. Founded as Forest Guardians in 1989, the original mission of the grassroots effort was to fight a logging project on northern New Mexico’s Elk Mountain. As the evidence of environmental threats continued, the efforts of the Guardians expanded. The organization began to take on public lands livestock grazing industry. Seeing the devastation that cattle wreak on the southwest’s precious waterways, the organization launched a campaign to out-compete public lands ranchers for leases. In 1996, when a decade-long drought began in New Mexico and more than 10,000 Rio Grande silvery minnows died because the Rio Grande went completely dry for 60 miles, the organization took on river issues and began a campaign to advocate for water policy reform. Though focused on endangered species issues from the beginning because of the inextricable link between the endangered Mexican spotted owl and its threatened forest home, the Guardians launched an official endangered species program in 2001 to address the growing biodiversity crisis. In 2007, the Guardians formed a Climate and Energy program because the American West had become ground zero for new fossil fuel extraction and oil, and gas development on public lands significantly threatens wildlife and wild places. In 2008, Forest Guardians merged with a carnivore protection non-profit, Sinapu, from Boulder, CO and became WildEarth Guardians. Though they have significantly expanded their scope over the years, the core mission to confront the threats facing the beauty and diversity of the American West has not changed. <ref>WildEarth Guardians History Page,[http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_history]</ref> |
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WildEarth Guardians has an in-house legal team that works closely with the program directors to reform policy and uphold environmental laws. In addition, the program directors use public awareness campaigns and political pressure to protect wildlife, wild places, and wild rivers. The current Executive Director of WildEarth Guardians is John Horning of Santa Fe. |
WildEarth Guardians has an in-house legal team that works closely with the program directors to reform policy and uphold environmental laws. In addition, the program directors use public awareness campaigns and political pressure to protect wildlife, wild places, and wild rivers. The current Executive Director of WildEarth Guardians is John Horning of Santa Fe. |
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Revision as of 16:11, 6 June 2012
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (May 2010) |
WildEarth Guardians is a non-profit environmental organization, with offices in Santa Fe NM, Denver CO, and Tucson AZ. Founded as Forest Guardians in 1989, the original mission of the grassroots effort was to fight a logging project on northern New Mexico’s Elk Mountain. As the evidence of environmental threats continued, the efforts of the Guardians expanded. The organization began to take on public lands livestock grazing industry. Seeing the devastation that cattle wreak on the southwest’s precious waterways, the organization launched a campaign to out-compete public lands ranchers for leases. In 1996, when a decade-long drought began in New Mexico and more than 10,000 Rio Grande silvery minnows died because the Rio Grande went completely dry for 60 miles, the organization took on river issues and began a campaign to advocate for water policy reform. Though focused on endangered species issues from the beginning because of the inextricable link between the endangered Mexican spotted owl and its threatened forest home, the Guardians launched an official endangered species program in 2001 to address the growing biodiversity crisis. In 2007, the Guardians formed a Climate and Energy program because the American West had become ground zero for new fossil fuel extraction and oil, and gas development on public lands significantly threatens wildlife and wild places. In 2008, Forest Guardians merged with a carnivore protection non-profit, Sinapu, from Boulder, CO and became WildEarth Guardians. Though they have significantly expanded their scope over the years, the core mission to confront the threats facing the beauty and diversity of the American West has not changed. [1]
WildEarth Guardians has an in-house legal team that works closely with the program directors to reform policy and uphold environmental laws. In addition, the program directors use public awareness campaigns and political pressure to protect wildlife, wild places, and wild rivers. The current Executive Director of WildEarth Guardians is John Horning of Santa Fe.
Mission statement
"WildEarth Guardians works to protect and restore wildlife, wild places and wild rivers in the American West."[2]
Controversies
WildEarth Guardians have caused controversy for their position on wildfires and biomass, and they have been accused of making strident and personal attacks against fellow environmentalists who do not share all of their positions.[3]
Syndicated columnist, Sherry Robinson, called WildEarth Guardians "an extremist group with a disinformation campaign".[4] Another syndicated columnist, Kristen Davenport, said that the organization is "far-reaching" [5] The Rio Grande Foundation called the group "radical environmentalists." [6] And supporters of biomass energy development have accused the Forest Guardians of “bad faith,” “flip-flopping” and “radicalism.”.[7]
WildEarth Guardians’ position on wildfires drew particular criticism when they produced a report called “Born of Fire,” a “comprehensive review of the Forest Service’s fire policy and practices in the Southwest.” In the report, they “proposed an alternative vision… which calls on the government to allow fire to reassert its natural role in backcountry forests and for more use of prescribed fire closer to home.” [8] After the 2000 Los Alamos wildfire, in which a prescribed fire went horribly awry sweeping through 20,000 acres (80 km2) of northern New Mexico, some environmentalists, locals and forest service professionals have recoiled from WildEarth Guardians' call for more “prescribed fire closer to home.” [9]
Notes
- ^ WildEarth Guardians History Page,[1]
- ^ WildEarth Guardians Homepage,[2]
- ^ "Personal Attacks a Last Resort," David Cohen, Mountain View Telegraph, 9/27/07,[3]
- ^ "Biomass Lacks Guardian Approval," Rio Grande Sun, 6/7/07
- ^ "Bio Mess," Albuquerque Tribune, 8/29/07.
- ^ "Can the Environmentalists be Satisfied?"
- ^ In a number of articles and posts at New Mexico Biomass
- ^ Forest Guardians - Southwestern Forests - Wildland Fire
- ^ For more on the Los Alamos wildfire, see the BBC article at this link
External links
- WildEarth Guardians Home Page
- Newspaper Article about a lawsuit Forest Guardians filed with Sinapu to prevent recreational trapping.[dead link]
- PDF of the filed complaint in the lawsuit with Sinapu against recreational trapping.
- Newspaper Article about a lawsuit Forest Guardians was involved with fighting for the protection of the Gunnison's Prairie Dog
- Newspaper Article about a lawsuit that Forest Guardians filed against the US Forest Service for jeopardizing the endangered Mexican spotted owl through poor grazing management.
- www.fguardians.org about a petition that Nicole issued to get 475 threatened south west species onto the Endangered Species Act
- New Mexico Biomass for a critical perspective on the Forest Guardians stance on alternative energy and wildfires.