Defenders of Wildlife Top 10 Achievements in Fiscal Year 2001

Defenders of Wildlife
Top 10 Achievements in Fiscal Year 2001
(October 1, 2000 - September 30, 2001)

Particularly because of the September terrorist attacks, the past year has indeed been a hard one. Now more than ever, it is important to protect those things that this country values so highly - the sort of things that make people want to sing "America the Beautiful" during these difficult times. We are proud to report - and hope that you will be proud to learn - that our efforts to do just that were quite successful. Following is a brief description of what we consider to be our top 10 achievements over the past fiscal year.

1. Defeated Weakening of the Endangered Species Act. Defenders took the lead in beating back the proposal offered by Interior Secretary Gale Norton to add an "extinction rider" to the Interior Appropriations Bill. This rider would have provided Norton with unlimited discretion to decide which species are listed and protected. After tremendous pressure from Defenders and massive news coverage we generated, Congress rejected the proposal.

2. Safeguarded Wolves Across America. From Alaska to Idaho to North Carolina, Defenders continued our successful efforts to keep wolves out of harm’s way.

In Alaska, against all odds (and with a budget that paled in comparison to the opposition), we funded a media campaign and staffed public education efforts that led to the passage of a ballot initiative reinstating the ban on land-and-shoot wolf hunting.

In the Northern Rockies, Defenders launched a highly successful wolf guardian program. Wolf guardians are dedicated volunteers organized and equipped by Defenders to protect the Idaho wolves by keeping them away from livestock and working with local ranchers to promote programs that will benefit both wolves and humans.

In North Carolina, our brief to the United States Supreme Court helped keep the red wolf recovery program in that state intact.

And nationally, our Wolf Compensation Fund saved countless wolves across the country by providing fair-market reimbursement for ranchers’ livestock losses.

3. Stopped Special Interests from Destroying the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Defenders worked with our allies in the environmental community to stop Congress from passing legislation that would open the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - home to wolves, polar bears, arctic foxes and wolverines - to oil exploration and development. (Note: as we go to print, the fate of the Refuge hangs in the balance again.)

4. Enacted Historic Lands Legacy Conservation Initiative. Defenders President Rodger Schlickeisen chaired the environmental coalition that won passage of an initiative which provides $12 billion of new, dedicated conservation funding over six years. One result will be that for the first time ever, federal grants will be made to state fish and game agencies for more comprehensive wildlife and biodiversity conservation nationwide.

5. Rescued and Restored Imperiled Species to their Former Homes. Defenders helped restore at-risk species across the nation, from swift foxes in Montana to condors in California to bison in the Northern Plains.

6. Forced the Federal Government to Maintain a Meaningful "Dolphin-Safe" Tuna Labeling Program. Defenders won a tremendous victory in court this year when a federal judge upheld our argument that the "dolphin-safe" tuna label on tuna cans should not be weakened.

7. Created a Proactive Predator Conservation Fund. Defenders created a special fund to employ innovative techniques to keep imperiled predators out of harm’s way on private lands. Complementing our Wolf Guardian program and Wolf Compensation Fund, this program goes one step further. Examples include buying livestock guard dogs and providing beehive fencing as a bear deterrent.

8. Defeated Anti-Wildlife Initiative in Alaska. While fighting the land-and-shoot hunting initiative in Alaska, Defenders was also battling an even bigger threat in that state - a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited ALL citizen-based ballot initiatives related to wildlife. Success again: the amendment was defeated.

9. Launched First Carnivore Conservation Conference. Building on the momentum of our Wolf Conservation Conferences in 1996 and 1998, Defenders held a highly successful conference in Denver that focused on a wide range of carnivores. More than 600 people attended, including biologists from around the world, conservation activists and Defenders members. Note: our second Carnivore Conservation Conference will be held in Monterey, California, next November.

10. Established Offices in Canada and Mexico. Defenders took action to better protect wildlife that cross national borders, including species as varied as the wolf, jaguar, ocelot, and monarch butterfly. With our new offices, we have already made major in-roads in Mexico by launching a Mexican Wolf restoration program and in Canada by applying pressure on lawmakers to enact an Endangered Species Act.

Defenders of Wildlife
National Headquarters
1101 14th Street, NW #1400
Washington, DC 20005