Center for Biological Diversity’s Post

Check out the latest issue of Kite Tales, the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail newsletter!

Embrace Florida's beauty while keeping wildlife where they belong – outside! 🦝 Our latest blog is your ultimate guide to choosing the right wildlife removal company. From raccoons to snakes, we've got you covered with expert tips for a humane and efficient solution. Discover more by reading our blog!

🌡 As temps begin to rise during the summer months, it's important to remember the key role that water guzzlers play in keeping Texas Wildlife hydrated! Check out this helpful buyers guide: https://lnkd.in/gwAiUECq

Transform your land into a haven for wildlife! Private landowners play a crucial role in conserving and creating habitat for animals to thrive. Did you know 80% of Pennsylvania is privately owned?  Landscaping with wildlife in mind can increase conservation success regardless of how many acres you own. Here are a few small things you can do that can have a big impact this spring: 🌳Landscape with native and beneficial plants. Find a list of native plants on the Department of Conservation and Natural Resource’s website here: https://bit.ly/4a7eNk3.  🦉Place nest boxes in suitable habitat. You can find and purchase a variety of nest boxes from the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Howard Nursery: https://bit.ly/3M6mYCe. Save the date next year for our bare-root seedlings sale that takes place in January. 🐿Create brush piles along the edges of your property. Here’s how: https://bit.ly/3TtT9kc. Watch for announcements regarding the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s innovative private land programs set to launch in the near future.      📸 Photos submitted to the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s 2023 Habitat at Home Contest 

Kroenke Ranches is taking bold new steps on Texas’s WAGGONER RANCH by adopting a holistic approach to the ecological management of the historic 560,000-acre ranch’s significant wildlife resources. The primary land-management techniques currently being employed by the Wildlife Division are targeted specifically at quail and white-tailed deer habitats. Since Stan Kroenke purchased the Waggoner Ranch in February 2016, brush management has been performed on more than 150,000 acres of the 875-square-mile landholding. This comprehensive management philosophy has served to promote populations of native grasses and forbs and to enhance habitat diversity on the largest single ranch under one fence in the Lone Star State Stan Kroenke's 1,700,000 acres take the Number 4 spot in The Land Report 100 presented by Peoples Company: https://lnkd.in/eDrmGzyu PHOTO CREDIT: © Kroenke Ranches - Peoples Company #LandReport100 #AmericasLargestLandowners #landowners #KroenkeRanches #WaggonerRanch #WildlifeManagement #EcologicalConservation #QuailHabitat #DeerHabitat #BrushManagement #HabitatDiversity #NativeGrasses

"The animals have become a flashpoint for disagreements about federal versus state control, the rural-urban divide and the use of public and private property, said Kevin Crooks, the director of the Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence at Colorado State University. "Matt Barnes, a rangeland scientist and former ranch manager, pointed to the creature’s symbolic value: “Wolves are referents for nature in general, and disparate views of what nature is and how we humans relate to or fit into it. How much wildness can be allowed in a working landscape? That’s a question that reflects a deeper question, like: How much wildness can be allowed in a civilized culture?” How well Colorado ranchers fare with wolves, and how well those wolves fare on working landscapes, will be determined by how well we prepare for and respond to conflicts. Good quotes from Adam Baca at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Kevin Crooks at the Colorado State University Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence, yours truly at Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, Karin Vardaman at Working Circle, and three ranchers, two of whom served with me on CPW's Stakeholder Advisory Group.

"I'm freeeeee!" This is a great day for wildlife in America: Colorado has released five gray wolves onto public land to restore a healthy population of the species to the state, in a plan approved by voters. While around 100 wolf sightings are reported per year in the state, those sightings are not always considered reliable and the total current population in Colorado is unknown (though I must, say, I'm pretty darn sure I saw a wolf in Colorado two years ago). Gray wolves are an endangered species in Colorado, and their designation as an experimental population allows for more flexibility in their management. Colorado’s new wolves, captured in Oregon, include two juvenile females, two juvenile males and one adult male, and they come from the Five Points Pack, the Noregaard Pack, and the Wenaha Pack. I hope Cupid comes soon, and these five wolves are soon surrounded by packs of new pups!    Colorado Parks and Wildlife will repeat this process over the coming months and years, releasing 10-15 wolves by mid-March 2024 and 30-50 wolves over the next 3-5 years. This historic day was years in the making and shows the power of a) citizen organizing and b) a rewilding approach that could have powerful impacts on ecosystems and ultimately the climate. It also offers a unique opportunity to see how the reintroduction of the species impacts the ecosystem and landscape. Enjoy and share this uplifting footage of these incredible animals beginning life in their beautiful new home: 

Check out this Comprehensive Guide to Transforming Your Yard Into a Wildlife Habitat!

THE COVER OF THE LATEST BBC WILDLIFE MAGAZINE Despite a lot of dramatic old drawings and some history, the article by Derek Gow has remarkably little to say about the trailed topic which was "How bringing back wolves could heal our landscape". And some of what he does say is rather overstated: "sheep in their myriad millions shear the land bare" for instance....... Basically, he is advocating a significant reduction in deer numbers, and that, we know, can be simply and efficiently achieved by increasing the number of keepers on the ground, and establishing a real demand for venison to help pay for them. But the true cause for concern lies in one headline:" One study indicated that up to 18,857 square km. of the Scottish Highlands is already suitable for 50-94 wolf packs". That should cause alarm bells to ring all over the Highlands. I don't know whether this is someone's genuine aspiration, or whether we are meant, recoiling from this figure, to accept with relief some lower number, but its implications are clear enough. In Yellowstone, " as of January 2023, there are at least 108 wolves in the Park. Ten packs were noted". * If that's an average of around 10 per pack, 'someone' is envisaging from 500 wolves to nearly 1000 in the Highlands. And that would not adequately control the numbers of red deer we have. In Greater Yellowstone, (which is about twice the size of Scotland north of the Highland Boundary Fault), there are roughly 500 wolves which 'manage' around only 40, 000 elk. To manage our 500,000 red deer, on this basis you would therefore need at least 6000 wolves........ Time to accept that arguing that we need wolves for deer control in the Highlands, or throughout Britain, MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. I am sorry to have to say it, but to suggest 50-94 wolf packs in the Highlands is ENVIRONMENTAL EXTREMISM. We should have nothing to do with it. * Internet figures, most from Yellowstone sources.

Kroenke Ranches is taking bold new steps on Texas’s WAGGONER RANCH by adopting a holistic approach to the ecological management of the historic 560,000-acre ranch’s significant wildlife resources. The primary land-management techniques currently being employed by the Wildlife Division are targeted specifically at quail and white-tailed deer habitats. Since Stan Kroenke purchased the Waggoner Ranch in February 2016, brush management has been performed on more than 150,000 acres of the 875-square-mile landholding. This comprehensive management philosophy has served to promote populations of native grasses and forbs and to enhance habitat diversity on the largest single ranch under one fence in the Lone Star State Stan Kroenke's 1,700,000 acres take the Number 4 spot in The Land Report 100 presented by Peoples Company: https://lnkd.in/eDrmGzyu PHOTO CREDIT: © Kroenke Ranches - Peoples Company #LandReport100 #AmericasLargestLandowners #landowners #KroenkeRanches #WaggonerRanch #WildlifeManagement #EcologicalConservation #QuailHabitat #DeerHabitat #BrushManagement #HabitatDiversity #NativeGrasses