WILDEARTH GUARDIANS
301 N GUADALUPE ST SUITE 201, SANTA FE, NM 87501 wildearthguardians.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: WE ARE GUARDIANS. WE PROTECT AND RESTORE THE WILDLIFE, WILD PLACES, WILD RIVERS, AND HEALTH OF THE AMERICAN WEST. WE ENVISION A WORLD WHERE WILDLIFE AND WILD PLACES ARE RESPECTED AND VALUED AND OUR WORLD IS SUSTAINABLE FOR ALL BEINGS. WE BELIEVE IN NATURE'S INHERENT RIGHT TO EXIST AND THRIVE. WE SPEAK FOR THE WILD LIFE, PLACES, AND WATERS THAT HAVE BEEN DOMINATED AND ABUSED TO SERVE THE INTERESTS OF A GREEDY FEW. BIT BY BIT, WE ARE RESTORING THE BALANCE. WE ARE NOW, AS ALWAYS, A FORCE OF NATURE.

WILDEARTH GUARDIANS PROTECTS AND RESTORES THE WILDLIFE, WILD PLACES, WILD RIVERS, AND HEALTH OF THE AMERICAN WEST.

WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING WILD PLACES, GUARDIANS' SIZE BELIES OUR MASSIVE IMPACT. NEVER WAS THIS MORE TRUE THAN IN 2019, A YEAR DURING WHICH WE SECURED LANDSCAPE-LEVEL PROTECTIONS FOR VAST SWATHS OF WILDLANDS ACROSS THE WEST. SEPTEMBER MARKED THE YEAR'S MOST FAMOUS-AND INFAMOUS-VICTORY, WHEN A FEDERAL JUDGE IN ARIZONA HALTED ALL LOGGING ON 12 MILLION ACRES OF NATIONAL FORESTS IN NEW MEXICO AND ARIZONA ON BEHALF OF GUARDIANS AND THE MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL. TASKED WITH RECOVERING THE OWL, WHICH IS LISTED AS THREATENED UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE AND FOREST SERVICE INSTEAD FAILED TO COLLECT BASIC DATA ON OWL POPULATONS FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS. WE HOPE THIS WIN GIVES THE AGENCIES THE KICK IN THE PANTS THEY SORELY NEED, JUMP-STARTING A MEXICAN SPOTTED OWL RECOVERY EFFORT WORTHY OF ITS NAME. SPEAKING OF LANDSCAPE-LEVEL VICTORIES, WE ALSO PREEMPTED WHAT WAS SLATED TO BE THE LARGEST LOGGING AND ROAD-BUILDING PROJECT IN WYOMING'S HISTORY. THE MEDICINE BOW LANDSCAPE VEGETATION ANALYSIS PROJECT WOULD HAVE RAZED 360,000 ACRES OF FOREST, INCLUDING 123,000 ACRES ACROSS 25 DIFFERENT ROADLESS AREAS, AND BUILT 600 MLES OF "TEMPORARY" ROADS. THOUGH WE MAKE A HABIT OF THINKING-AND WINNING-BIG, WE ALSO REMEMBERED OUR ROOTS THIS YEAR, ASSEMBLING AN ARMY OF VOLUNTEERS TO BUILD "BEAVER DAM ANALOGUES" ON THE SANTA FE NATIONAL FOREST. THESE MANMADE DAMS ENTICE BEAVERS TO OVERGRAZED STREAMS (WHEN WILLOWS GET BROWSED DOWN, BEAVERS LACK THE RESOURCES TO BUILD DAMS). MERE MONTHS LATER, THE BEAVERS ARE ALREADY MAKING A COMEBACK, USING THE WILLOWS WE PLANTED TO ONCE AGAIN MAKE THE SAN ANTONIO CREEK THEIR HOME.

THIS YEAR WE CONTINUED TO PROMOTE COEXISTENCE WITH NATIVE CARNIVORES AND OTHER WILDLIFE ACROSS THE WEST. FROM OREGON AND MONTANA TO IDAHO, CALIFORNIA, AND NEW MEXICO, WE WORKED BOTH ON THE GROUND AND IN THE COURTS TO SECURE PROTECTIONS FOR THE WILDLIFE SUBJECTED TO FEDERAL ANIMAL DAMAGE CONTROL AGENCY WILDLIFE SERVICES' ABHORREBT ARSENAL OF DEADLY TRAPS, POISONS, AND OTHER PRACTICES THAT FLOUT SCIENCE AND DEFY ETHICS. OUR EXPERIENCE IN NEW MEXICO'S GRANT AND DONA ANA COUNTIES ILLUSTRATED THE DEEP-SEATED BELIEFS ABOUT WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT THAT WE'RE UP AGAINST. AT FIRST, OUR EFFORTS TO PERSUADE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO END THEIR "LICENSE TO KILL" CONTRACTS WITH WILDLIFE SERVICES MET WITH SUCCESS: THE GRANT COUNTY COMMISSION INITIALLY VOTED TO RESTRICT WILDLIFE SERVICES' USE OF LEGHOLD TRAPS AND CYANIDE BOMBS, WHILE DONA ANA COUNTY COMMISSION ADOPTED AN AMENDMENT THAT REQUIRED THE AGENCY TO ATTEMPT NON-LETHAL CONTROL OF WILDLIFE TWICE BEFORE RESORTING TO LETHAL MEASURES. THEN THINGS TOOK A TURN FOR THE WORSE, WITH WILDLIFE SERVICES REFUSING TO SIGN THE AMENDED CONTRACTS AND STRONG-ARMING COMMISSIONERS INTO FLIPPING THEIR VOTES. TRUTHFULLY, WE EXPECTED AN UPHILL BATTLE, ESPECIALLY IN LOCATIONS WITH STRONG AGRICULTURAL ROOTS WHERE FEAR OF NATIVE CARNIVORES HAS PERSISTED FOR GENERATIONS. AT THE SAME TIME, WE EMERGED FROM THE EXPERIENCE HEARTENED AND CERTAIN THAT WILDLIFE SERVICES' BULLYING CANNOT OBSCURE THE TRUTH OF ITS UNETHICAL AND UNSCIENTIFIC METHODS FOR LONG. BY PAINSTAKINGLY BUILDING POLITICAL WILL AT THE COUNTY AND STATE LEVELS, WE'RE THAT MUCH CLOSER TO BANNING TOOLS OF SLAUGHTER AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL ON ALL PUBLIC LANDS, CREATING A CULTURAL SHIFT TO COEXISTENCE WITH WILDLIFE-OUR ULTIMATE GOAL.

LEGAL: WE USE OUR LEGAL SYSTEM TO PROTECT VULNERABLE LANDS, WILDLIFE AND COMMUNITIES FROM THREATS OF ALL KINDS. OUR DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL, POLITICAL, SCIENTIFIC, LEGAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL LANDSCAPES ENABLES US TO PUNCH FAR ABOVE OUR WEIGHT AGAINST OPPONENTS MANY TIMES OUR SIZE.

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