Position Paper #2 | Interest Group or Issue

Wildlife Conservation

In 2021, the ivory-billed woodpecker went extinct along with 21 other species of birds, fish, mussels, and bats. Today, the main causes of extinction are loss of habitat (deforestation), over-exploitation (hunting/overfishing), invasive species, climate change, and nitrogen pollution. Scientists say that the best way to protect endangered species is to protect the places they live. Logging, oil and gas drilling, overgrazing, and development have affected the homes of species. Wildlife Conservation has become a huge issue not only in America but around the world. Luckily, we have a few different organizations that make it their priority to protect our wildlife.

One of the largest wildlife conservation groups in America is the American Wilderness Coalition. Their main goal is to save the land from urban development for future generations. They were formed in 1935 and have led efforts to permanently protect nearly 112 million acres of wilderness in 44 states. Their mission is to unite people to protect America’s wild places. 

One of their action plans is the 30x30 plan. In the past 20 years, we’ve lost 1.2 million square miles of wildland. The 30x30 movement was developed to address this crisis by joining with partners all over America to protect 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by the year 2030. Scientists say that is the minimum amount of land needed to prevent the widespread loss of species. Human health is affected by the survival of species and the ability to absorb greenhouse gas emissions. A few locations they are currently working on are The Central Coast and Bears Ears. 

California's Central Coast

Right now what the American Wilderness Coalition is doing is working with local communities. They are making sure federal agencies and lawmakers are working with communities to help aid them in inclusive processes to increase accessible and protected lands in their communities. They are also ensuring that those federal agencies mobilize President Biden’s 2021 executive order and follow through with those plans. They also are encouraging action in Congress. 

Circling back to their work on the Central Coast, the work is located about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It contains important Native American cultural sites and has a hugely diverse ecosystem. This land has thousands of acres of alkali wetlands, grasslands, and mountains, and is even home to the San Andreas Fault. The Los Padres National Forest alone is home to over 400 different species. It is also home to the endangered species, the California condor. Local economies depend on wildlife for tourism and recreational purposes. Oil and gas development now threatens the area. They are actively working on additional protections for the land through the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act. 

Bears Ears National Monument is a long-endangered historical spot in the U.S. But in 2016, when President Obama designated Bears Ears as a national monument hope was restored. Recent boundary reductions have stripped protections from hundreds of thousands of acres. Today, Bears Ears faces threats from uranium, oil, and gas drilling. Bears Ears is the home to a living museum of Native American cultural sites and fossil beds. It is also home to 18 endangered species that are listed under the Endangered Species Act. The Wilderness Coalition is currently battling it all out in court to protect this land from not only urban development but also vandalism. They are actively working with the Bureau of Land Management to make sure no one that can harm archaeological sites or monument resources can work on the land. 

Their social media is pretty impressive. Beginning with their Facebook, which has 702k followers, they keep a consistent posting schedule. They post research, voting information, and recently posted wildlife photography that correlated with Taylor Swift’s recent album release Midnights. I thought that was pretty clever and engaging for young people who may not have a big interest in wildlife conservation. Their Twitter has 103.9k followers, which is a lot for Twitter. Their tweets are all the same as those on their Facebook page, but they also retweet content from other organizations that you may not find on their other social media pages. Their Instagram has 250k followers and a significant difference in content. Their most recent posts are videos of people’s experiences of the effects of climate change. One woman told the story of how all her pot-bellied pigs were killed due to the weather conditions.

They also have a TikTok that only has about 1000 followers. The content on their TikTok is very interesting. You can tell that they are trying to create relatable content targeted at a younger audience, but it just doesn’t make sense. Their most successful videos are the educational ones. But their efforts to engage with an audience on TikTok doesn’t go unnoticed. They are making additional content to target a different audience and that is just as important as the regular content they make for their target audience.

@wildernesssociety fall is officially here 🍂 please recreate responsibly and leave no trace when visiting wild places. #greenscreen #autumnequinox #hiking #nationalpark ♬ original sound - .nabio ★

On their website, they release press releases every so often to inform those who are following government updates. One of their latest releases informs the people that President Biden designated the first new national monument of his presidency. The Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument. The monument is located in Colorado. Camp Hale was the home to the 10th Mountain Division during World War II. The high altitude played a crucial part in training for World War II veterans. The National Monument will provide visitors with educational and recreational experiences in Colorado’s White River National Forest. 

The Wilderness Society has done and is actively doing so much for our wildlife and ecosystems in America. By working with local communities and the federal government they have done so much to protect the wilderness. They have a large online following and they provide a lot of research for the issues they are trying to solve. The work they do might not seem important to people who aren’t surrounded by the negative effects, but to these people, it is the number 1 priority. To help them out you can search through their Take Action initiatives or donate to their foundation.