Wildlife Wins to be Thankful For

Thankful Moments from 2012 This year marked a great step forward in the return of bison to the Great Plains. Dear Activelids, Let's not sugarcoat it — these are tough times for wildlife lovers. But even the darkest times have inspiring moments. Thanks to you and other steadfast wildlife lovers, we have some important victories to celebrate from this past year. Here are three things we are thankful for here at Defenders: Make Way for Bison! We took a giant step in 2012 toward returning wild bison to the heart of their historic range in America's Great Plains. Sixty one pure American bison from Yellowstone National Park made a 500-mile journey to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Eastern Montana. The move marks the beginning of efforts to restore wild bison herds of 1,000 or more to areas where they once thundered in the millions. Roadless Rule Upheld. The Supreme Court handed conservationists a huge victory when they rejected an appeal to the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, allowing this rule to stay intact. The provision, signed by President Clinton in 2001, bans road construction or timber harvesting in nearly 60 million acres of National Forest lands. The rule protects more than 1,600 vulnerable wild plant and animal species whose habitat would be at risk if road building was permitted. A Lone Wolf Arrives in California. There has not been a wild wolf in California since the 1920s. That is until OR-7, a young male born in Eastern Oregon, made his way into Northern California's Cascades region early this year. It was a landmark moment for wolf conservation, and for a while OR-7 was undoubtedly the world's most famous wolf. We here at Defenders cannot thank you enough for your passionate support in 2012. Let's draw encouragement and renewed energy from these wins to meet the conservation challenges ahead! Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Sincerely, Jamie Rappaport Clark President Defenders of Wildlife       Defenders of Wildlife leads the pack when it comes to protecting wild animals and plants in their natural communities »        1130 17th Street NW  |  Washington, DC 20036  |  1-800-385-9712               HOME DONATE NOW     CONTACT US RSS FEEDS     PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF USE           © Copyright 11/21/2012 Defenders of Wildlife. This message was sent to activelid.animals@blogger.com Please do not respond to this message. Click here to unsubscribe Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native wild animals and plants in their natural communities. Defenders of Wildlife can be contacted at: 1130 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036