Rewilding in the Media #20

Editors’ note: In this periodic summary, we list some of the latest research and rewilding projects, ideas, and notable stories in the media about protecting and restoring wild Nature that the TRI board and staff discover and discuss. These are some highlights from the first half of 2024. We urge sharing links to the ones you find most inspiring.

1. The Wildlife Society, Eastern Wolves Are Isolated in Algonquin Provincial Park [March 12, 2024]

“An imperiled wolf species survives poorly outside the boundaries of a provincial park in Ontario. […] Overall, a combination of a higher chance of death outside Algonquin and a larger chance of hybridizing means that the relatively healthy population of eastern wolves is effectively isolated in the protected area.”

2. Capitol Weekly, Beavers are our partners in protecting and restoring California [April 16, 2024]

“If you’re like us, you’re inspired by the natural world and eager to see California’s beautiful mountains, forests, and lakes protected for future generations. You also might be surprised to hear that the health and survival of these places depends on one species more than most: beavers. Put simply, beavers are our partners in protecting and restoring California.”

3. Report: An Ecoregional Conservation Assessment for Forests and Woodlands of the Mogollon Highlands Ecoregion, Northcentral Arizona and Southwestern New Mexico, USA; DellaSala, D.A.; Kuchy, A.L.; Koopman, M.; Menke, K.; Fleischner, T.L.; Floyd, M.L. Land [Nov. 23, 2023]

“Abstract: The Mogollon Highlands, Arizona/New Mexico, USA, spans a large biogeographical region of 11 biotic communities, 63 land cover types, and 7 ecoregions. This 11.3 M ha region has high levels of beta diversity across topo-edaphic gradients that span deserts to mountain tops. The main stressors affecting the region’s forests and woodlands include climate change, livestock grazing, and frequent mechanical removals of large amounts of forest biomass for fire concerns. We present an ecoregion conservation assessment for robust conservation area design that factors in appropriate wildfire response to protect communities from increasing threats of climate-induced wildfires spreading into urban areas.”

4. Whitehouse.gov, Biden-⁠Harris Administration Launches Conservation.gov, Showcasing and Supporting the Rapid Acceleration of Locally Led Efforts to Conserve, Protect and Restore Lands and Waters across America [April 19, 2024]

“The Biden-Harris Administration launched Conservation.gov, a new website that will help connect people with information, tools, resources, and opportunities to support land and water conservation projects in communities across the country.”

5. Washington Post, Seven people who influenced our national parks [April 22, 2024]

“The national parks system represents one of the largest and most well-known examples of environmental protection in the United States […] many people whose efforts during more than over 150 years of land management helped change how these fragile and dynamic landscapes will be protected into the future.”

6. World Rewilding Day 2024 was hugely impactful, and the Global Rewilding Alliance created a 10-page Impact Report.

7. New report: “State of the States: A look at how far U.S. state habitat connectivity legislation has advanced and what is working.”

“Wildlands Network has partnered with the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators and other key players working in the state habitat connectivity policy space to put all of our insights on paper. This report has a glossary of all state habitat connectivity legislation passed to date (spoiler alert there are at least 83 pieces of state habitat connectivity legislation out there!), case studies to help interested parties understand how certain legislation has played out in practice, as well as some insights on the evolution of state habitat connectivity legislation and the federal policies that have helped catalyze this state action.”

8. Check out a new weekly newsletter on LinkedIn: Rewilder Weekly. You can follow for a weekly curation of the latest rewilding news and insights they feature.

9. Scientific American, Grizzly Bears Will Finally Return to Washington State. Humans Aren’t Sure How to Greet Them [May 14, 2024]

“After decades of debate, grizzlies will be reintroduced to the North Cascades.”

10. “Jaguar Rising” an event to raise awareness about the impacts of the U.S.-Mexico border wall included work by eco-political artist Lauren Strohacker, covered in these two articles:

Inside Climate News, In Arizona, an Art Installation Highlights the US-Mexico Border’s Impact on Wildlife [May 26, 2024]

Tuscon Sentinal, Along Nogales wall, jaguar images celebrate newly discovered big cat & offer a warning for the future [May 29, 2024]

“For nearly a hundred people at the border barrier, the images projected across the 18-foot high steel bollard wall were a celebration of a newly discovered jaguar roaming Southern Arizona and also a warning for the jaguar’s future if border wall construction continues.”

11. Salon, Jaguars are returning to America, but Fish and Wildlife Service don’t think they need protections [May 31, 2024]

“Experts say an iconic wild cat’s return is an indicator of climate change and the need for greater conservation.” Megan “Turtle” Southern, the jaguar recovery coordinator at The Rewilding Institute was one of experts interviewed for this article.

12. The Wildlife Society, Q&A: Rewilding the reptile way [May 31, 2024]

“When you think about species reintroduction or the more controversial topic of rewilding, large species often come to mind. […] But in a review published recently in Global Ecology and Conservation, Gavin Stark, from the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig, and his colleague Mauro Galetti, a professor from São Paulo State University in Brazil, suggest more focus should be put on herbivorous reptiles, such as tortoises or iguanas.”

13. Center for Western Priorities, Extreme politicians are trying to erase America’s national parks and monuments [June 11, 2024]

“A new report from the Center for American Progress identifies the members of Congress working to dismantle protections for America’s most beloved public lands.”

“A warning about anti-conservation extremists…” – John Davis, TRI Executive Director

14. Sierra Magazine, The Northeast Has Unexpected Old-Growth Forests That Survived Colonial Axes [June 10, 2024]

“If Conservationists’ end goal is a corridor of mature forest, finding and documenting the existing old growth is the first step toward getting there. Protecting it is the second.”

15. Yellowstonian, Decoding The Secret Chorus Language of Yellowstone Wolves [June 18, 2024]

“Using Artificial Intelligence and bioacoustics, America’s first national park stands at the forefront of global efforts to translate the sonorous communication of wolves and other large terrestrial species.”

16. Inside Climate News, Out of Site, Out of Mind? New Study Finds Missing Apex Predators Are Too Often Neglected in Ecological Research [June 19, 2024]

“Using gray wolves in the American West as a case study, new research shows scientists often fail to recognize the ‘shifting ecological baseline’ regarding apex predators in their work.”

17. A new resource: the Wildlife Infrastructure Funding Guide

“Authored in partnership by ARC Solutions, National Parks Conservation Association, and Wildlands Network, the Wildlife Infrastructure Funding Guide is designed as a one-stop document detailing federal funding opportunities that can serve to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and improve habitat connectivity. This in-depth guide includes an overview of discretionary and formula allocation program information including eligibility details, selection criteria, set-asides, and other considerations alongside sample grant award descriptions from successful applicants in previous funding cycles.”

18. The Salt Lake Tribune, Public land belongs to all Americans, and livestock grazing on it is a privilege, not a right by Kirk Robinson [July 2, 2024]

“I was in virtual attendance at the legislative meeting on June 18 where an agreement was discussed that allows Utah to capture and return endangered gray wolves that wander into Utah from Colorado. I heard Rep. Steven Lund ask committee members, halfway jokingly, ‘Can we do that in the form of a rug,’ whereupon, Leann Hunting, animal industry director for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, responded saying ‘I like the way you think.’

These uneducated remarks exhibit contempt for the law, for wildlife, for at least half the residents of Utah, who have a different opinion on the matter, and for science and truth.”