National Wildlife Federation
Encyclopedia
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over four million members and supporters, and 48 state and territorial affiliated organizations. The NWF strives to remain "A national network of like-minded state and territorial groups, seeking balanced, common-sense solutions to environmental problems that work for wildlife and people." Its mission statement is "to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future."

History and mission

On March 1, 1934, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed political cartoonist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling
Jay Norwood Darling
Jay Norwood Darling , better known as Ding Darling, was a Pulitzer-Prize winning American cartoonist....

 to be the chief of the U.S. Biological Survey. At Darling's behest, the president created plans to convene a conference in Washington D.C. to unite individuals, organizations and agencies interested in the restoration and conservation of wildlife resources. The conference took place from February 3–7, 1936 and was called the North American Wildlife Conference.

At this conference, an organization called the General Wildlife Federation was created; Darling was elected president. The first annual meeting was held March 3, 1937 in St. Louis, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. The General Wildlife Federation became the National Wildlife Federation in 1938. The numbers of members of this Federation increased from 2.3 million in 1968 to 4.1 million in 1974.

Its three main areas of focus are:
  1. connecting people to nature
  2. reversing global warming
  3. protecting and restoring critical wildlife habitats


The National Wildlife Federation unites sportsmen, outdoor enthusiasts, bird-watchers, wildlife gardeners, nature lovers, and others, bringing together a broad spectrum of people who share a passionate concern for wildlife. Affiliates from across the country have created a national network of like-minded state and local groups who seek balanced, common-sense solutions to environmental problems.

To achieve its mission, NWF offers the following services to individuals, organizations, and businesses: accessible conservation training, leadership training, educational curricula, information outreach, and networking opportunities. NWF frequently partners with other conservation organizations and corporations to achieve its goals.

NWF seeks to educate people of all ages by publishing a variety of wildlife magazines, including Wild Animal Baby
Wild Animal Baby
Wild Animal Baby is a magazine for children published by the National Wildlife Federation. The magazine is targeted to children ages 2-4, and consists of readings, pictures, and games designed to teach children about animals...

, Big Backyard, Ranger Rick
Ranger Rick
Ranger Rick was originally titled Ranger Rick's Nature Magazine. Ranger Rick is a children’s nature magazine that is published by the National Wildlife Federation. Kenneth B...

, and National Wildlife Magazine, and by the Backyard Habitat series on Discovery's Animal Planet
Animal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...

 along with IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...

 films, such as Coral Reef Adventure, India: Kingdom of the Tiger, Bears, Wolves, and Dolphins. Additionally, the NWF offers hands-on training and support for habitat restoration through its Backyard Wildlife Habitat
Backyard Wildlife Habitat
Backyard Wildlife Habitat is a program of the National Wildlife Federation that encourages homeowners in the United States to manage their gardens and yards as a wildlife garden, with the goal of maintaining healthy and diverse animal habitats and ecosystems...

 and Schoolyard Habitat programs.

NWF also created Conservation Summits (a harbinger of eco-tourism and green living trends) with the first Summit on July 20–25, 1970 at the YMCA of the Rockies, Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park is a national park located in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Colorado.It features majestic mountain views, a variety of wildlife, varied climates and environments—from wooded forests to mountain tundra—and easy access to back-country trails...

, Colorado. There have been 109 Summits since 1970, with notable environmental educators, naturalists, authors, and artists such as Robert Michael Pyle
Robert Michael Pyle
Robert Michael Pyle is a lepidopterist and author who has published twelve books and hundreds of papers, essays, stories and poems. He has a Ph.D. from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. He founded the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in 1974...

, Jim Halfpenny, Roger Tory Peterson
Roger Tory Peterson
Roger Tory Peterson , was an American naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator, and held to be one of the founding inspirations for the 20th century environmental movement.-Background:...

, Clare Walker Leslie, Annie Tiberio Cameron, and NWF 33-year employee and Chief Naturalist Craig Tufts (1946–2009) all on faculty at many Summits. Week-long Summits have been held most frequently in Colorado, North Carolina, and New York, but also in Wisconsin, California, Maine, Washington, Wyoming, Utah, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, and other locations. The NWF changed the name to Family Summits in 2000. In 2006, several longtime Summiteers formed a non-profit corporation, Family Summits, Inc., to take over the project; they continue the tradition under the name Family Nature Summit
Family Nature Summit
Family Nature Summits are annual gatherings that offer a mix of environmental and outdoor education and adventure, with notable environmental and wildlife educators providing classes and activities for adults and children...

s.

Some of NWF's specific conservation priorities include: seeking solutions to global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

; strengthening the Endangered Species Act
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...

; combating invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

; saving the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...

 from oil drilling; restoring America's waterways; reforming the Army Corps of Engineers; and educating future environmental stewards.

NWF's headquarters is currently located in Reston, Virginia
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...

, overlooking a wildlife sanctuary. The land they now occupy, on the border of Reston and Lake Fairfax Park
Lake Fairfax Park
Lake Fairfax Park is a park in Reston, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA owned and maintained by the Fairfax County Park Authority. Contained within the park is the Lake Fairfax...

, had been used as a garbage dump for many years; the NWF cleaned up and rehabilitated the land before moving into the site in 2001. On Earth Day 2002, the NWF was given an award by the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...

 for their Reston headquarters being one of the Top Ten "Green" Projects.

Board members

The following individuals make up NWF's top executive staff:

Larry J. Schweiger, President & Chief Executive Officer

Jaime Matyas, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

Dulce Gomez-Zormelo, Treasurer, VP for Finance & Chief Financial Officer

Barbara Gonzalez-McIntosh, Secretary, Senior VP and General Counsel

Current programs

The National Wildlife Federation continues its involvement in many leading environmental issues facing the country today, particularly in the areas of land stewardship, air quality, water resources, and wildlife conservation.
  • Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
    Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
    The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest National Wildlife Refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge...

  • Bald Eagle
    Bald Eagle
    The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...

  • Climate Change
    Global warming
    Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

  • Everglades
    Everglades
    The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...

  • Grizzly Bear
    Grizzly Bear
    The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...

  • Wolves
  • Polar Bears
  • Canada Lynx
    Canada Lynx
    The Canada lynx or Canadian lynx is a North American mammal of the cat family, Felidae. It is a close relative of the Eurasian Lynx . Some authorities regard both as conspecific. However, in some characteristics the Canada lynx is more like the bobcat than the Eurasian Lynx...


Magazines, TV Shows and Movie Partnerships

National Wildlife Federation publishes five magazines:
National Wildlife Magazine (for adults)
Ranger Rick
Ranger Rick
Ranger Rick was originally titled Ranger Rick's Nature Magazine. Ranger Rick is a children’s nature magazine that is published by the National Wildlife Federation. Kenneth B...

 (for children aged 7–12)
Your Big Backyard
Your Big Backyard
Big Backyard is a magazine aimed at preschoolers and kids ages 3 to 7. It was established in 1979. It is the sister publication to Ranger Rick and Wild Animal Baby, both published by the National Wildlife Federation. The bulk of the magazine consists of children's activities.-External links:* *...

 (for preschoolers)
Wild Animal Baby
Wild Animal Baby
Wild Animal Baby is a magazine for children published by the National Wildlife Federation. The magazine is targeted to children ages 2-4, and consists of readings, pictures, and games designed to teach children about animals...

 (for toddlers)
Ranger Rick's Just For Fun

NWF also produces a TV show, Wild Animal Baby Explorers
Wild Animal Baby Explorers
Wild Animal Baby Explorers is a television show designed to introduce preschoolers to the world of animals and help them develop important observation, problem-solving and listening skills. The series combines 3D animated characters and wildlife footage to introduce animal facts and nurture young...

, and is the education partner for various feature films, including Born to Be Wild 3D
Born to Be Wild 3D
Born to Be Wild 3D is a 2011 American nature documentary short film about orphaned orangutans and elephants. It's directed by David Lickley and written and produced by Drew Fellman. It was distributed in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures and IMAX Pictures. The trailer was released in...

, Nim's Island
Nim's Island
Nim's Island is a 2008 Australian adventure-fantasy film directed by Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin and starring Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, and Gerard Butler. The story is based on the book Nim's Island by Wendy Orr. A young girl, Nim, seeks help from the author of her favorite adventure...

, Where the Wild Things Are (film)
Where the Wild Things Are (film)
Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 American fantasy drama film directed by Spike Jonze and adapted from Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book Where the Wild Things Are. It combines live action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery...

.

Certified Wildlife Habitats

The "Backyard Wildlife Habitat" program was started in 1973 with the purpose of showing people how to make their yards and their community friendly to local wildlife. Now the Certified Wildlife Habitat program, the criteria includes providing food, water, cover, and places to raise young through the use of native plants and other features such as nest boxes and water gardens. The habitat can be certified by the NWF as an official Certified Wildlife Habitat site if these elements are provided.

Campus Ecology

The Campus Ecology program promotes climate leadership and sustainability among colleges and universities by providing resources, technical support, networking opportunities, and by organizing education events. Campus Ecology provides case studies on various environmental projects that can be implemented on college and university campuses, a yearly teleconference series, memberships, and is part of the Energy Action Coalition, helping to fund the Coalition in its infancy.

Since 2000, the Campus Ecology program has awarded over 100 fellowships on more than 65 campuses to undergraduate and graduate students working on sustainability projects. In 2006, the fellowship program shifted focus exclusively to student projects that focus on clean energy initiatives and conservation efforts.

In 2007, the Campus Ecology program launched the first Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming web broadcast. This annual event takes place each April. The webcast highlights winners of the NWF Chill Out competition and has an interactive panel of climate experts and student videos.

Eco-Schools USA

Eco-Schools
Eco-Schools
Eco-Schools is an international program of environmental and sustainable developmental education for schools. Foundation for Environmental Education is the founder of the programme and Eco-Schools is just one out of their five programmes....

 is an internationally acclaimed program that provides a framework to help educators integrate sustainable principles throughout their schools and curriculum. In December 2008, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) was granted Eco-School host status for K-12 schools in the United States. Through school-based action teams of students, administrators, educators and community volunteers, Eco-Schools USA combines effective "green" management of the school grounds, the facilities and the curriculum.

Great American Backyard Campout

Every year, National Wildlife Federation picks a Saturday in June to encourage people to gather in their backyards, neighborhoods, communities and parks and join the Great American Backyard Campout to camp and reconnect with nature.

Volunteer programs

The NWF runs an expansive network of volunteer programs that reaches over 10 million people.

Some of the current programs include:
  • Habitat Ambassadors
  • Habitat Steward Volunteers
  • Habitat Steward Hosts
  • Global Warming Ambassadors
  • Wildlife Literacy Ambassador
  • Behind the Scenes Volunteers
  • Gulf Restoration Volunteers

Regional offices

Apart from its headquarters, the NWF runs ten regional offices across the United States.

Chesapeake Mid-Atlantic Regional Center

The Chesapeake Mid-Atlantic office works with affiliates and partners across the region (Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina) to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay; the Appalachian forests, rivers and flyways; and the extensive shoreline and coastal bay habitats of the Mid-Atlantic. The office has developed an aggressive plan to protect and restore the national treasures of the region, working with a team of experienced national and regional policy and advocacy experts. The Office also actively educates and mobilizes hunters, anglers, gardeners and other wildlife enthusiasts in the Mid-Atlantic to support climate solutions at all levels of government.

Great Lakes Regional Center

The Great Lakes Natural Resource Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan focuses on global warming, Great Lakes restoration, Great Lakes water resources, Great Lakes water quality, Certified Wildlife Habitats, and wolves. It leads the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition in the "Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives" campaign. It focuses on the eight states in the Great Lakes region.

Pacific Regional Center - Alaska

The Pacific Regional Center in Alaska focuses on global warming, renewable energy, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism is tourism attempting to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate future employment for local people. The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development brings a positive experience for local people, tourism companies and the...

, and youth education in Alaska. Additionally, it works to preserve existing wildlife in Alaska, such as the caribou. The Pacific Regional Center in Alaska also offers the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action Alaska Youth For Environmental Action, which trains young people to be environmental leaders.

Pacific Regional Center - Seattle

The landscapes along the Pacific Coast are among the most diverse in the country. From the desert to the coastal rainforests, and from Puget Sound to the "gems of the Pacific," the wildlife species that depend on these habitats in Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii are also diverse and among the most treasured by people throughout the world. NWF works hard to protect these habitats for the benefit of all wildlife and people—focusing especially on the protection and restoration of threatened and endangered species such as salmon. Climate change is expected to take a large toll on wildlife in the region, and NWF is working to help people understand and minimize the impacts.

Northeast Regional Center

The Northeast Regional Center works mostly with state-based affiliates and local organizations to protect natural resources in New England. Its goals are to provide conservation leadership and protection for wildlife for generations to come.

Northern Rockies and Prairies Regional Center

The Northern Rockies and Prairies Regional Center, located in Missoula, MT, focuses on protecting the fish and wildlife resources of the northern Rockies and their habitats. It covers the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Idaho and works with state affiliates, individuals, and other groups to advocate for endangered species and public land management policies, and to increase public awareness. It has a strong interest in the Yellowstone ecosystem and runs a program to retire livestock grazing allotments that experience chronic conflict with wildlife, and on compensating ranchers for retiring their allotments.

Rocky Mountain Regional Center

The Rocky Mountain Regional Center is located in Boulder, Colorado, and focuses on protecting public lands and wildlife of the American West. It also concerns itself with protecting and restoring wildlife habitat on tribal lands, strengthening protection for critical migratory bird habitat, providing training and resources to educators and homeowners, and promoting environmental education in the community.

South Central Regional Center

The Gulf States Regional Center focuses four-state region of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Missouri and attempts to restore clean rivers and estuaries, conserve wetlands, springs, and natural river systems, protect wildlife populations, and promote sustainable land and water use. Like the overall NWF, it tries to educate children and adults about the natural world as well.

Southeast Regional Center

The Southeast Regional Center attempts to protect public lands such as the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, endangered species such as the Florida Panther, and freshwater streams against sprawl development by working with affiliates and other organizations. It also attempts to engage students and other residents of the region to develop environmental leadership skills.

National Advocacy Center

Located in Washington DC, the National Advocacy Center focuses on policy issues, grassroots outreach, law, government affairs, and media, to advances the NWF's national and international agenda. It focuses on Congress and other decision-making bodies to ensure environmental legislation is drafted and passed.

Affiliates

National Wildlife Federation's 47 affiliates are autonomous, grassroots
organizations, conserving America's natural resources and protecting
America's wildlife heritage. This collaboration between affiliates is the
core of how National Wildlife Federation was formed, and represents
a unique value that gives us a reach unlike any other conservation
organization in the country. Affiliates establish National Wildlife
Federation conservation policy and elect the majority of NWF
Board of Directors. They bring diversity and advocacy skills and greatly
enhance our ability to achieve common conservation goals.

See also

  • Sustainability
    Sustainability
    Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

  • Biodiversity
    Biodiversity
    Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...

  • Global warming
    Global warming
    Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...

  • Ecology
    Ecology
    Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

  • Earth Science
    Earth science
    Earth science is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences...

  • Natural environment
    Natural environment
    The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

  • Recycling
    Recycling
    Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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