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Deserts and Grasslands: Guarding the
Wildlife and Lands of the Arid Southwest
 North
America’s native prairie and desert habitats are among the
most endangered biological communities on the continent.
These areas continue suffering abuse from over-grazing,
relentless oil and gas development, urban sprawl, irresponsible
recreation, and other human-caused threats. Forest Guardians
works to stop this destruction and to restore fully thriving
natural grassland and desert communities and recover imperiled
species that belong within them. We focus on Central and
Southern Shortgrass Prairies of the high plains and the
Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. Forest Guardians aims to
transform a mainstream image of arid landscapes from wastelands
to wildplaces. Read more..
Defending Our Arid Public Lands
The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau
of Land Management control a large portion of our desert
and grassland regions. While these federal lands remain
open for logging, mining, and livestock use, increasingly
Americans want their public lands to provide havens for
wildlife and pristine wilderness. Yet, the U.S. Government
is cutting off avenues of democratic participation. We are
leading an effort to retain the public voice in public lands
management, and specifically in the Cimarron and Comanche
National Grasslands management planning process occurring
right now. Read more..
Re-Wilding the Southern Prairie
The Great Plains once pulsated with
seemingly infinite bison herds, vast bird flocks (including
the now-extinct passenger pigeon) that darkened the sky,
roving wolf packs, and even grizzly bear. This wild vision
of our prairie grasslands has been lost in the mainstream
American consciousness. We have launched the Southern Prairie
Conservation Initiative to create space in North America’s
Southern Prairie for the full spectrum of prairie wildlife
to flourish.
Read
more..
Tough Love Solutions to Fossil Fuel
Addiction
One of the biggest threats to the
fragile ecosystems of the arid southwest is oil and gas
exploration and extraction. With an anti-environmental oilman
in the White House, an onslaught of new oil and gas development
threatens to destroy some of the last intact pristine arid
ecosystems in the Southwest. Moreover, current environmental
standards have been scaled back and planning processes on
federal lands are being fast-tracked for expeditious energy
development on an unprecedented scale. Forest Guardians
continues to challenge energy projects that threaten aquatic
and terrestrial life through protests, litigation, and appeals.
Read more..
For specific questions about our efforts to protect deserts and
grassland,
contact Lauren McCain,
desert and grasslands coordinator.
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