Time is a fascinating thing. From the human perspective, 90 years is indeed a long time, yet, when you think about it in a geological scale, an evolutionary scale, a scale measured against deep time and natural history, it is but the blink of an eye. The sea turtles of today’s oceans have been on Earth for 100 to 150 million years, and a sea turtle can have a life span of up to 100 years in the wild. 90 years is not that long at all!

Let us then agree that it is not the amount of time, the length of time, or the age that we find NWF has reached that is the most impressive….it is what NWF has done with that time!

One example of time and effort well spent is the NWF Gulf Program. A gathering of dedicated staff, sportsmen, community supporters, and volunteers who have banded together to protect, conserve, and restore one of the world’s great marine and coastal treasures. Every moment committed to this noble endeavor is time well spent, doing what wilderness advocate Douglas Peacock refers to as “the world’s work.”

Organizations, like people, are measured by what they stand for and what they accomplish. They are judged by their ability to speak truth to power and, in times of great challenge, like the ones we find ourselves in these days in the Gulf, to stand strong and press on with purpose to protect the people, places, and wildlife that call the Gulf home.

The last 90 years have seen climate change and sea level rise across our coastlines, intensifying hurricanes along the Gulf coast, extinction, habitat loss and coastal Louisiana disappearing from generation to generation. And NWF has responded nationally with 90 years of science-based advocacy and policy to bring light to darkness and proven solutions to daunting problems.

In Florida, NWF is engaged in efforts to protect the habitat of nesting sea turtles—putting their 90-year history in perspective. When a nesting female sea turtle creates her nest for the first time, she is returning to essentially the same beach from which she hatched originally 30 years before. 

The entirety of NWF’s 90-year history can be viewed from the perspective of three generations of sea turtles and their first nests. Three generations of sea turtles returning to the same lonely, darkened, wind-swept beach to engage in an evolutionary continuum that is a function of deep natural history and geologic time. Science, magic and hope are intertwined in the creation of new life.

The last 90 years have seen tremendous changes in the condition and nature of those beaches. A beach that historically was darkened on the night hatchlings emerged, allowing them to use the light of the stars and the moon to find the waiting sea, is now aglow in artificial light. Hatchlings become disoriented and head away from the safety of the ocean and into a world of predators, cars, people, drains, and concrete. 

As NWF enters its 90^th year, the Gulf team is working to dim the lights and return the dark beaches to the hatchlings. In a sense, they are turning back the clock to a time when turtles came first.

NWF’s Gulf Program seeks to enact and implement Sea Turtle Lighting Ordinances (STLO) that require darkened beaches and turtle-friendly lighting during nesting season. This simple, easy, common-sense solution ensures another species can survive and provides hope that in another 90 years, the Gulf’s population of sea turtles is even more robust. This is the world’s work.

If 90 years of dedication conserved and protected just two creatures of each species in the Gulf South, it would be worth it. But NWF is trying to save entire populations, working to restore entire ecosystems, and seeking to spend the next 90 years conserving and protecting all things wild, honoring the people and places of the Gulf and of America and connecting the world our great-great grandparents knew to the world our great-great grandchildren will inherit. 90 years of the world’s work.

Joe Murphy is a former Wildlife Policy Specialist for NWF’s Gulf Program. He contributes these blog posts as a NWF alumnus and supporter. He contributes these blog posts as a NWF alumnus and supporter. Joe is a lifelong and native Floridian who lives along the Gulf Coast. You can follow Joe on Instagram @ naturecoastjoe

That’s why Fort Valley State University (FVSU), in collaboration with the National Wildlife Federation’s Southeast Forestry program, has established the FireCats. This collegiate club aims to bring together students with an interest in the natural world and careers in forestry, fire ecology, prescribed burning, and conservation.

In collaboration with the Longleaf for All Mentorship Model—a program that leverages the knowledge of experienced forestry landowners to educate their community—the FireCats brought 24 students to Landowner Mentor Mr. Herbert Hodges’s property for his annual Learn & Burn in Swainsboro, Georgia.

A Fire-Dependent Ecosystem

The longleaf pine ecosystem—once spanning 90 million acres stretching from southern Virginia to eastern Texas—is crucial to the Southeast, but human activity has caused a drastic decline in acreage. Efforts are underway to reverse this damage, and prescribed fire is a critical component of this, as lower-intensity fire is a natural and necessary aspect of this ecosystem.

It’s a methodology that not only helps the flora grow but thrive. In removing invasive shrubs and other competing vegetation, sunlight can reach the understory, promoting nutrient cycling, seed germination, and the growth or regrowth of native species. In fact, without prescribed burning, the ecosystem’s namesake species, the longleaf pine, wouldn’t be able to flourish.

For Zion Sayles, the newly appointed FireCats President, it was very rewarding to learn how native plants can survive during fires and rebound, coming back stronger than ever. In an interview, Zion noted her particular excitement “to provide plant science majors”—like herself—“with the opportunity to get deeper into the field of forestry and ecology” in her new position.

However, flora aren’t the only ones who benefit from fire in the longleaf pine ecosystem. Fire opens the understory up, which provides ample hunting opportunities for native wildlife; increases diversity and abundance of vegetation for herbivores; and maintains the habitat of keystone species like the gopher tortoise—an at-risk reptile students loved learned about.

Protecting Communities

Prescribed burning doesn’t merely benefit ecosystems but communities too. Warming temperatures are amplifying wildland fire activity, and while humidity, wind speed, and direction are prominent influences in how these events spread, it’s the accumulation of vegetation—or fuels—that drive hotter, faster, and higher reaching fires.

The resulting catastrophic wildfires threaten landscapes, property, civilians, and firefighters, prescribed burners have the unique ability to get ahead of these natural disasters by removing these loads. In removing dead and live vegetation, such as trees, shrubs, grasses, and litter, fire practitioners can safeguard communities before trouble strikes.

“This experience really opened my eyes,” says student Kingston Askins. “I can see how this is a very enjoyable career to go into, and it’s very rewarding, as you can see how doing these prescribed burnings [help] the environment.”

A Field Rife with Opportunity

It’s the diversity of the field that stuck with students in the end, as most students went into this event not knowing how their majors could help them have careers in fire. But that’s the beauty in forestry: no matter your degree, there’s always ways to get involved. The professionals were prime examples of this, as while many had natural resource degrees, others majored in the arts.

While it’s true that many of these students may not find their way into a fire-adjacent career, whether that be because of pre-determined career goals or otherwise, at the very least, they now have the resources to teach their friends and family that prescribed fire isn’t something to fear. And out of this peer education, who knows what future fire practitioners could be born.

“There are steps we can take to protect [the environment] for the next generation,” Herbert says, “[and] it’s going to take all of us being interested and working hard to see that it’s done.”

Debido a la construcción de carreteras y otro tipo de infraestructura, el hábitat de la vida silvestre está dividido, afectando su movimiento y conectividad ecológica. Los corredores de vida silvestre, o ecoductos, como puentes con vegetación, pasos subterráneos, entre otros, son soluciones diseñadas para ayudar a los animales a moverse de un lugar a otro, escapar del peligro, apareare y mejorar su diversidad genética.

Además, reducen la fragmentación del hábitat y previenen las colisiones entre animales y vehículos, mejorando nuestra seguridad vial.

Los estudios indican que los corredores ecológicos diseñados para la fauna silvestre fortalecen la biodiversidad y mejoran la resiliencia de los ecosistemas. Mantener la conectividad de los hábitats de la fauna es una de las mejores formas de evitar la pérdida de especies.

El peligro de las carreteras

Las carreteras exponen a los animales al tráfico vehicular, aumentando los riesgos de colisiones. Según la Administración Federal de Carreteras, cada año en los Estados Unidos, ocurren entre uno y dos millones de colisiones de vehículos con grandes animales, incluidos ciervos, pumas y otras especies.

El mayor número de colisiones se produce en zonas rurales, sin embargo, las ciudades no están exentas. Según un reciente análisis de la aseguradora State Farm, los 10 estados con mayor riesgo de colisiones de vehículos con animales son: Virginia Occidental, Montana, Pensilvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Mississippi, Dakota del Sur, Virginia y Wyoming.

La Administración Federal de Carreteras ha identificado 21 especies amenazadas o en peligro de extinción, cuya supervivencia está riesgo debido a la mortalidad en las carreteras. Para hacer frente a la fragmentación de los hábitats es necesario crear corredores ecológicos, mediante programas que mejoran la planificación y gestión de la tierra y, además, permiten la colaboración con las tribus nativas americanas y las comunidades locales.

Un programa federal que protege la fauna y la seguridad vial

El Programa Piloto de Corredores de Vida Silvestre (WCPP, en inglés), autorizado en 2021, ha sido una herramienta fundamental para ayudar a reducir las colisiones vehiculares con la fauna silvestre.

Gracias a su financiamiento se ha lograron la construcción de 15 proyectos de corredores ecológicos y 20 proyectos centrados en la investigación, planificación, diseño y análisis de zonas que están en riesgo de una colisión vehicular con un animal. Estos proyectos han ayudado a convertir a las carreteras en lugares más seguros para los conductores y han mejorado la conectividad del hábitat de la fauna en todo el país.

La demanda de financiamiento del Programa Piloto de Corredores de Vida Silvestre ha superado con creces los 350 millones de dólares disponibles, con aproximadamente 1,134 millones de dólares de financiamiento en total.

Debido a que el programa está a punto de expirar en 2026, hay una creciente preocupación de que los solicitantes no puedan aprovechar los recursos federales y tengan que asumir los crecientes costos de implementar proyectos para mitigar las colisiones de vehículos con la fauna silvestre.

Por esa razón es fundamental que el Congreso reautorice los fondos para el Programa Piloto de Corredores de Vida Silvestre. Es necesario aumentar el financiamiento de este programa, satisfacer la demanda de los solicitantes que son elegibles y eliminar las barreras que restringen la participación de las tribus nativas americanas y su acceso a los recursos del programa.

Sin el financiamiento de este programa, corremos el riesgo de experimentar un aumento del número de colisiones de vehículos con la fauna silvestre y que la fragmentación de los hábitats sea cada vez mayor.

En 2025, un total de 26 estados presentaron 66 proyectos de ley relacionadas con corredores ecológicos de la fauna silvestre. Por ejemplo, Nuevo México aprobó una ley para crear el, Wildlife Corridors Fund, un fondo que proporcionó 50 millones de dólares en recursos dedicados al Departamento de Transporte de Nuevo México para construir ecoductos para osos, pumas, ciervos, borregos cimarrones y otros animales grandes.

El proyecto de Sandia a las Montañas Jemez, en Albuquerque, NM, contempla múltiples corredores ecológicos para conectar a la fauna con su hábitat, permitiendo una migración segura de los animales y mejorando la seguridad de los conductores.

Este proyecto ilustra la importancia de trabajar con las tribus nativas americanas, reconectando el hábitat de la fauna silvestre, adyacentes a sus tierras. Legislaciones anteriores establecieron el Plan de Acción para los Corredores de Vida Silvestre de Nuevo México, identificando puntos críticos, en algunas de las carreteras más transitadas, donde están las rutas migratorias de la fauna silvestre.

National Wildlife Federation Apoya la Conectividad Ecológica

National Wildlife Federation apoya los esfuerzos colaborativos de agencias estatales y federales, propietarios de tierras, grupos comunitarios y otras ONG para mejorar la conectividad ecológica de los hábitats de la fauna.

En colaboración con nuestras afiliadas, trabajamos para reconectar, restaurar, mejorar y mantener las rutas migratorias de diferentes especies como el berrendo, un mamífero que habita en el oeste de los Estados Unidos. Junto a la organización, Nature Conservancy, elaboramos un mapa interactivo para estudiar el movimiento de esta especie a lo largo del año.

En California, National Wildlife Federation lanzó la campaña #SaveLACougars para construir el cruce de vida silvestre, Wallis Annenberg, un paso elevado con vegetación para la fauna, que ayudará a los animales a cruzar un tramo de 10 carriles de la autopista 101, en Agoura Hills, a 35 millas de Los Ángeles y que estará completo a finales de 2026.

Se trata de un proyecto, público y privado, de gran alcance, con supervisión y liderazgo del Servicio de Parques Nacionales, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy/MRCA, Caltrans y la National Wildlife Federation.

La construcción de este proyecto, que comenzó en abril de 2022, ha dado como resultado al corredor ecológico de la fauna más grande del mundo y el primero de su escala en una zona urbana. El objetivo es salvar una población de pumas de la extinción, proporcionando una conexión entre la pequeña y aislada población de las montañas de Santa Mónica y una población más grande y genéticamente diversa al norte. Con un hábitat nativo completamente funcional, el Wallis Annenberg Widlife Crossing, es un corredor de visa silvestre diseñado para que otras especies de la fauna silvestre también lo utilicen.

El icónico puma P-22, que realizó un viaje milagroso a través de dos grandes autopistas para encontrar un hogar y recorrió las colinas de Hollywood durante más de una década, sirvió como símbolo de la campaña #SaveLACougars.

Lamentablemente, en diciembre de 2022, P-22 fue atropellado por un coche y tuvo que ser sacrificado debido a sus heridas y otros problemas de salud. Sin embargo, su legado perdura, ya que el P-22 ayudó a concienciar en Estados Unidos y en todo el mundo sobre los peligros de las autopistas para los grandes felinos y otras especies, y los impactos devastadores en la fragmentación del hábitat para toda la fauna.

Aquí, puedes ver imágenes en tiempo real del progreso de la construcción del Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing.

Finalmente, también es importante resaltar que las tierras privadas, incluidas las granjas y ranchos, proporcionan un hábitat para la silvestre fauna. Los programas de conservación voluntarios y basados en incentivos del Departamento de Agricultura de EE. UU. (USDA, en inglés) apoyan a estos ecosistemas.

En la Ley Agrícola de 2018, que financia y dirige los programas de USDA, se lograron avances significativos al incluir el 10% del mayor programa de conservación de tierras para prácticas que benefician a la fauna. National Wildlife Federation está trabajando para incluir la conectividad de los hábitats de la fauna y los corredores migratorios en la próxima Ley Agrícola. El borrador de la Ley Agrícola de 2026, presentada en la Cámara de Representantes, incluye estas disposiciones.

El botón de bajo te llevará a la página del Fondo de Acción de NWF, donde puedes tomar acción sobre este tema.

Puedes leer este blog en inglés aquí.

Studies indicate that maintaining the connectivity of wildlife habitats is one of the best ways to prevent species loss. Wildlife crossings help animals move around, promote genetic diversity, reduce habitat fragmentation and prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions. Whether over or under roads and other infrastructure, wildlife crossings are essential to protecting biodiversity, public health, and road safety. 

The Danger of Roads 

In the United States, between one to two million vehicle collisions with large animals, including deer, mountain lions, and other species, occur each year, according to the Federal Highway Administration. The highest number of these collisions are in rural areas, however, cities are not exempt. The 10 states with the highest risk of animal-vehicle collisions are: West Virginia, Montana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Mississippi, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming, according to a recent analysis by insurer State Farm.

The Federal Highway Administration has identified 21 threatened or endangered species in the U.S. whose continued survival is threatened by road mortality. This issue impacts a multitude of animals, large and small, from mountain lions to monarch butterflies.

To address the fragmentation of wildlife habitats, it is necessary to create ecological corridors, through programs for improved land planning and management. These programs also promote collaborative efforts for conservation with Indigenous tribes and local communities.

A Federal Program for Connectivity and Road Safety

The Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program (WCPP) authorized in 2021 has been an important tool to help reduce the impact of wildlife vehicle collisions. The WCPP provided funding for 15 wildlife crossings projects and 20 projects supporting research, planning, design and wildlife vehicle collision analysis.

These projects have helped make roadways safer for motorists and improved habitat connectivity around our country. The demand for funding from the WCPP has far exceeded the available $350,000,000 in funding with approximately $1,134,000,000 in total funding asks.

With the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program set to expire in 2026, there is a growing concern that many eligible applicants will not be able to leverage federal funding and simply won’t be able to afford the increasing costs of wildlife vehicle collision mitigation projects.

Currently, there is a large effort to reauthorize the WCPP in the upcoming Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill.  It is critical to reauthorize this program, increase funding to meet the demand by eligible applicants and remove the federal cost match requirement for Tribes that has been a barrier to more robust Tribal participation. Without the WCPP, we are at risk of increased vehicle collisions and severe habitat fragmentation.

In 2025, 26 states introduced 66 pieces of legislation related to wildlife corridors, wildlife crossings, and wildlife connectivity.  For example, New Mexico passed legislation to create the Wildlife Corridors Fund and later provided $50 million in dedicated resources for the New Mexico Department of Transportation to build wildlife crossing projects for bears, cougars, deer, bighorn sheep, and other large animals.

The Sandia to the Jemez Mountains project, in Albuquerque, NM, envisions multiple crossing structures to connect wildlife habitat, allow for safe wildlife migration, and improve motorist safety.

This project illustrates the importance of working with tribal partners to reconnect wildlife habitat adjacent to tribal lands. Previous legislation established the New Mexico Wildlife Corridors Action Plan to identify hotspots where wildlife corridors intersect with some of the most heavily traveled roadways.

National Wildlife Federation Supports Wildlife Connectivity 

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) supports the collaborative efforts of state and federal agencies, landowners, community groups, and other NGOs to improve the ecological connectivity of wildlife habitats. In collaboration with its affiliates, National Wildlife Federation is working on projects to reconnect, restore, enhance, and maintain the migration routes of different species such as the pronghorn, a mammal found throughout the American west. The Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation have partnered on an interactive map to study the movement of pronghorns throughout the year.

In California, the National Wildlife Federation launched the #SaveLACougars campaign to build the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, a vegetated overpass for wildlife, which will help animals cross a 10-lane section of Highway 101. Slated for completion at the end of 2026, the project is in Agoura Hills, 35 miles from Los Angeles.

This is a public-private partnership project of significant scope, with oversight and core leadership from the National Park Service, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy/MRCA, Caltrans, and the National Wildlife Federation.

Construction of this crossing, which began in April 2022, will result in the largest wildlife crossing in the world and the first of its scale in an urban area. It aims to save a population of mountain lions from extinction by providing a connection between the small and isolated population in the Santa Monica Mountains to a larger and more genetically diverse population to the north. With a fully functioning native habitat, it is also being designed for other wildlife to utilize.

The iconic mountain lion P-22, who made a miraculous journey across two major freeways to find a home, and roamed the Hollywood hills for over a decade, served as the poster-cat for the #SaveLACougars campaign.

Sadly, in December of 2022, P-22 was hit by a car and had to be euthanized due to his injuries and other health issues. Yet his legacy lives on, as P-22 helped raise awareness in the U.S. and across the world about the dangers of highways to big cats and other species, and the devastating impacts on habitat fragmentation on all wildlife.

You can see real-time footage of the progress of the construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing here.

Finally, it is also important to highlight that private lands, including working lands such as farms and ranches, also provide significant wildlife habitats. The U.S. Department of Agriculture have voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs that support these habitats.

In the 2018 Farm Bill, which funds and directs USDA programs, significant progress was made by directing 10% of the largest working lands conservation program toward practices that benefit wildlife. NWF is working to expand these practices and include wildlife habitat connectivity and migration corridors in the next Farm Bill. The 2026 House draft Farm Bill included several of these provisions.

The button below will take you to NWF’s Action Fund page, where you can take action on this topic.

Read this blog in Spanish here.

A Practice as Old as Time

Lower-intensity fire is a natural and necessary aspect of many ecosystems, including the longleaf pine ecosystem, which ranges from southern Virginia to eastern Texas. Here, fire opens the understory up, providing ample hunting opportunities for native wildlife; increasing diversity and abundance of vegetation; and maintaining the habitat of keystone species like the gopher tortoise.

Indigenous Peoples recognized this, and intentionally lit small, controlled fires to clear land for crops, to hunt game, and manage and promote ecosystem health, providing communities with clothing, food, ceremonial items, and more—a practice known today as cultural burning. When they would migrate to a new location, they would leave their old site burning in their wake, knowing that, when they returned, they would find the land flourishing more than before.

The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina—which recently received federal recognition through the Lumbee Fairness Act, signed into law on December 18, 2025—are one of many who continue to practice cultural burning. While they and many other Indigenous Peoples have lost many things over the years—including nearly 99% have had their homelands taken from them, according to a recent data set—this traditional practice remains a steadfast land management strategy.

Unfortunately, while fire continues to rejuvenate and maintain fire-dependent ecosystems to this day, the practice hasn’t been rightfully and positively depicted in the past. The resulting decades of fire suppression and, consequently, fuel—live and dead organic material—build-up, pose a risk to people and wildlife. Now, it’s more important than ever to carefully burn those fuels before they lead to high-intensity, life-threatening wildfires.

The Locklear Farm

Mitch Locklear, a member of the Lumbee Tribe, is one of National Wildlife Federation’s Longleaf for All Landowner Mentors. The Landowner Mentorship Model engages with landowners that have been successful in restoring longleaf pine on their property to share lessons and sustainable management techniques like prescribed burning. This January, Mitch brought a handful of local landowners to his property for a controlled burn to teach them the ways of prescribed fire.

His family farm, The Locklear Farm, was acquired in 1979 by Early and Lucille Locklear. It primarily served as a tobacco farm, but included cotton, soy, corn, and wheat over the years, eventually becoming a forested property in the hands of their children, brothers Ralph Phillip Locklear Jr. and Mitchell “Mitch” Locklear, who got forestry degrees. They initiated a longleaf pine planting in 2005 and added an additional border of longleaf pines in 2012.

The brothers have maintained the property with fire since the 2000s, but that wasn’t their first experience with fire on their family land. As Mitch points out, “Prescribed burning has been in my family ever [since] I was a little boy. My dad was a farmer—a sharecropper—so we always burned the fields after the crops, especially after wheat.”

This generational practice doesn’t stop at Mitch and Ralph Phillip, as their children, though not pursuing forestry careers like their fathers, get involved in the practice where they can, with Mitch’s daughter Khinsley present at the pictured burn. She got her hands on the drip torch, and though wary of the flames, demonstrated a clear understanding of why this practice is important not only for the land, but to their People.

A Legacy of Fire

It’s evident that the practice of prescribed burning is a legacy that Mitch and his family proudly carry, and that this land—their historic land—will never go without the proper management as long as they live. Their investment into their land isn’t only for themselves, but for the coming generations, as it’s a means of generational wealth for their children, and their children’s children, and beyond.

“Burning is in my blood,” Mitch says. “I’ve always done it, always enjoyed it, and [I’m] grateful to continue it.”

The Longleaf for All Mentorship Model is conducted in partnership with USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service in North Carolina. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

In the spring, the Eastern and Western populations of monarchs migrate northeast and northwest, respectively, reaching the U.S. border with Canada. In autumn, both populations migrate to their wintering sites. The Eastern population migrates to the high and cold mountains of central Mexico, and the Western population migrates to the coast of California, where they spend the entire winter from November to March.

In recent decades, monarch butterflies have declined by more than 90 percent. They are threatened by climate change, excessive pesticide use, and habitat loss in their breeding, migratory and wintering grounds. Their habitats include, among others, native nectar plants and milkweed, the only food source on which monarch butterfly larvae depend to begin their life cycle.

The National Wildlife Federation makes the following six recommendations in support of monarch butterfly conservation:

1. Include the monarch butterfly as a threatened species, under the Endangered Species Act.
2. Reduce or eliminate, the use of pesticides and herbicides that directly affect butterflies and their habitats, milkweed, nectar plants, and wildlife in general.
3. Create a monarch friendly garden, planting milkweed and native nectar plants for the survival of caterpillars and monarch adults.
4. Encourage local authorities to be part of the initiative, Mayors ‘ Monarch Pledge, the National Wildlife Federation’s program that supports monarch butterfly conservation. From 2015 to date, more than 1,200 cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada are part of this initiative.
5. Call on Congress to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and the Monarch Act of 2025.
6. Participate in citizen science activities.

You can read this blog in Spanish here.

En la primavera, las poblaciones oriental y occidental de las monarcas migran hacia el noreste y noroeste respectivamente, llegando hasta la frontera de Canadá con Estados Unidos. En otoño, ambas poblaciones migran a sus sitios de invernación. La población oriental, migra a las montañas altas y frías del centro de México y la población occidental migra a la costa de California, donde pasan todo el invierno de noviembre a marzo.

En las últimas décadas, las mariposas monarca han sufrido un declive de más del 90 por ciento. Están amenazadas por el cambio climático, el uso excesivo de pesticidas y la pérdida de su hábitat en sus zonas de reproducción, migración e invernación. Sus hábitats incluyen, entre otras, a las plantas nativas que proveen néctar y al algodoncillo, del género Asclepias, la única fuente de alimento de la que dependen las larvas de la monarca para completar su ciclo de vida.

Estas son seis recomendaciones de National Wildlife Federation para ayudar a salvar a las mariposas monarca:

1. Incluir a la mariposa monarca como una especie amenazada, bajo la Ley Federal de Especies en Peligro de Extinción. 
2. Reducir, o eliminar, el uso de pesticidas y herbicidas que afectan directamente a las mariposas y sus hábitats, al algodoncillo, a las plantas que proveen néctar y a la vida silvestre en general.
3. Crear jardines silvestres, sembrando algodoncillo y plantas nativas de néctar para la supervivencia de las orugas y los adultos de la monarca. 
4. Alentar a las autoridades locales a ser parte de la iniciativa trinacional, Mi Municipio con la Monarca, (Mayors’ Monarch Pledge), el programa de National Wildlife Federation que apoya la conservación de la mariposa monarca. Desde el 2015 hasta la fecha, más de 1,200 ciudades en Estados Unidos, México y Canadá son parte de esta iniciativa.
5. Pedirle al Congreso aprobar, el proyecto de ley de recuperación de la vida silvestre de Estados Unidos, Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, y el proyecto de ley de conservación y recuperación del hábitat de la mariposa monarca, Monarch Act de 2025.
6. Participar en actividades de ciencia ciudadana.

Puedes leer este blog en inglés aquí.

Allegheny College, Pennsylvania

Transformed turf at the entrance to their library into a native perennial area and installed bird and bat boxes throughout campus.

Allegheny College built and installed 20 pine bird boxes around campus, working collaboratively with the campus physical plant to install the boxes with cone-shaped predator guards in diverse campus habitat types representing an environmental gradient of urban to field to forest. The different habitat types will attract at least four native cavity-nesting songbirds including black-capped chickadees (forest specialist), house wrens (urban and forest nester), eastern bluebirds (field and forest), and tree swallows (field).

In collaboration with a local bat expert, Allegheny built and installed three wall mount boxes and six rocket boxes for bats. These boxes will provide critical habitat for the federally endangered northern long-eared bats and little brown bats (threatened in Pennsylvania). These boxes were placed in locations of either known bat roosts (in the hopes of luring bats out of campus buildings) or favorable habitat types. Additionally, the project team converted a typical non-native turf lawn adjacent to the campus library into a perennial native flower landscape.

The location was chosen specifically to simultaneously provide habitat and demonstrate a sustainable alternative to the conventional American lawn. Allegheny planted three species of live plants, one species of bare root plant, and 14 species of seeded plants. Their hope is that the live plants will establish and the seeds will naturally stratify for strong germination in spring 2026.

There was strong student engagement in this project, including Allegheny College’s bird club (constructed the bird boxes and will continue to monitor the boxes), and the environmental research methods course (built the prototype bat boxes). The bird and bat boxes on campus will be monitored for occupancy rates and maintenance.

Learn more about the Allegheny College project by reading the blog by Allegheny College faculty, Building Homes for Bats on a College Campus.

California State University Bakersfield

Conducted a survey on the endangered San Joaquin kit fox to identify preferred denning and hunting grounds on campus and in areas along the Kern River that runs through the entire city.

California State University Bakersfield (CSUB) collected 221 scat samples at 10 sites along the lower Kern River in Bakersfield, Kern County, California. The DNA was successfully extracted from 130 samples followed by Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR) with primers 16SMA7-F/R which targets mammalian species based on the mitochondrial ribosomal gene.

Five sites were identified as hot spots for San Joaquin kit fox (SJKF) populations. Other animals that were detected included coyotes, bobcats, dogs, house cats, striped skunks, Virginia opossum, racoons,and California ground squirrels.

In addition to investigating the presence of SJKF, the CSUB research team, including both undergraduate and graduate students, encouraged the campus community to report sightings of this endangered species to determine preferred areas. The team was interested in a wide range of behavior for the SJKF including latrines (for communication), hunting and denning.

The collected data was used to propose a habitat conservation plan for the SJKF on our campus that protects most of the western undeveloped areas to be preserved as SJKF denning and hunting grounds. Results of this project were also shared with the CSUB administration and the Ecosystem Advisory Council, as well as to the Strategic Planning Committee.

The project will continue in 2026, supported by a private donation from a community member. Furthermore, CSUB will propose the non-invasive method used in this project to the City of Bakersfield to identify SJKF population in areas where survey data is rare or absent to support the new Metropolitan Bakersfield Habitat Conservation Plan for SJKF and other endangered species. December through February SJKF is mating season and the team is excited to report seeing couples of foxes on campus.

Georgia State University Perimeter College

Built nesting boxes for the brown-headed nuthatch, which is endemic to the longleaf pine forests in Georgia. These pine forests are among the most critically endangered forest types in the country, with less than five percent of its original acreage remaining.

Georgia State University Perimeter College built and installed approximately 130 nest boxes for the brown-headed nuthatch, a species of concern in Georgia.

A portion of the new boxes replaced existing boxes that were in disrepair, and the remaining foxes were installed at new locations on campus, as well as installations at multiple partner sites including Indian Creek Elementary, Blue Heron Nature Preserve, and Stone Mountain Park.

Additional boxes will be placed at Arabia Mountain in 2026. The project also produced30 educational signs and engaged undergraduate students in hands-on lab and field activities.

The team will begin data collection in March for the 2026 nesting season. Additional future goals include increased recruitment of students interested in research, the design of an informational flyer about the project to be distributed to the public, and construction of more bird boxes for campus placement as well as offsite, in collaboration with community partners.

Kentucky State University

Enhanced the habitat for two key groups of bird species on campus including the red-headed woodpecker (a species of conservation concern) and several songbird species, the Kentucky and prairie warblers.  

Kentucky State University (KSU) focused on a 10-to-11-acre project area along Thorobred Trail. The habitat management and restoration efforts, engaging both students and staff, included spraying all invasive wineberry and invasive shrubs were removed, including bush honeysuckle and privet.

To directly support the red-headed woodpeckers, KSU built and installed three nest boxes, identified and located numerous notable snags within the 10-acre site (key habitat for the woodpecker) and created an ArcGIS map of snag locations to support long-term monitoring and management. Additionally, KSU hosted invasive species removal days and hands-on management activities called Woodland Wednesdays, and hosted several community nest box building workshops, in partnership with KSU’s Environmental Education and Research Center.

The project team also purchased trail signage and will develop and install an informational kiosk to share updates and educational materials with trail users and students. KSU will also partner with the Frankfort Audubon Society to conduct additional bird surveys along trail. This project helped introduce many community members to Thorobred Trail as a living laboratory and conservation space, strengthening the connection between KSU and the broader community.

KSU’s efforts immediately improved forest structure by opening the understory, allowing for native regeneration, and creating better nesting and foraging conditions for shrub and cavity nesting birds.

Smith College, Massachusetts

Restored woody habitat through the control of non-native plants and introduced of native plant woody species in support of the endangered eastern ratsnake, a tree snake in Massachusetts.

Smith College’s grant project focused on the eastern ratsnake habitat restoration. Restoration efforts began with the removal of invasive vegetation that choked out desired native trees and shrubs. Major invasive species included multiflora rose, round leaved bittersweet, and autumn olive. Removal started with killing invasive vegetation with herbicide on about 5 acres.

In areas of the hillside that lacked any native plants or were 15 feet from the boundaries of regulated wetlands, herbicide was applied by foliar spray on the entire rose plant; dead plants were cut up using hedge trimmers, chain saws, or by a contractor with a brush hog attached to a skid steer. Over 100 native trees and shrubs were planted, and native grassland seed was spread over about 2 acres.

The ratsnake habitat was further enhanced with the construction of a snake hibernaculum (one hibernaculum can host multiple snake species). Students from several courses, including the natural resources conservation and restoration class and the aerial imagery and cinematography drone class, were engaged in this project. About 30 acres of old field and canopy forest ecosystems are dominated by invasive plants at the Field Station and the techniques learned on this project will be applied to future restoration efforts.

Learn more about the Smith College project by reading the blog by Smith College student Alexandra Blaszczyk, Slithering Through the Branches at Smith College.

University of South Florida

Protected habitat for the gopher tortoise through the Bull’s Nature Trail Boardwalk Project. The gopher tortoise is threatened in the state of Florida (and federally threatened in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi).

The University of South Florida (USF) installed four cameras donated by their Integrative Biology department for use along the prospective Bulls Nature Trail Boardwalk. The trail cam evidence shows that the area is a commuter corridor for many animals, including dear, raccoon, and armadillo, but not the gopher tortoise, which is a great sign.

It is important that the campus doesn’t disrupt tortoise habitat in the creation and use of the Bulls Nature Trail Boardwalk. The proposed placement for trail will allow for mitigated and tailored human use of the green space that still honors the habitat of the current species that call the preserve home. There is currently a high impact project in development directly next to some of the last gopher tortoise habitat in Hillsborough County, so the USF project to protect and restore gopher tortoise habitat is crucial and timely.

Additionally, USF utilized the Trimble Catalyst, a centimeter-accurate positioning tool that allowed the team to map out existing gopher tortoise burrows to ensure they will not be impacted by the creation of the boardwalk project. USF completed the preliminary engineering report and assessment for the boardwalk, and based on the assessment, it has been advised that more monitoring is needed before proceeding to ensure there is no negative impact on the endangered gopher tortoise.

University of Tennessee

Assessed the recovery of freshwater mussels in areas where human activity has severely impacted their populations.

A total of 80 propagated freshwater mussels, including 40 Actinonaias ligamentina and 40 Villosa iris, were fitted with VHF radio transmitters and held for observation in silos for four weeks through the University of Tennessee (UT) project. Transmitter tag attachment was conducted using established handling procedures to minimize stress to the mussels. Tags were affixed to the exterior of the shell in a location that minimized interference with natural movement and burrowing behavior.

After attachment, mussels were allowed time to acclimate and were observed in silos for several weeks prior to release to confirm tag retention and general condition. Following acclimation, the 80 tagged mussels were released into the river and divided evenly between two habitat types, a main channel area and a point bar. Within each habitat, a small subset of mussels was placed in silos to serve as a control group. The positions of tagged mussels were monitored monthly and following major flooding events.

UT student researchers and other researchers surveyed the release areas by walking or floating along the river while scanning transmitter signals. During each monitoring event, the team documented mussel condition, including survival and burrowing status, and recorded movement relative to the original release point and previous locations. As of January 6, 2026, all mussels have survived and have been observed burrowing. This suggests that the tags are not impacting the mussel’s fitness and we will be able to continue tracking the animals monthly over the next 6 months or more.

The UT team created an easy identification guide for some of the most common mussel species in the area to disseminate at local events. Many people who live in Tennessee and recreate on the Powell River are not aware that this state is a hotspot for freshwater mussel biodiversity. One of the biggest events on the Powell River is the annual kayaking regatta that happens to float directly over the study site.

Prior to the event, the UT team held a workshop for paddlers to teach them about the importance of mussel conservation; more than 200 people participated in the regatta and received the identification guide.

Learn more about Mutual of Omaha’s  Wild Kingdom Grant program and past recipients.

Our son and daughter were 8 and 10 years of age when our adoption was finalized. They are biologically brother and sister, and because of their age and being a sibling pair, our adoption was considered a high-risk adoption. That, coupled with the time they had spent in foster care and the deep abuse and neglect of their biological family, meant we had to find ways to bond right away and authentically to create a true family as quickly as we could. 

Nature, love, extended family, friends, neighbors and our Church were all essential in the process. Nature no less so than the other strands of our community that held us together in the rough times. 

Public lands offered a safe, neutral place for us to build a family. We could learn about new places and each other at the same time. We could find the beauty and wonder of nature as we discovered the beauty and wonder of each other. The deep bonds of community, our faith and the natural world saved us.

Our family immersed ourselves in Florida’s public lands. We went swimming in Juniper Springs in Ocala National Forest and at Manatee Springs State Park. We hiked Hillsborough River State Park. We paddled down the Withlacoochee River on the Nature Coast. We found secret fishing holes and shady places to sit and watch wildlife. Public lands became a vast and accessible resource that we could use to define our new family and create our own, new, better memories.

When you start a new family with kids who have experienced trauma and are 8 and 10, you realize you have no stories as a family yet. You must build them as you experience them and retell them as often as you can. As you weave together the layers of experience you deepen the bonds that you rely on in the challenging times. Time in nature as a family provides those stories, those memories, those common touchstones.

The truly amazing thing about those memories is that I can still visit these places. I can take my grandchildren there to form the deep and lasting memories I formed with my parents and grandparents, and with our son and daughter.

Public lands help us create a sense of place and help us connect past, present and future. They define what it means to create connections.

We would not have survived those early years without tipping over canoes, catching (or not catching) fish, long hikes, endless bugs, snakes, mud, biting crabs, jellyfish, and more. Challenges met and overcome as a family built memories, bonds, and resilience.

We would not have seen a nesting loggerhead sea turtle on a windswept beach in the dark of night perform what we considered a miracle without nature and public lands. We would not have seen magical pods of dolphins, manatees, all types of reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals without time spent in nature. A night filled with fireflies still makes me smile today.

We took my granddaughters to Homosassa Springs State Park this weekend. They are 4 and 3 years of age. I suspect the ice cream, stuffed bears, and soda might have been their favorite parts, but we got to see snakes, birds, alligators, Florida Black Bears, Florida Panthers and manatees as a family, together. We saw huge schools of mullet, snook and jacks in crystal-clear waters. Nature, for another generation, helped us build family and memories.

At the end of the day, what we do and what we value matters. It is our contribution to eternity. It is our legacy. Supporting the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Program means supporting places that are essential to the future of my family. NWF supports places that supported me. Now I can give back to those natural wonders and seek their conservation. Nothing could matter more.

 Joe Murphy is a native and lifelong Floridian who lives in Brooksville, Florida along the Nature Coast. He is a former Wildlife Policy Specialist for NWF’s Gulf Program. He contributes these blog posts as an NWF supporter and alumnus. You can follow Joe on Instagram @naturecoastjoe.

Although I have worked on capture capture policy and advocacy for several years, this was the first time I had seen the technology up close. There were semipermanent trailers where the tour began, along with huge ducts, scaffolding stretching high into the sky, and a massive metal tower. It all looked like a standard industrial site. But the prospect of public-private partnerships in infrastructure projects to help in the fight against climate change is both noteworthy and important.

The Los Medanos Energy Center demonstration site, owned and run by the company Calpine, is testing and monitoring the success of Calpine’s carbon capture technology. Opportunities like this are important to scale up to commercial carbon capture—some of which will be necessary to meet our climate goals. 

NWF does not generally support carbon capture on power sector projects as there are better ways to decarbonize the power sector, primarily by expanding renewable energy and clean, firm power sources like next-generation geothermal. However, given the Trump administration’s hostility towards renewable energy and their preference for fossil-based projects, carbon capture may play a role in the power sector, especially with natural gas power plants, for the foreseeable future.

Calpine partnered with Ion Energy and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help fund the $25 million project. If successful, the project will capture about 10 tons of CO₂ per day during the 18-month demonstration period. Long term, the plan is for CCS technology at this 678-megawatt power plant to capture as much as 95 percent of carbon emitted. For context, a typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 tons of CO₂per year. 

That means every day this facility could prevent over a year’s worth of CO₂ emissions from two cars from entering the atmosphere. This captured CO₂ would then be transported via pipeline to a nearby site where it will be stored in geologic formations deep underground.

In 2024, California included CCS as a strategy in their climate action plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 and to cut emissions by 48 percent by 2030. CCS can help to reduce emissions from hard-to-abate sectors (like steel or cement) in the state and help reach carbon neutrality faster. That said, CCS projects are expensive to build and will require time to reach the scale where the technology is reliable and its impact is felt. This is one reason why federal funding for emerging climate technologies is important. Without the investment from the federal government, projects like this are much harder to get off the ground. 

The Trump administration has made dramatic cuts to federal agencies and grant programs that help invest in climate technologies like carbon capture. In May 2025 the administration canceled 24 clean energy and carbon capture projects worth $3.7 billion, projects that had already been approved by the DOE. The DOE office that awarded those projects has since been dissolved. 

Most recently, the Trump administration has taken funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act meant for carbon capture projects and redirected them to fund existing and formerly closed coal burning power plants. All these changes put the future deployment of carbon capture technologies at risk, and only add to the existing challenges that climate change presents. To meet the challenge of addressing climate change, we need to use every tool accessible to us, including carbon capture technology in hard-to-abate sectors. 

Projects like the one at Los Medanos show what is possible when the government and the private sector work together. Preventing these partnerships will only limit our ability to innovate and solve shared challenges, ultimately slowing our progress in the fight against climate change.