For the Love of Loggerheads

It was a love affair that was doomed from the start. But when a 300 pound sea turtle tried to mount biologist Hoyt Peckham, it ignited a passion in him for saving the shelled swimmers. Since the encounter, Peckham has been studying loggerheads in western Mexico -- and leading efforts to save them.

The rich waters of Baja California Sur serve as a staging area of sorts for Pacific loggerheads. The sea turtles spend 35 years feeding in the area until they are ready to make the journey as far as Japan to mate and lay eggs.

But longline fishing and gillnets kill thousands of loggerheads each year in the area, with consequences reaching across the entire Pacific Ocean.

Learn more about how Defenders and people like Hoyt Peckham are working with local fishermen to help save these ocean travelers in the latest Defenders Magazine.

Show your love for loggerheads and other wildlife. Adopt a sea turtle or 23 other animals from Defenders Wildlife Adoption Center. With sea turtle adoptions starting at just $25, it’s an affordable -- and meaningful -- Valentine's Day gift.

Heartbreak to Hugs?

We were heartbroken (but hardly surprised): On the way out the door, the Bush Administration stomped on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) with a last-minute regulation change.

Now, Congress can help wildlife rebound from this terrible relationship with legislation that can mend our hearts -- and the ESA. They just need to hear from you.

If you haven’t already done so, write your Representative today -- and tell him or her to give wildlife big hugs by cosponsoring legislation to overturn the Bush Administration’s undermining of the ESA.

Dog-Gone Prairie?
Habitat loss, poisonings and a plague threaten to wipe out the black-tailed prairie dog. Help could be on the way as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service considers listing the black-tailed prairie dog under the Endangered Species Act. On Monday, Defenders submitted comments from nearly 18,000 Defenders activists who wrote in to federal officials urging increased protections for this important character on the American plains.
>>Learn more about prairie dogs

Praise for Boxer's Warming Principles
This week, Senator Barbara Boxer (CA) issued a set of principles to guide policy in the fight against global warming. Our own Executive Vice President Jamie Clark praised the principles as “an important step towards not only reducing emissions, but also tackling the damaging effects of global warming that threaten our natural ecosystems and wildlife.”
>> Learn More

Vote for Us!!
If you’re a member of CREDO/Working Assets -- a company providing long distance, mobile phone and credit card services -- you can make a difference for wildlife with the click of a mouse. Since 1985, members have raised $60 million for progressive nonprofits -- and each year, members vote on how the money is donated. In 2007, CREDO members generously voted to give Defenders $87,000 to help save wildlife -- and we’re fortunate enough to be a recipient again this year.
So, if you’re a CREDO member, use your vote to help wildlife. Vote for Defenders!

The Meaning of 'Change'

Change is definitely in the air. Just last week I was invited to the White House to be present when President Obama took some of his first actions to protect the environment. Afterward, I had a chance to recommend some conservation priorities to the new Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar -- a meeting that would have been unheard of in the Bush Administration.

In my brief conversation with Secretary Salazar, I brought up some key concerns we have about our wildlife, including the Bush Administration’s harmful last-minute regulations severely weakening the Endangered Species Act.

Make no mistake: I’m just one voice among many, and this simple conversation won’t automatically right the wrongs of the last eight years. But it's a good start. And just having the opportunity represents an enormous change. The attitude the Obama Administration has toward our environment gives me great hope for better years ahead for our wildlife and wild places.

I hope that you will make your voice heard, too. Right now, the Obama Administration is reviewing the Bush Administration’s eleventh-hour assault on wolves in the Greater Yellowstone region -- wolves that you and I worked so hard to reintroduce. Now we have an opportunity to get it right. Please send a message today to President Obama and the Secretary Salazar. Together, we can ensure that a new plan can be forged to provide adequate protections for these magnificent animals to keep them recovered.

With your help, we can keep the conversation going -- our wildlife depends on it.