The National Wildlife Federation needs our help in securing the safety and continuation of some of the most magnificent animals in America. Yellowstone National Park is home to species like the gray wolf, grizzly bear, bighorn sheep and bison. As long as these animals are in the National Park they are protected. Once across its borders they are no longer safe and the death rates rise dramatically!
Animals are needlessly killed during severe winters when they wander onto National Forest lands, where ranchers may hold grazing privileges. Under the grazing agreement, federal agents are obligated to kill wildlife to protect livestock.
National Wildlife Federation’s Adopt-a-Wildlife-Acre program solves this conflict through a market-based approach to conservation. NWF compensate ranchers for retiring their grazing allotments with sufficient funds to allow them to relocate their livestock to locations that don’t have conflict.
THE PROCESS
Here’s how it works. NWF contacts ranchers who hold leases on allotments that are on our priority list for retirement. If the rancher is interested, NWF negotiates a price.
Next, NWF approaches the land management agency (the U.S. Forest Service) to make sure it’s willing to permanently close the allotment.
When all three parties voluntarily agree, NWF retires the grazing rights. Through this program, NWF recognizes the economic value of livestock grazing permits and fairly compensate ranchers for retiring their leases. It’s a win-win-win solution!
4 CORE PRIORITIES OF ADOPT-A-WILDLIFE-ACRE
- Focus on core recovery areas and key wildlife corridors
- Prioritize sheep allotments over cattle allotments (sheep create more conflict with wildlife)
- Give preference to retirements that create large areas without livestock
- Identify allotments with the greatest number and frequency of livestock losses
Where your help is currently needed: Wapiti Grazing Allotment>>
WAPITI GRAZING ALLOTMENT
Location: Southwestern Montana
Size: 10,000 acres
Wildlife: Bison, wolves, grizzly bears
Conflict: The Wapiti Allotment is similar to the adjacent Cache-Eldridge allotment which we retired in 2008. When bison wander from Yellowstone National Park in search of food, they are killed because of fears that cattle will contract diseases from bison. Retiring cattle grazing on Wapiti will create a safer winter migration path for bison and other imperiled Yellowstone wildlife.
Size: 10,000 acres
Wildlife: Bison, wolves, grizzly bears
Conflict: The Wapiti Allotment is similar to the adjacent Cache-Eldridge allotment which we retired in 2008. When bison wander from Yellowstone National Park in search of food, they are killed because of fears that cattle will contract diseases from bison. Retiring cattle grazing on Wapiti will create a safer winter migration path for bison and other imperiled Yellowstone wildlife.
Status: There needs to be $75,000 raised to retire the grazing rights to this land and make it safe for at-risk Yellowstone animals. Help NWF seal the deal!
http://wildlifeacre.nwf.org/currentallotments.php
The link above will take you to the National Wildlife Federation Site where you can get more information and Adopt-a-Wildlife-Acre today.
All of us need a place we can eat, sleep and call home!
Information from the National Wildlife Federation at: http://www.nwf.org/
