NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC

WILDLIFE AND WILDLANDS NRDC PROTECTS WILDLIFE AND UNSPOILED LANDS AND WATERS FROM INAPPROPRIATE AND UNLAWFUL INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION, POLLUTION, AND CLIMATE CHANGE. WE PARTNER WITH RANCHERS, FARMERS, AND THE GOVERNMENT TO PROMOTE SOLUTIONS THAT HELP WILD PREDATORS COEXIST WITH LIVESTOCK AND PEOPLE. WE PUSH FOR INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS TO PROTECT ELEPHANTS, RHINOS, SHARKS, AND OTHER ANIMALS FROM BEING KILLED FOR TRADE. AND WE FIGHT TO KEEP RECKLESS OIL AND GAS DRILLING OUT OF WILD AREAS, FROM THE ATLANTIC OCEAN TO THE CANADIAN BOREAL FOREST. THE MAIN FY23 ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND HIGHLIGHTS IN THIS CATEGORY ARE AS FOLLOWS: NRDC MADE CRITICAL PROGRESS IN PROTECTING ENDANGERED SPECIES, IN SAFEGUARDING CERTAIN SPECIES AS WELL AS PROTECTING THE RULES THAT SAFEGUARD THEM. MOST NOTABLY, IN RESPONSE TO A LAWSUIT FILED BY NRDC AND OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS, A FEDERAL COURT IN THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA INVALIDATED DOZENS OF TRUMP-ERA ROLLBACKS OF SPECIES PROTECTIONS UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (ESA). THE DECISION RESTORES A RANGE OF PROTECTIONS FOR HUNDREDS OF VULNERABLE SPECIES AND ENSURES THAT THE ESA CAN CONTINUE TO PRESERVE THEM. FURTHER IN RESPONSE TO THE LAWSUIT, THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE AND THE NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE RELEASED DRAFT REVISIONS TO REGULATIONS GOVERNING PROTECTIONS UNDER THE ESA, WHICH RESTORED MANY OF THE PROTECTIONS THAT HAD BEEN LOST AND STRENGTHENED KEY HABITAT SAFEGUARDS. ADDITIONALLY, IN OUR PROGRESS TO DEFEND INDIVIDUAL SPECIES, THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROTECTIONS WERE PUT INTO PLACE FOR THE WHITEBARK PINEA HIGH-ELEVATION TREE CONSIDERED A "FOUNDATION SPECIES" DUE TO ITS IMPORTANCE IN ECOSYSTEMS. THE LISTING EXPLICITLY NOTES THE TREE FACES AN "IMMINENT" RISK OF EXTINCTION BROUGHT ON, IN PART, BY CLIMATE CHANGE. THIS MOVE IS OCCURRING 15 YEARS AFTER NRDC FIRST PETITIONED THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE TO EXTEND THE PROTECTIONS WHEN IT WAS FOUND THAT 80 PERCENT OF THE WHITEBARK PINE FORESTS IN THE GREATER YELLOWSTONE ECOSYSTEM WERE ALREADY DEAD OR DYING. OUTSIDE OF THE U.S., NRDC CONTINUED WORK TO SAVE THE VAQUITA PORPOISE, OF WHICH THERE ARE ONLY 10 REMAINING IN THE WORLD. DUE TO OUR EFFORTS, THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES (CITES) SUSPENDED ALL TRADE WITH MEXICO IN ANY CITES-REGULATED SPECIES UNTIL MEXICO AGREED TO A MEANINGFUL COMPLIANCE ACTION PLAN FOR THE VAQUITA, AND THE COUNTRY AGREED TO A PLAN AND SCHEDULE TO AVOID A RESUMPTION OF THE TRADE SUSPENSION. NRDC EFFORTS THIS PAST FISCAL YEAR ALSO INCLUDED PROTECTING OTHER ENDANGERED SPECIES IN BODIES OF WATER. FOLLOWING WORK SINCE 2020 TO MITIGATE THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF SHIP TRAFFIC AND NOISE ON MARINE MAMMALS, WE ACHIEVED SIGNIFICANT VICTORY WHEN A LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE WAS PASSED AND SIGNED INTO LAW AFTER LOBBYING BY OUR MARINE MAMMAL PROTECTION PROJECT. ADDITIONALLY, DUE TO OUR LEADING AND PARTNERING WITH ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS GLOBALLY TO PUSH FOR THE INTERNATIONAL REGULATION OF SHIPPING NOISE FROM FURTHER HARMING MARINE MAMMALS, THE INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION (IMO) AGREED UPON A REVISED SET OF VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES TO REDUCE UNDERWATER NOISE FROM COMMERCIAL SHIPPING. THE REVISED GUIDELINES PROVIDE DETAILED APPROACHES TO BUILD, RETROFIT, AND OPERATE QUIET SHIPS. SIMILARLY, IN WASHINGTON STATE, OUR ADVOCACY EFFORTS, TOGETHER WITH PARTNERS, LED TO THE STATE LEGISLATURE PASSING A NEW BILL TO SAFEGUARD THE SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS FROM SMALL VESSEL TRAFFIC, AS WELL AS THE SECURING OF TWO YEARS OF STATE FUNDING FOR QUIET SOUND, AN INNOVATIVE PROGRAM THAT MOBILIZES PORTS TO REDUCE VESSEL NOISE AND DISTURBANCE IN THE SALISH SEA. NRDC ALSO WORKED TO PROTECT WILD PLACES AND WILDLANDS FROM DESTRUCTIVE DEVELOPMENT AND INDUSTRIES. IN A MAJOR WIN, THE EPA ISSUED A FINAL DETERMINATION THAT PROHIBITS PEBBLE MINE'S MASSIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE OPEN-PIT GOLD AND COPPER MINE PROPOSED MORE THAN 20 YEARS AGO AND RESTRICTS FUTURE MINING OF THE PEBBLE DEPOSIT IN CERTAIN HEADWATERS OF THE BRISTOL BAY IN ALASKA. THIS VETO COMES AFTER DECADES OF WORK BY NRDC, OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS, AND COALITION PARTNERS, AND PROTECTS THE WORLD'S MOST PRODUCTIVE WILD SALMON FISHERY THAT GENERATES $2.2 BILLION IN ANNUAL REVENUE, 15,000 JOBS, AND TENS OF MILLIONS OF FISH AS WELL AS THE PEOPLE, TRIBAL COMMUNITIES, AND WILDLIFE IN THE AREA. IN ANOTHER MONUMENTAL DECISION FOR OUR CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY, THE ADMINISTRATION RESTORED ROADLESS RULE PROTECTIONS IN ALASKA'S TONGASS NATIONAL FOREST AND ITS NINE MILLION ACRES. THIS DECISION PROTECTS THE HEART OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST INTACT TEMPERATE RAINFOREST THAT STORES MORE CARBON PER ACRE THAN ALMOST ANY OTHER FOREST ON THE PLANET. IT ALSO PROVIDES HABITAT FOR MORE THAN 400 SPECIES, INCLUDING ALEXANDER ARCHIPELAGO WOLVES, BROWN AND BLACK BEARS, BALD EAGLES, AND ALL FIVE SPECIES OF PACIFIC SALMON, AND IS HOME TO INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES WHO HAVE LIVED THERE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. NRDC ALSO CONTINUED TO DEFEND THE NORTHEAST CANYONS AND SEAMOUNTS MARINE NATIONAL MONUMENT, A REFUGE FOR MARINE LIFE INCLUDING ENDANGERED WHALES, SEA TURTLES, SEABIRDS AND DEEP-SEA CORALS LOCATED ABOUT 150 MILES OFF THE COAST OF CAPE COD. THE SECOND AND ONLY REMAINING LAWSUIT CHALLENGING THE PROTECTION OF NORTHEAST CANYONS AND SEAMOUNTS WAS DISMISSED, FOLLOWING MONTHS OF EFFORTS BY NRDC AND OTHERS THAT CALLED INTO QUESTION WHETHER THE PROTECTION OF IT WOULD HARM THE PLAINTIFFS' ECONOMIC INTERESTS. OTHER AREAS THAT NRDC WORKED TO PROTECT THROUGH ADVOCACY THIS PAST FISCAL YEAR INCLUDE THE NEVADA WILDERNESS, WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT IN CONGRESS. THE BILL WITH CONSIDERABLE DIRECT INPUT FROM LOCAL TRIBES HELPED ESTABLISH THE NUMU NEWE SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA IN NEVADA, ENTAILING OVER 350,000 ACRES OF NEWLY DESIGNATED WILDERNESS LANDS AND SPECIFIC DESIGNATIONS TO FURTHER PROTECT RESOURCES CRITICAL TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN THE AREA. FURTHER, THE ADMINISTRATION TOOK ACTION TO PROTECT HISTORIC RESOURCES AROUND CHACO CULTURE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK IN NEW MEXICO FROM NEW OIL AND GAS LEASING AND MINING BY SIGNING A 20-YEAR PUBLIC LAND WITHDRAWAL THAT ADVANCES FURTHER KEY PROTECTIONS ON THE 336,404 ACRES SURROUNDING THE NATIONAL PARK. ALSO NOTABLE IS THE ADMINISTRATION'S ACTIONS TO PROTECT BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA VIA A 20-YEAR MINING MORATORIUM ON 225,000 ACRES OF FEDERAL LAND, WHICH HELPS SAFEGUARD THE NATION'S MOST VISITED DESIGNATED WILDERNESS AREA.