National Wildlife Federation

The National Wildlife Federation is America’s largest and oldest nonprofit wildlife conservation organization, with a mission of uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife thrives in a rapidly changing world. It works with sportsmen and women and other partners to build broad, regional-based coalitions to advance solutions that reduce greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants, help diversify and revitalize local economies, center equity and environmental justice in climate investments and conservation, and protect critical wildlife habitat across the United States, all toward creating a more just, equitable, and inclusive future for all Americans. (Substrategy: Advance Conservation Protections)

Fossil energy development on western public lands has greatly expanded in the last few years and now threatens important fish and wildlife habitat. Hunters and anglers have special credibility with the public and policymakers. This renewal grant would support the National Wildlife Federation’s program to engage hunters and anglers to ensure key wildlife and fish habitat remains off-limits to fossil-energy leasing and development and that leasing reforms adopted by the U.S. Department of the Interior are not weakened.

The National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Office is perfectly situated to play a key role in building support for and curbing opposition to wind energy amongst skeptical sportsmen in Michigan. The state's largest and most influential conservation organizations--Ducks Unlimited and Michigan United Conservation Clubs--are concerned that state renewable energy policies will lead to increases in the number of wind turbines, which could disrupt bird migration patterns and lead to bird and bat deaths. NWF will work with prominent sports-men and -women leaders to educate these conservation groups and help address their concerns in order to build support for renewable energy and climate policies in the state. NWF also has a unique connection with the Detroit branch of the NAACP, and will use this connection to build support for clean energy and climate policies within the Detroit NAACP membership.