Defenders of Wildlife HQ

Defenders of Wildlife envisions a future where diverse wildlife populations in North America are secure and thriving, sustained by a network of healthy lands and waters.

• Diverse wildlife populations. Our conservation efforts are targeted at the full range of vulnerable North American biodiversity, from plants to pollinators to predators. While we do not set geographic boundaries on our work, we primarily focus on species of North America, including migratory and transboundary species that move freely across the borders or through the waters of the United States, Mexico and Canada. We recognize that we cannot protect any species without simultaneously protecting the habitats and other species on which it relies.
• Secure and thriving. We are working for the day when vulnerable North American species rebound to the point that they are secure—no longer threatened with rapid decline or extinction—and thriving in robust, well-distributed populations.
• Network of healthy lands and waters. Wildlife has the greatest chance of being secure and thriving if it is supported by a transnational network of public and private lands, rivers and coastal waters, core natural areas and working landscapes.

Defenders of Wildlife strategically focuses on species and groups of species whose protection has maximum benefits for wildlife, habitat and people; including predators, keystone species that create or maintain habitat for other wildlife, species that require large, connected expanses of habitat, environmentally sensitive species that are indicators of habitat health and water quality critical to wildlife and human communities, groups of species that serve functions essential to ecological integrity, and marine species that are crucial to the stability of our ocean food webs and ecosystems. We also fight to protect all species listed or proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act against wrongheaded decisions and management actions that undermine the integrity of the act.

GOAL 1: Conserve and restore imperiled biodiversity in North America.
Defenders of Wildlife protects native plants and animals in their natural communities, focusing on the conservation of imperiled species and species that help restore the integrity and health of ecosystems. To realize our conservation vision, Defenders of Wildlife deploys a wide range of tools and tactics, from policy analyses and advocacy, to litigation, innovative science and technology programs and field conservation. Every Defenders program aligns with or contributes to at least one of three broad imperatives:

• Prevent species and their habitats from becoming imperiled.
• Protect endangered and threatened species and their habitats.
• Restore the health of vulnerable species and their habitats.

1. Defend and restore wildlife conservation protections and policies.
2. Secure new wildlife conservation initiatives, policies and laws.
3. Ensure adoption of effective climate change policies and practices to conserve wildlife.
4. Mobilize science and technology to advance wildlife conservation.
5. Lead wildlife conservation on the ground.
6. Ensure adequate public and private funding for wildlife conservation.

GOAL 2: Mobilize a broader constituency for wildlife conservation.
Defenders of Wildlife recognizes the vital role people play in protecting our wildlife and wild places. We implement place-based conservation programs that are rooted in the communities in which we work and in strategic areas where we can have a positive impact on wildlife and landscapes. At the same time, we are driven by our responsibility to mobilize and grow a movement for conservation that will endure for generations to come. To advance our conservation goals, Defenders will strengthen and expand our current membership, networks and partnerships and engage new constituencies, particularly those historically left out of the conservation movement.

1. Mobilize members and supporters.
2. Engage new audiences.
3. Expand partnerships.
4. Diversify our workforce and foster a culture of inclusivity.

Defenders of Wildlife has a diverse, dedicated and experienced staff. Drawing top wildlife biologists, government policy experts, media relations specialists, membership service representatives, lawyers and many more. We put all of their individual talents to use to achieve our organization's common goals.

We also have strong partnerships throughout the country with other organizations, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and individuals to help us and our mission.

Not only do our nearly 2.2 million members and supporters contribute more than $38 million for wildlife and wildlife habitat annually, but law firms and others also generously donate their time and expertise to help sustain our programs and public education efforts in the field, the courts and on Capitol Hill.

Here are some highlights of Defenders of Wildlife’s accomplishments in 2020. For a more comprehensive list, please review our 2020 Accomplishments Report, found elsewhere on this page.

• Proposition 114, passed by Colorado voters on election day, directs the state to reintroduce wolves to Colorado, where they have been absent for nearly 80 years. Defenders worked tirelessly in support of this outcome, mobilizing scores of volunteers and promoting public awareness of the wolf among Colorado voters as a critical species in the state’s ecosystem.

• With partners, Defenders challenged the adequacy of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) supporting the U.S. Forest Service’s proposal to allow old growth logging on Prince of Wales Island in Tongass National Forest - one the last U.S. temperate rainforests. In March, the Alaska federal district court ruled in our favor. The project had the potential to destroy 23,000 acres of old-growth forest land, and the precedent-setting decision caused the Forest Service to delay a similar project in the central Tongass.

• Over the summer, a federal judge ruled in our favor regarding our lawsuit opposing road construction through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This was a second attempt by the Trump administration to approve a land exchange to allow for construction of a road through a protected wilderness area in a national wildlife refuge that is vital to wildlife conservation in the region. This is a huge win for this habitat, the incredible diversity of
wildlife that depend on it and for the National Wildlife Refuge System as a whole.

• Defenders developed a new range-rider partnership with the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona, which supports a tribal member to work closely with Defenders. The San Carlos Apache Tribe controls 1.8 million acres of mostly excellent wolf habitat, which is utilized by at least three Mexican gray wolf packs.

•Defenders led the creation of the Okefenokee Protection Alliance, a coalition of over thirty national, regional and local conservation groups devoted to ensuring the protection of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Defenders generated 15,000 comments opposing mining operations proposed on the edge of the swamp.

What's next? In 2021, Defenders is working closely with the Biden administration the priorities and actions needed to safeguard America's extraordinary conservation legacy for all wildlife and people; promoting pragmatic solutions to conservation problems through partnerships, data and technology; bolstering our fight for wildlife on the ground, in the courts and in the halls of Congress; ramping up our campaign to protect imperiled species habitat strongholds on federal public lands as part of the broader 30x30 campaign; fighting to restore key laws and lands that were lost under the Trump administration; and, developing programs to mobilize and motivate a growing constituency that cares about wildlife.