WildEarth Guardians

Since our founding, WildEarth Guardians has centered our work on defending the rights of nature by protecting the vulnerable and voiceless and confronting the powerful people and unjust systems that stand in the way. We believe social and environmental justice are deeply intertwined, and that we can and should do more to create a more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization and world.

Guardians envisions a world where wildlife and wild places are respected and valued and our world is sustainable for all beings. We believe in nature’s right to exist and thrive and we fight to protect what remains, restore what has been damaged, and build human communities that celebrate diversity and live in greater harmony with the natural world.

WildEarth Guardians has three main programs:

Wildlife

Our wildlife program focuses on staving off the biodiversity crisis by protecting imperiled species, creating an ethic of coexistence between human interests and native wildlife across the West, and reforming systems of wildlife governance to be more science-based, democratic, and ethical. 

Guardians' long-term goals are to keep the Greater Gila Biological Region wild and help the Mexican wolf population recover. We are continuing to build and direct public support towards reforming key parts of the Mexican wolf reintroduction program to require the release of more captive bred wolves, expand the area where wolves can safely roam, and stop both legal and illegal killing of this endangered animal.

In December, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a 5-year evaluation assessing the progress of the recovery program of Mexican wolves in the United States, claiming the program has surpassed recovery goals. However, the agency significantly downplayed high mortality rates lobos face and lack of releases in Mexico. Guardians will continue pushing the Service to stop ignoring the critical needs of dispersing wolves and holding them accountable for their failure to acknowledge that suitable habitat exists beyond their artificial boundaries.

Last year, Guardians and our partners petitioned the Arizona legislature to put an end to hound hunting—trophy hunting facilitated by GPS-collared dogs. Hundreds of animals including mountain lions, bobcats, bears, and foxes are killed in this cruel manner across the state. Worse still, endangered species like ocelots and jaguars can be treed, injured, and traumatized by this “sport.” But before Guardians' petition was even considered, a new anti-wildlife bill was filed, which would prohibit the commission from regulating hound hunting! This problematic legislation would end any chance of protecting wildlife from this cruel activity—it wouldn’t even allow a meaningful discussion of it. We won't abide by this and are fighting against the continued carnage. 

Wild Places

WildEarth Guardians works with communities and partners to protect public lands. In Arizona, we continue to fight on behalf of these wild places we love—like the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, home to the Mexican grey wolf, the Mexican spotted owl, hundreds of other wildlife species, as well as the source of water for many Arizonans.

We are committed to meaningful dialogue with tribes, grassroots leaders, local businesses, and a broad range of on the ground partners to elevate conservation priorities to decision makers at many levels—from US Forest Service agency staff to Congress.

Our priorities in Eastern Arizona include addressing illegal ATV use; fighting inappropriate timber targets, such as mature and old growth forests; and defending bedrock laws such as the Endangered Species Act and Antiquities Act, which gives a president power to designate national monuments to protect public lands and cultural heritage sites. 

Climate & Health

In the American West, the climate crisis is not an abstract notion or a future what-if scenario. With rivers drying up and wildfires raging, climate inaction poses a clear and present danger to people and ecosystems across the region. Guardians seeks to free the American West from economic and energy dependence on dirty fossil fuels.

As oil and gas wells encroach upon communities, poisoning air and water, Guardians is working to protect clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. We're fighting coal mining that destroys public lands and advocating for a more holistic, sustainable, and climate-resilient land management model. Guardians seeks true accountability and to build a more just, equitable, and climate-resilient future.