National Wildlife Federation’s Adopt-a-Wildlife-Acre program addresses the conflicts between livestock and Yellowstone wildlife. We compensate ranchers to give up their public land grazing leases, and they use our funds to obtain new lands in areas without conflict. Yellowstone wildlife is secure, and ranchers’ cattle is protected. It’s truly a win-win situation!
Without secure habitat, there is no future for Yellowstone wildlife. Here are a few of the species that benefit when you Adopt-a-Wildlife-Acre today:
Bison
The American bison is an iconic symbol of the great American West that is in desperate need of our help. Once there were more than 50 million bison roaming the United States. But today there are only a few thousand that roam free. When they leave the protected boundaries of Yellowstone, they’re often killed by government agents in fear they’ll spread disease to nearby cattle. In recent years, more than 1,600 have been killed for this very reason! We must stand up on behalf of this treasured species before it’s too late.
Gray Wolves
The gray wolf was reintroduced to the Yellowstone area in 1995, and National Wildlife Federation was a leader in that effort. But more and more wolves are killed when they wander outside park borders onto adjoining national forest lands. Approximately 81 of the 267 wolf packs known to exist in the northern Rockies in 2007 were involved in either livestock depredations or killing pets. By the end of 2009, 25 of these packs no longer existed, usually because government agents killed them to protect livestock. During this period 272 wolves were lethally removed from grazing lands. If we want to have wolves outside of national parks, it’s imperative that we create secure habitat for them.
Grizzly Bears
Like the gray wolf, the Yellowstone grizzly is only secure in the park and its surrounding wilderness. When bears kill livestock on public land near the park, government agents are required to either kill or move them. The only significant grizzly populations remaining in the lower 48 states are in the Yellowstone area and in northwestern Montana. These populations need room to expand.
Bighorn Sheep
This striking species is distinguished by its large, curled horns and blocky body. Diseases and parasites carried by domestic sheep are readily transferred to wild bighorn sheep populations and have caused long-term population declines in many areas. Domestic sheep grazing on public land adjacent to bighorn sheep habitat is a significant ongoing threat to the survival of this species. That’s why it’s so important that through our Adopt-a-Wildlife-acre program, we continue to secure habitat for this animal.