Organization’s Social Mission
To inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future.
Description of Organization
Wildlife’s ability to survive the challenges of the 21st century is becoming outpaced by the events that are transforming our world. Global warming, the loss of habitat, and people becoming more disconnected from nature than past generations are converging on a dangerous path for our planet. The work of NWF and our affiliates across the country provides answers to these challenges and will help ensure America’s wildlife legacy continues for future generations.
Finding Solutions to the Climate Crisis
Global warming is the single biggest threat to wildlife and wild places. The impacts of global warming, caused by increased carbon pollution, are already being felt: more droughts, food and water shortages, severe weather, and habitat loss. National Wildlife Federation is advancing bold yet practical solutions to global warming. The organization is working to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation in 2009 with a cap on carbon pollution to improve our economy, our security and the planet’s future. In addition to working to change America’s energy policy, National Wildlife Federation educates businesses, institutions and individuals on achievable ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
At the same time that global warming threatens our future, we as a nation are losing our connection with nature, connections that foster healthy children and an appreciation for the natural world. Today’s children are the first generation ever to grow up isolated from nature. Outdoor time for kids has decreased by almost 90 percent, while time spent inside, plugged into electronic media, has stretched to more than six hours per day.
NWF’s BE OUT THERE™ campaign is designed to inspire families to open the door and get outside. A daily dose of the outdoors improves children’s physical, mental and emotional well-being. The benefits of outdoor play are real: healthier kids with a life-long appreciation of wildlife and nature. It’s time to trade some screen time for green time. NWF is helping to make that happen with programs that bring people closer to the natural world. These programs and events provide meaningful experiences that touch their hearts and build a sense of conservation stewardship. Helping the BE OUT THERE™ campaign will be Ranger Rick®, NWF’s award-winning children’s magazine, which has been enticing kids outdoors for more than 40 years.
Safeguarding America’s Wildlife and Wild Places
All across America, places for wildlife to live on public and private lands are being squeezed out, leaving many animal species with fewer places to call home. Add to this threats posed by global warming to wildlife habitat, and the problem seems almost insurmountable. National Wildlife Federation is working to protect the ecosystems that are most critical to native wildlife. Thanks to National Wildlife Federation and our partners, generations to come may still get the chance to see a grizzly bear or an elusive Florida panther, feel the tug of a wild salmon on the line, witness a whooping crane migration, or hear the howl of the gray wolf.
NWF works to improve federal and state policies that will improve wildlife conservation on hundreds of millions of acres of public, tribal and private lands, including thousands of miles of streams, rivers, lakes and coastlines across America. The organization encourages Congress to pass legislation that includes adequate funding for natural resources and directs federal agencies to include climate science in their wildlife conservation management plans.
Dedicated staff, members, volunteers and affiliates of NWF are focused on protecting all of America’s great waters from coastal Louisiana and the Great Lakes to biologically-rich wetlands across the country. All of these are vital to securing clean water for people, fish and wildlife as water supplies deteriorate in a warming world. In all, National Wildlife Federation’s work from coast to coast, community by community, helps protect, connect and restore habitat to ensure a healthy wildlife legacy for future generations.
National Wildlife Federation gives voice to the wildlife conservation values that are part of our country’s heritage. We are charting a new course for wildlife that our children and grandchildren will thank us for.
