• People

Gallup Finds Fewer Americans Prioritize the Environment During the Pandemic

• climate change
• conservation
• COVID-19
• economy
• environment
• Gallup

Continuing its set of opinion surveys in the run-up to Earth Day, Gallup has released the results of another poll, finding that the percent of American adults who say that “protection of the environment should be given priority even at the risk of curbing economic growth” has dropped by 15% since 2018. Experts say that this number often correlates with unemployment, which the COVID-19 pandemic greatly increased.

Why This Matters: President Biden has worked hard to debunk the jobs vs. environment arguments of Republicans — he instead argues that job creation and economic growth must go hand in hand with investment in clean energy and other “green” policies.

• Animals

Bald Eagle Numbers Soar Thanks to Endangered Species Act

• bald eagles
• conservation
• Endangered Species Act

by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer The bald eagle population in the lower 48 U.S. states is now more than 316,000, quadrupling their numbers since 2009. Once close to extinction, the symbolic bird has made an impressive comeback in recent decades. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland called it a “historic conservation success story” when the U.S. […]

• People

Interview of the Week: Beth Allgood, Founder of One Nature

• conservation
• GDP
• wildlife

This week we got to sit down with one of our first #FriendsOfThePlanet, Beth Allgood who is now the founder and president of One Nature–a group focused on the wellbeing of all beings. Beth had spent her career in conservation policy and developed a passion for “wellbeing policy”–which measures the health of an economy not […]

• Animals

WWF-Mongolia Completes Nationwide Survey of Snow Leopard Population

• conservation
• Himalayas
• snow leopard
• WWF

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Mongolia has released its first nationwide snow leopard survey and the results are hopeful. Thanks to the survey, conservationists now know that Mongolia has about 953 snow leopards, whose numbers have been decreasing due to habitat fragmentation and clashes with humans.  This survey, conducted by WWF-Mongolia and partners including […]

• Land

House Passes Historic Conservation Bill to Protect 3M Acres

• 30 by 30
• biodiversity
• Congress
• conservation
• Deb Haaland
• nature

by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Nearly 3 million acres of federal land could gain new protections after the House of Representatives passed a major conservation bill last Friday. The bill, called the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act, rolls together eight bills previously introduced. If passed in the Senate, it would: Designate 1.5 […]

• People

The Conservation Presidents You Don’t Know

• conservation
• Marine National Monument
• monument
• President
• Yellowstone National park
• Yosemite National Park

Presidents Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt are well known for their contributions to land conservation in the U.S.  But the Department of Interior’s list of the top Presidents who shaped America’s public lands also contains a few surprises.   Abraham Lincoln saved the union but he also set aside some of the most iconic lands we own […]