Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife is a 501c non-profit conservation organization based in the United States. Its mission is to protect all native animals and plants throughout North America in their natural communities.
Defenders of Wildlife is a major national conservation organization dedicated to conserving wildlife, protecting wildlife habitat and safeguarding biodiversity. Founded in 1947, Defenders of Wildlife was originally called Defenders of Fur Bearers, with its primary mission to preserve wild animals. Although its mission has broadened to include wildlife habitat and biodiversity, protecting wild animals--especially large carnivores--remains a central part of its mission.
The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with field offices located in Alaska, California, the Northwest, the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, the Southeast and the Southwest.
The current president and CEO is Jamie Rappaport Clark, who has been with Defenders since 2004 and took on her current role in 2011. Clark holds a B.S. in wildlife biology from Towson University and a M.S. in wildlife ecology from the University of Maryland. Prior to her time at Defenders, she worked more than 20 years in conservation positions for the federal government, including serving as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She is recognized as a leading national expert on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and under her leadership at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, she secured the passage of the landmark National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997. 
Defenders' aim is to conserve the full range of vulnerable North American biodiversity, from plants and pollinators to predators. The organization operates from the premise that in order for diverse wildlife populations in North America to be secure and thriving, they must be sustained by a transnational network of healthy lands and waters, including public and private lands, rivers and coastal waters, core natural areas and working landscapes.[2]
 
These goals are sought through grassroots efforts at the state and local level; developing programs that protect and restore key species and habitats; working with state, national and international policy makers to secure laws and policies that protect animals and their habitats; and, by taking a leading role in establishing legal safeguards for native wildlife and fighting efforts in the courts to roll back environmental protections.
Category:Organizations