National Wildlife Magazine: National Wildlife Federation’s award-winning, full-color nature magazine!

Treatment of America's wild creatures and places through full-color photo galleries, natural history features, outdoor adventure articles and news items of ecological concern. Conservation-minded magazine of nature and the environment. (Amazon.com)

The National Wildlife Federation is the largest American conservation organization, with over 5 million members and supporters in 47 state-affiliated organizations; its annual budget is over $125 million as of 2006. Its mission statement is: "inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future."

Read National Wildlife Magazine, June/July 2008 Online

About This Issue

A Force to Be Reckoned With
By Mark Wexler, Editorial Director

YOU AND I are part of a powerful economic force. According to a federal study, more than a third of the adult U.S. population—87 million people—participated in wildlife-related outdoor activities in 2006 such as bird feeding and fishing, and spent $122 billion in the process. That’s roughly equal, reports the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, to the amount Americans spent that year on all spectator sports, casinos, movies, golf courses and amusement parks combined.

The study found that 71 million people in this country now spend time watching wildlife—an increase of 8 percent since 2001. Birds attract the most attention, and for good reason: Most of us can enjoy watching a number of species without ever leaving our backyards. But as the article “Unexpected Wildlife” explains, some of the best opportunities to view birds can occur in unlikely places, such as the Empire State Building in New York City. During spring and summer, more than 100 species fly above the city at about the same height as the building’s 86th-floor observation deck, providing bird-watchers with a surreal evening experience.

Birds are, of course, not the only animals that show up in unexpected places. At Fort Indiantown Gap in central Pennsylvania, the article notes, visitors can get a close look at members of the only viable eastern U.S. population of regal fritillary butterflies. The facility, which is a training ground for war-bound soldiers, offers tours during certain times of year for wildlife-watchers. It’s also a safe haven for one of Pennsylvania’s most endangered insects. Other declining butterflies are not so lucky.

Across the country, many species of the delicate creatures are declining as a result of habitat loss, global warming and other factors, and the losses are more than just aesthetic. Butterflies play a key role in plant reproduction, transporting pollen from flower to flower. They also provide important sources of food for other creatures. “Everywhere you look, there are butterflies in decline. That really tells us something is wrong,” observes one expert in this issue’s feature “Restoring Rare Beauties.”

Fortunately, the article points out, individuals and organizations throughout the country, including NWF, are implementing a wide range of projects to help refurbish butterfly habitat and recover certain populations through captive-breeding efforts. Slowly but surely, some of that work is paying off.

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