California condor soaring through Grand Canyon. Credit: © Chris Parish.

August 2018
There is nothing quite as iconic in the western United States as a California Condor soaring over the red-rock-canyon landscapes of northern Arizona and southern Utah. Thanks to people working together to recover this species, condors have become a fixture in southwestern skies. On National Public Lands day this year, you’re invited to join the recovery effort by witnessing first-hand a spectacular release into the wild of several captive-bred young condors.

California Condors will be released by The Peregrine Fund atop the spectacular cliffs in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22. Come join us!

Read the News Release
Learn more about the California Condor in Arizona

Sara Hill, S Joe Crittenden, Chief, Bill John Baker, Chuck Hoskin Jr., and Southwest Regional Director, Amy Lueders are present for the designation of lands to protect the American burying beetle. Credit: USFWS.

August 2018
Today the Cherokee Nation made history by working alongside the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the first tribal nation to designate an area of land to protect an endangered species of beetle.

The American Burying Beetle once lived in as many as 35 states and is considered invaluable to the ecosystem for its role in returning nutrients to the soil. The beetle was placed on the federal Endangered Species List in 1989.

Read the entire story.

Trafficked endangered lion and tiger parts. Credit: Brian Gourgues, USFWS.

August 2018
Arongkron “Paul” Malasukum, 42, a resident of Woodside, New York, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant, III, in Sherman, Texas, to nine months in prison to be followed by one year of supervised release for illegally trafficking parts from endangered African lions and tigers. As part of his plea, Malasukum admitted that between April 9, 2015 and June 29, 2016, he purchased and exported from the United States to Thailand approximately 68 packages containing skulls, claws, and parts from endangered and protected species, with a total fair market value in excess of $150,000.

Read the entire story...

Roseate spoonbill female with babies at San Bernard Refuge in Texas. Credit: USFWS.

July 2018
The beach is a place to bask in the sun, relax to the rhythm of the surf and tune out for a while. If you tune in, though, there’s more than meets the eye: Piping plovers moving in and out with the waves. Crabs scurrying about. Sea turtle paths tracking to and from the ocean. And the sand itself.

Read the Refuge System feature story.

VIsit some of the Southwest Region's Refuges located on the Texas coast:
Aransas NWR
Big Boggy NWR
Brazoria NWR
Visit more of the Southwest Region's Refuges

No Jimmy Buffett Here
Salt Bayou Home to Business, Conservation

July 2018
It’s mid-morning on the Texas Gulf Coast, and it’s already hot. This is the Salt Bayou. The largest coastal wetlands complex along the Texas Gulf Coast, it's a favorite destination for birders, fishermen, and hunters. It’s home to one of the nation’s most important waterways where migratory birds winter. The bayou is also the location of some of the most critical oil, gas, military, and manufacturing infrastructure in the world.

Read the entire story.

A male Attwater’s prairie chicken inflates his yellow air sacks while he dances and booms as part of his mating ritual. Credit: John Magera, USFWS.

A Delicate Dance
Insights from a Lifetime in Attwater’s Recovery

June 2018
In April, about 300 people came to see the males of this barred grouse inflate his yellow air sacs and shimmy back and forth for his annual mating ritual, celebrated at the festival and National Wildlife Refuge bearing their name. There are only a few dozen of the chickens left living in the wild, mostly at the refuge near Houston. They once numbered about one million, throughout the coastal grasslands of modern-day Texas and Louisiana.

Read the entire story...
Listen to the interview with Mike Morrow...

Wildlife Inspector. Credit: Bryan Landry, USFWS.

June 2018
Snakes, songbirds and monkeys are just a few live species law enforcement officers from around the globe intercepted during Operation Thunderstorm. They also found shells, skins and other parts of protected species, and dangerous injurious species such as the giant African land snails, which were seized in New York.

Read the Blog »
Learn More about Operation Thunderstorm »

Read the Associated Press newsclip...

Browse the International photo album

Monarch butterfly on tropical mikweed. Credit: Sue and Mike Kersey, USFWS.

June 2018
In celebration of National Pollinator Week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is featuring a new pollinator each month on its updated Pollinator page. More information about pollinators can be found in the presentation, "The Birds and the Bees ... and the Beetles?" on that same page, on the Southwest Region's Monarch page and through upcoming Monarch webinars.

Visit the Pollinator page for more information.

Neslon Roach on top of Couch mountain. Credit: TPWD.

June 2018
Roach, a lawyer by profession and a conservationist by practice, has transformed part of Prairie Creek into a habitat where river otter, white-tail deer and other wildlife thrive. He’s restored a stream that “didn’t look right” into something that is a treasure to behold.

Read the entire National Good Neighbor story.

Dad and son fishing. Credit: Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation

June 2018
June is Great Outdoors Month! Check out all the family fun taking place June 2-10 to celebrate National Fishing & Boating Week. Look for free fishing days, boating safety classes, family events, and more!

Fishing Guide
Recreation.gov

New Mexico and Federal Agencies Complete Restoration Plan for Environmental Damage at Chevron Mining Inc, Questa Site

May 2018
The New Mexico Office of Natural Resources Trustees, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other trustees have completed a Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Chevron Mining Inc, Questa Mine.

The mine and tailing ponds are in northern New Mexico adjacent to the Red River near Questa, NM. The site is the location of a large groundwater contamination plume that will require treatment to mitigate human health risks. Restoration also includes aquatic and riparian habitat areas to benefit fish, aquatic invertebrates, birds, and other wildlife.

Learn more...

Mexican Wolf. Credit: Jim Clark/USFWS

Catron County Man Sentenced for Federal Misdemeanor Wildlife Violation Arising Out of Killing of Mexican Gray Wolf

May 2018
U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson and Acting Special Agent in Charge Phillip Land of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement of the Southwest Region, announced that Craig Thiessen pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal misdemeanor wildlife violation arising out of the taking of a Mexican gray wolf.  Immediately after entering the guilty plea, Thiessen was sentenced to a one-year term of probation and was ordered to pay $2,300 in restitution to the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program.

Read the news release

Dr. Shannon Brewer holds a radio tagged Neosho smallmouth bass. Research was funded by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. Credit: OSU.

May 2018
If you want to know more about smallmouth bass, then you need to listen to this Bass Pro Outdoor World Radio interview of Dr. Shannon Brewer. She has researched smallmouth bass in Oklahoma’s Elk River and tributaries by following fish implanted with radio transmitters. This fascinating work of was paid for through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, collected through taxes paid by fishing tackle manufacturers on fishing gear, passed on to the angler. She conducted the work expressly for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Listen to the interview with Dr. Shannon Brewer.