Four 2024 milestones for wildlife and the natural world

We’re at a pivotal point in human history: After decades, if not centuries, of exploitation, encroachment, depletion and pollution of the natural world, have we learned enough to stop the damage and begin the healing?

Environmental Action supporters realize that whether we keep plowing ahead on a destructive path or change course depends on how many of us speak our minds and speak from the heart for the wildlife and wild places we love.

This past year, our supporters took action more than 1.5 million times. From petition signatures to public comments, the Environmental Action community rallied together to protect our planet.

Here are a few of the debates where we raised our voices the loudest:

We helped protect wolves

We won’t stand by while America’s endangered wolves are shot, trapped and even poisoned. That’s why we’re raising our voices to save these fierce and majestic animals.

This year, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission tried to take wolves off of the state endangered species list. That would have meant opening the door to wolf hunting across the whole state.

But we spoke out and helped persuade the commission to reaffirm wolves’ protections. Wolves deserve better than to be put on the other end of a gun’s sights.

We opposed new drilling in the Arctic

The Arctic wilderness is a wonder, a home to polar bears, caribou and seals. Yet oil drilling threatens to crack open the ice and blacken the snow with industrial pollution.

This year, we successfully encouraged the Biden administration to protect 13 million acres of the Western Arctic from new oil drilling.

We cut down on plastic pollution

We’ve all seen enough sea turtles being choked by plastic bags, or fish filling their stomachs with plastic nurdle pellets. It’s clear that wildlife and plastic waste just don’t mix. That’s why we joined with our national allies to tell Amazon that our package deliveries shouldn’t put animals’ lives on the line.

And Amazon is starting to listen. This year, they committed to phase out single-use air pillows in all their North America operations. That means billions fewer pieces of plastic out in the environment, and countless animal lives saved.

We stood up for the bees

We all work hard, but none of us can compare to the bees. Honey bees work for up to 12 hours a day, pollinating flowers and helping nature thrive. People should be thanking the bees, not poisoning them with horrific bee-killing pesticides.

This year, we took some important steps towards keeping bees safe from neonic pesticides. We made our voices heard in California, which helped lead to new restrictions on neonics.

We also encouraged the U.S. Geological Survey to keep studying neonics and their devastating effects. These are small steps, but we will keep fighting for a future where bees no longer need to fear being poisoned by the flowers they pollinate.

The wildlife we cherish is still beset from every direction. But fueled by the power of this movement you’ve helped us create, we’re going to work harder than ever to protect our natural world in 2025.