ALL PHOTO CREDITS HERE NWF.ORG/NW 51 While native tarantulas span the globe, there’s only one town in the American Southwest where males of the species Aphonopelma hentzi are celebrated like kings. In La Junta, Colorado—population 7,000—the spiders outnumber the humans by thousands, which suits the people just fine. “They are significant to our landscape, as the vastness of our public lands provides the ideal conditions to find and view tarantulas,” says La Junta director of tourism Pamela Denahy, referencing the 443,000-acreplus Comanche National Grassland to the south. In October 2022, the town launched its inaugural Tarantula Festival: a parade, educational programs and even a tarantula taco salad from a local cafe. (No spiders were harmed in the making of these meals.) Why all the fuss? For one, it’s a chance to draw regional tourism. But La Junta also sees wildlife education as a mandate, “focusing on and encouraging safe, responsible and sustainable viewing of the tarantulas in their natural habitat for many years to come,” Denahy says. Just not “years to come” for these particular tarantulas. Because, for the males at the center of the action, this year is their final hurrah. STORY AND PHOTOS BY DEVON MATTHEWS A Colorado town celebrates male tarantulas’ journey to mate Spider-Men A male tarantula (below) ventures onto Colorado State Highway 109 in October 2022 while traversing the Comanche National Grasslands—an annual pilgrimage celebrated in the nearby town of La Junta (right).
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NWF.ORG/NW 53 Once the male tarantulas reach sexual maturity at 5 to 10 years of age, they emerge from the burrows where they’ve lived their whole lives solo and travel up to a mile, sometimes more, in search of females. Their goal is singular. The spiders eat and drink less, focusing their energy on mating as much as possible before they die—which happens within months, whether they’re killed by females during mating, by predators or passing cars, or when temperatures drop to single digits. Paula Cushing, senior curator of invertebrate zoology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, cautions that calling the mating season a “migration” is a misnomer, given that only male tarantulas go walkabout. When a male finds a suitable burrow, it sticks its two pedipalps—akin to arms and distinct from a spider’s eight legs—into the hole and drums on the silk lining, sending vibrations downward. Females feel these vibrations and may be enticed to exit and reproduce. Unlike males, females can live around 30 years, breeding for two decades and producing around 4,000 total offspring. Cushing doesn’t get bent out of shape by folks using the term “migration.” What does get her dander up are people who don’t respect tarantulas’ place in the ecosystem: managing populations lower on the food chain and serving as nutrients for birds and small mammals. “Without [them], we’d be up to our eyeballs in insects,” she says. “Spiders, including tarantulas, are the good guys and gals and nothing to be afraid of. To me, it is just plain important to understand more about all of the species we share this one planet with.” Q Devon Matthews is a conservation and wildlife photographer and filmmaker based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A male A. hentzi (left)—commonly called a Texas brown, an Oklahoma brown or a Missouri tarantula— approaches the burrow of a female. Dallas Haselhuhn (below far left), a researcher at Eastern Michigan University, has collected more than 50,000 data points on temperature and humidity while trying to understand what triggers the spider mating season. “We can’t even begin to speculate on how things like climate change, pollution or habitat destruction will impact [tarantulas] in the future because of how little they are studied,” he says. Evolutionary biologist Paula Cushing hosts a hands-on public presentation (below second from left) at Otero College in La Junta. Festivalgoers celebrate with face paint (below second from right) and themed menu specials (below far right), including a taco salad with olives fashioned into tarantulas’ likenesses.
BY DELANEY MCPHERSON 54 NATIONAL WILDLIFE . FALL 2023 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF GREG LECLAIR; ADRIAN ANGULO; COURTESY OF NAOMI EDELSON; RAY TREJO 2023 CONSERVATION ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS HONORING CONSERVATION GREATS The National Wildlife Federation bestowed its 2023 National Conservation Achievement Awards June 22 at WildlifeUnite, NWF and affiliates’ annual convention held this year on Lake Tahoe. O Affiliate of the Year: THE NEW MEXICO WILDLIFE FEDERATION (NMWF) has advocated for wildlife, public lands and sportspeople (right) for over a century. In addition to helping create the first state game commission, the group helped reintroduce Rocky Mountain elk to the state and works to protect access to public lands. O Young Leader Award: GREG LECLAIR (top left) is a wildlife biologist, Ph.D. student at the University of Maine and founder of Maine Big Night, when volunteers visit amphibian migration sites to record data and help the animals cross roads safely. O Conservation Leadership Award: JESSE DEUBEL (top center) has worked tirelessly as executive director to grow NMWF into a leading voice for public access and conservation, including securing vital public lands and helping kids access the outdoors through the Nature Niños program. O Special Achievement Award: FRAN PAVLEY’s efforts to protect the environment as a member of both the California State Senate and Assembly included authoring policies on clean energy, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. O Conservation Achievement Award: Former NWF board chair KENT SALAZAR is the former executive director of NMWF and helped found Hispanics Enjoying, Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO). O Charlie Shaw Conservation Partnership Award: Both MIKE WORLEY, president and CEO of the Georgia Wildlife Federation, and NAOMI EDELSON (top right), senior director of wildlife partnerships at NWF, were recognized for their experience in collaborating with NWF affiliates, leading efforts to secure passage of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and exemplifying the cooperative spirit that makes the Federation a uniquely successful model. Q fıeld work . National Wildlife Federation Regions & Affiliates nwf.org/regionalwork
NWF.ORG/NW 55 bulletin NATIONAL WILDLIFE PHOTO CONTEST Th e winners of the 2023 National Wildlife® Photo Contest will be published in our Winter 2024 issue, and the 2024 contest will open in January. To learn more about the contest and how to submit your photos, visit nwf.org/photocontest. TOP: STEVEN CHU; MIDDLE: IONNA22 (WIKIMEDIA/CC BY-SA 4.0); BOTTOM: KYDD POLLOCK (THE NATURE CONSERVANCY) 2023 AFFILIATE RESOLUTIONS A PATH FORWARD FOR POLICY Every year, the Federation and its 52 state and territorial affi liates vote on policy resolutions that guide decision-making within the Federation family. At the 2023 WildlifeUnite annual meeting, NWF and affi liates voted in eight resolutions that refl ect the following priorities: O Advocating for responsible development and construction of solar-energy infrastructure that protects wildlife habitat and migration corridors. O Protecting and strengthening legislation that dedicates revenue from taxes on hunting, angling and other outdoor recreation activities to conservation funds. O Calling on the conservation community to respect Tribal sovereignty and knowledge, and to build authentic, collaborative partnerships with Indigenous People. O Supporting the responsible construction of off shore wind turbines (right), with consideration to the potential impacts on wildlife and nearby communities. O Supporting the designation of the Pacifi c Remote Islands Marine National Monument as a National Marine Sanctuary, creating the world’s largest marine protected area and safeguarding habitat for hundreds of species, including green sea turtles (left ). O Supporting initiatives to mitigate the spread of invasive species, particularly in vulnerable ecological areas, such as Hawai‘i. O Combating the eff ects of climate change by advocating for federal and state policies that focus on conserving natural resources and shift ing to clean energy. O Recognizing that Black, Brown, Indigenous, low-income and rural communities are disproportionately impacted by climate change, pollution and other environmental hazards, and advancing community-led solutions for environmental justice. Q “Our resolutions have led to some of our most important victories.”—Jessica Holmberg, senior director of affi liate engagement
56 NATIONAL WILDLIFE . FALL 2023 LEFT: DONALD M. JONES; RIGHT: JOHNNY ADOLPHSON NWF AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT PROTECTING PUBLIC LANDS Eighty-five percent of the land in Nevada is public (including Valley of Fire State Park, right)—a feat that conserves precious wildlife habitat, provides recreational space and creates opportunities for economic growth. There are just as many priorities for how that land is managed, but the Nevada Wildlife Federation (NVWF), an NWF affiliate, aims to bridge sometimes-competing interests. “We’re an energy-development state but also a grazing state and an outdoor recreation state,” says NVWF executive director Russell Kuhlman. Take the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. Located north of Las Vegas, the refuge provides habitat to bighorn sheep (above) and is partially managed by the U.S. Air Force for training. NVWF has been key in protecting parcels not managed by the military and in ensuring the entire refuge is managed responsibly. Other tenants of Nevada public lands include oil and gas companies, many of which hold 10-year leases, during which the land is not maintained. NVWF has advocated for evaluating land based on its oil and gas potential, prioritizing leases on parcels with high potential and not leasing land with low potential. In July, NVWF supported the introduction of a state bill that would reduce speculative leasing on public lands. NVWF also supported a recent bill that would fund state efforts to identify hotspots where wildlife and car collisions occur and to build wildlife crossings. In addition to improving road safety, the crossings would connect fragmented wildlife habitat and help protect species. And then there’s the elephant in the room: “If you stand by any hunting watercooler, you hear conversations about how hunting isn’t as good because of drought and wildfires,” Kuhlman says. As a group devoted to outdoor recreation, NVWF stresses the role sportspeople can play in conservation and encourages the community to leverage its collective power. “We need to make sure the sporting community understands this is because of climate change,” Kuhlman emphasizes. “We should be the frontline voice for climate change.” Q donor spotlight | Arlene Segal of Gladstone, Missouri WHY I GIVE "I enjoy traveling with my friends and seeing what the world is like, and on those trips, I learned about the environment and wildlife. I kept learning and learning and learning, and now I feel that conservation is the key to life. We’ve got to put everything we’ve messed up back together."
NWF.ORG/NW 57 next generation BOTH: COURTESY OF LUCA GRIFO-HAHN LUCA GRIFO -HAHN: CHARTING HIS FUTURE Like many young adults trying to find their professional path, Luca Grifo-Hahn’s working life has taken some unexpected turns. But the 26-year-old’s positive outlook has helped him navigate uncharted waters. He describes his career trajectory as a puzzle, and with each new opportunity, he “puts the pieces together.” Grifo-Hahn first fell in love with nature as a child, learning about plants from his botanist parents in the Washington, D.C., area and reading Ranger Rick® magazines. While studying biology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, he participated in field work on the nearby St. Mary’s River, an experience that solidified his desire to work in the environmental realm. When the COVID-19 pandemic derailed his plans to join the Peace Corps, Grifo-Hahn pivoted to policy and advocacy work as an intern on Capitol Hill. Once pandemic restrictions eased, he took a research position in California’s Farallon Islands (above right), working on a boat and on land to conduct breeding surveys of the Cassin’s auklet, a small but sturdy North Pacific seabird. The auklet research segued into stints as a deckhand educator. For the Sultana Education Foundation in Chestertown, Maryland, and for Living Classrooms Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland, he took groups of students of all ages on educational sailing trips, teaching them about their local waterways and the nature surrounding them (above left). “Showing kids, ‘this is your backyard, these are the resources you have to protect,’ putting fish in their hands and getting them excited, that was the intersection of work I wanted,” he says. Now Grifo-Hahn is pivoting again to spend more time at sea. Earlier this year he was accepted into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Commissioned Officer Corps. After completing a 17-week training at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, he’ll be stationed on a NOAA ship: conducting hydrographic research, mapping the sea floor, and reporting on oceanographic and atmospheric conditions. “I never grew up boating,” he says. “So it’s been really cool to stumble upon it through science.” Q
footprint 58 NATIONAL WILDLIFE . FALL 2023 Building Buzz ART BY CINDEE KLEMENT ARTWORK PHOTO: CARLOS OCANDO The Houston-based environmental artist Cindee Klement was about a year into her pollinator obsession when she found out she might be worrying about the wrong bee. “I thought, ‘What does that mean, the wrong bee?’” she says. Klement went digging and learned that public concern for honey bees had shoved native bee species to the background. To spotlight the predicament, she began creating larger-than-life portraits of lesser-celebrated bees: 45 watercolor monoprints so far, 30 by 44 inches each, including the mason bee (Osmia texana), above. When a friend visited her studio and commented on Klement’s “monocrop of bees,” the artist evolved again. “Horrors!” she recalls thinking. “A monocrop doesn’t support my beliefs. I have to fix that.” She has since added other creatures—moths, tree frogs—to the mix: “They fit in just fine.” Klement calls the series “Rumblings,” because “in nature we get rumblings as warnings, like thunder,” she says. “When a species goes on the endangered list, that should be a warning to us.” Q–Jennifer Wehunt SCAN TO SEE MORE OF CINDEE KLEMENT’S WORK
Taylor Morrison and the National Wildlife Federation are working together to restore and safeguard wildlife habitat, promote biodiversity through native plants, cultivate sustainable landscapes and educate homeowners to participate in essential conservation efforts. PHOTO: JOSHUA WHITWER | STORYROCK, SCOTTSDALE, AZ 72 ¡ŔɭƃǠ%ʠʋʋơɭ ˊ Gardens 110 -ơɭʋǫơƎ¥ŔʋʠɭŔȍ Open Spaces™ 7,622+ ƃɭơɽlj-ơɭʋǫơƎ Wildlife Habitat® 100+ -ơɭʋǫơƎĭǫȍƎȍǫljơqŔŹǫʋŔʋɽ® and Nature Play Spaces™ in Development Powerful Partnership for Wildlife -ơɭʋǫƃŔʋǫɽ to Date
next issue PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS CAN GENETICS PREDICT EXTINCTIONS? HOW WILDLIFE WEATHER THE WINTER HUNTING AS A CONSERVATIONIST THE TROUBLE WITH NAMING SPECIES CINDY GOEDDEL (GOEDDELGALLERY.COM) A red fox pounces in Yellowstone National Park. Research suggests foxes rely on an acute sense of hearing and the Earth’s magnetic field to pinpoint prey under the snow.