Five of the biggest wins for wildlife and wild places in 2023

2023 was a big year for the environment.

With your support, we gained real ground in saving the bees, protecting our forests and so much more. Here’s a quick look at the top five victories you helped make possible this year:

1. We made the world a little safer for bees

Today, 1 in 4 Americans lives in a state that has restricted the use of bee-killing pesticides, thanks in part to the work of our national network. We’ve been working to win bans state by state, and in 2023, Colorado and California became the two most recent states to sign such bills into law.

2. We pushed for more protections for our oldest trees

In 2023, the Biden administration restored protections to 9 million acres of roadless areas in the Tongass National Forest. But mature and old-growth trees in other national forests were still on the chopping block. So, our staff, supporters and coalition partners came together in an overwhelming show of support and delivered more than 500,000 public comments urging the Forest Service to protect our oldest trees from logging.

3. We won more progress against plastic

Our staff and supporters called on Amazon to reduce its plastic packaging, and Amazon listened. The company agreed to replace its blue-and-white padded plastic mailing envelopes with recyclable alternatives after receiving tens of thousands of messages from people like you. And our national network helped win more bans against the worst types of single-use plastic in Oregon and Washington.

4. We helped repower our lives with clean energy

Our national network has championed the idea of a world powered solely by clean energy. In 2023, Michigan and Minnesota became the latest states to commit to 100% clean electricity. 1 in 3 Americans now live in a community that’s committed to a 100% clean energy future.

5. We protected more of our country’s special places

Too many of our country’s wildest, most beautiful places don’t have the protections they deserve. This year, we celebrated stronger protections from mining and drilling in the Boundary Waters, the Arctic Refuge, Bristol Bay and Chaco Canyon. And President Biden declared several new national monuments to conserve land in Nevada, Texas and near the Grand Canyon.

With your support, we can do even more for the environment in the new year

We couldn’t have made this much progress for the environment without you — and we aren’t about to let this momentum slow down. 

There’s so much work left to do. Bees are still dying by the millions. Our forests are still being logged at a frightening pace. And we know that so much more needs to be done to reduce pollution and repower our country with clean energy in order to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.

With an eye toward the new year, we’re gearing up to go even bigger for wildlife and wild places, for our clean air and water, for ridding our planet of polluting plastic and more. Our natural world is counting on us — and we’re counting on you.

We’ve set a goal of raising $200,000 by the end of the year to help make all of this work possible in 2024.

Will you donate to our Year-End Drive to power our work in the year ahead?