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		Every year, billions of migratory songbirds stop over in Canada's vast boreal forest to build their nests and raise their young. In fact, more than half of America's migratory birds use the boreal forest for breeding and nesting. But, the rapidly growing tar sands industry poses a huge threat to these migratory bird populations. A new report just released by NRDC and our environmental partners finds that, over the next 30 to 50 years, as many as 166 million birds could be lost if tar sands development continues. In Alberta, tar sands mining and drilling has already caused significant loss of habitat, not to mention Canada's fastest growing source of global warming pollution. These destructive operations have also created hundreds of toxic lakes and ponds throughout Alberta, killing 8,000 to 100,000 birds annually. » Tell Canadian government officials to slow the expansion of tar sands development and protect bird habitat in the boreal forest. BIOGEMS DEFENDERS DELAY DAM PROJECT IN PATAGONIA In response to our call to action in November's newsletter, almost 20,000 BioGems Defenders called on the Chilean government to reject plans for five mega-dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers in the world-renowned Patagonia region. The massive hydroelectric scheme would flood thousands of acres of critical wildlife habitat and require a 1,400-mile transmission line that would cut through old growth forests, national parks and two wilderness reserves. As a result of the strong response from our online activists, as well as protest from Chilean citizens, any further consideration of the dam project will be delayed for at least nine months. In the meantime, NRDC will continue to push the Chilean government to abandon the dam project altogether and pursue a sustainable energy future for the country. NRDC HEADS TO COURT TO STOP GIVEAWAY OF WESTERN LANDS Last month, the Bush administration held a public auction to sell off more than 100,000 acres in Utah's Redrock Wilderness to oil and gas companies. Some of these pristine lands are located next to Arches and Canyonlands national parks and Dinosaur National Monument. NRDC won a last-minute court order protecting these lands until a federal judge can review the case this month. On another front, NRDC is suing federal agencies for approving 45 natural gas wells in Colorado's White River National Forest, a spectacular region we have fought for years to protect. We'll be sure to keep you updated on the progress of both cases. NRDC HELPS TO STOP MOUNTAINTOP MINING IN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU After months of discussions, NRDC has prevailed on Bank of America to stop lending to companies that mine coal by razing mountaintops throughout the Appalachians, including the Cumberland Plateau region. Mountaintop mining is an incredibly destructive form of coal recovery that blasts entire mountaintops to expose the seams underneath, and in the process buries valleys, streams and forests with millions of tons of waste rock and dirt. NRDC led Bank of America executives on an eye-opening trip to the Appalachians, where they saw firsthand how mountaintop mining has destroyed once-thriving forests and poisoned pristine lakes and rivers. NRDC will continue fighting to ensure protections for the Cumberland Plateau's remaining wild forests. PLASTIC BAGS LOSE THEIR LUSTER Grocery shoppers have long been faced with the question of "paper or plastic", but now, that's no longer the case. In this issue of "This Green Life," our monthly online journal of green living, Sheryl Eisenberg looks at the ugly truth of plastic bags and the movement to ban them from stores.
Welcome Activists! Read about our latest efforts to save Yellowstone’s wildlife in Nature's Voice. Join the debate between paper or plastic -– or neither -– in This Green Life, our free monthly online journal. BioGems Defenders: 416,121 Action Messages Sent: 10,935,186 » See the timeline of victories we've won You can support NRDC's BioGems campaign to save these and other threatened wild places. » Click here to donate

Nature's Voice: BioGems campaigns are featured in Nature's Voice, our online bulletin of environmental campaigns and victories.
	Photo credits: purple finch © Gerlach Nature Photography, Animals Animals; Boreal Forest landscape © Bryan Evans; pronghorn antelope © Minden/Jim Brandenburg.