Dear Friend,

It's not every day we get a chance to celebrate a milestone conservation victory. Today is one of those special days.

For the first time in nearly 30 years, the brown pelican, an iconic coastal bird species found in southern California, throughout the Gulf Coast, and along the Eastern Seaboard, has recovered sufficiently to be taken off the Endangered Species List.

This is an inspiring conservation victory, one in which Environmental Defense Fund played a significant role.

EDF was founded in 1967 in campaign to ban the use of DDT, which is known to thin eggshells of many bird species, causing them to crack prematurely.

Thanks in part to our efforts, Congress passed a national DDT ban in 1972.

In the decades since, many endangered birds, including the American bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, the whooping crane (still listed as endangered), and the brown pelican, have seen dramatic recoveries.

As we celebrate this inspiring recovery, we'd like to hear from you. Please take this opportunity to share your thoughts on the brown pelican's recovery in the Green Room.

You can also join our Facebook group to engage the conversation there.

Today, we celebrate. But we also dedicate ourselves to using the brown pelican's recovery to re-inspire our efforts to protect America's natural heritage and recover the more than 1,300 other plant and animal species listed as threatened or endangered in the U.S.

Thank you for your activism and support. We couldn't do our work without you and we appreciate everything you help make possible.

Thank you,
Environmental Defense Fund

P.S. On a much sadder note, it is with great sorrow that we learned this morning of the passing of Tom Graff, longtime Director of EDF's California office.

Tom was a legendary environmental leader, an icon of the conservation community, and a friend to all who knew him. He will be sorely missed.

For more on Tom Graff's amazing life and environmental accomplishments, please read our online tribute to him.