The Center for Biological Diversity

      The Center for Biological Diversity is a science center rooted in the idea that the existence of humanity is linked with nature, even among the smallest of creatures in order to “secure a future for all species.” (Center for Biological Diversity: Our Mission, 2014) To this extent, they work to protect all endangered species through the use of science and research in order save Earth’s species and support public opinion to protect natural lands and waterways and preserving climate in a state fit for all living things to survive in.

      This organization is the key group responsible for protecting the California Tiger Salamander and everything surrounding the suffering species. The center made court appeals as well as convinced other major organizations to take on roles and allow the harmed California Tiger Salamander population to repopulate under the Center’s protection. (Center for Biological Diversity) Thus, beginning a route to the salamanders' future and of all living things that surrounds this tiny critter. One major and vital necessity for the Tiger Salamander's survival is the official plan that, not only designates their protection, but an actual plan for how to restore the species back into their habitat. Without a Recovery Plan, they could not guide the management to protect the species. In 2012, the Center had gotten another key organization, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to create the plan for protecting the Salamander as part of the December 2012 settlement agreement. (Center for Biological Diversity, 2015) With a Recovery Plan in hand, restoring an endangered species is much easier and effective than without.

 

**Click here to visit their website!

 

The California Fish and Game Commission

      The California Fish and Game Commission is an established agency that predates most other conservation organizations. It's one of the first agencies to be made to protect and preserve nature from becoming over-exploited. The commission was also charged with managing how and when certain species could be hunted, overseeing non-native species and controlling it from overthrowing native species, as well as establishing sites to protect certain endangered spots.

      The Commission did not intervene with the act of of protecting the California Tiger Salamanders until 2009, when they finally accepted a petition to determine if the species is worth considering endangered. The end result is the majority of the Commission declared the Tiger Salamander to be under state protection in that year, and acknowledged it under the Endangered Species Act in 2010 (California Fish and Game Commision, 2012).

 

**Click here to visit their website!

 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

       The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began in 1871 and is one of the oldest programs created for nature conservation. Throughout time, its name and policy for protecting wildlife has changed, until the Fish and Wildlife Act was amended 1974, permanently setting the service’s role in preserving wildlife. Their main goal now is to protect Earth’s natural habitats and preserve all wildlife that live among its communities in ways that can benefit both the wild species and humans alike. The organization is also one of the major groups providing help to the California Tiger Salamander. While much of their work involves enlisting species and prioritizing the species that are enlisted, they have the power to reserve large portions of land within the California Tiger Salamander ecosystem. By reserving lands for the salamanders, it has prevented further human activity and projects from overrunning their breeding ponds and trampling their underground burrows. Aside from protecting the California Tiger Salamander, placing reserved lands also protects an entire habitat thus protecting more species that are especially important to the ecosystem (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2011) which the California Tiger Salamander live in. 

**Click here to visit their website!

 

Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN)

      The mission of SPAWN is "to mobilize people in local communities around the world to protect marine wildlife and the oceans and inland watersheds that sustain them...” (SPAWN: Our Mission, 2015) SPAWN was founded in 1987 by ecologist Todd Steiner. SPAWN is based in Olema, California and dedicates much of their work to preserving riparian and grassland areas which the California Tiger Salamander dwell in. Nearly every weekend SPAWN hosts habitat restoration days throughout Marin County, California in which volunteers help by removing invasives, propagating plants, or picking up trash. 

 

**Click here to visit their website!