Doing The Numbers

Since its founding, NWF has witnessed some dramatic changes in the wildlife and natural environment it was created to protect

• Hannah Schardt
• Feb 01, 2006

SINCE ITS FOUNDING in 1936, the National Wildlife Federation has witnessed some dramatic changes in the wildlife and natural environment it was created to protect. Here are a few of them:

Change in total U.S. fossil fuel consumption per person, per year between the mid-1930s and today: +102 percent

Estimated number of adult wild salmon and steelhead entering the Columbia River and its tributaries, mid-1930s: 10-16 million

Estimated number of adult wild salmon and steelhead entering the Columbia River and its tributaries, today: 500,000

Number of dams built in the Columbia River Basin since the 1930s: More than 200

Acres of Louisiana coastal wetlands lost to river diversion projects since the 1930s: One million

Number of whooping cranes in North America, mid-1930s: 16

Number of whooping cranes in North America, today: 453

Change in the number of bald eagle pairs nesting on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, 1936–1977: -530

Change in the number of bald eagle pairs nesting on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, 1977–today: +576

Number of gray wolves living in Yellowstone National Park, 1936: 0

Number of gray wolves living in Yellowstone National Park, today: 300