Wildlife Conservation
FROM THE CEO
Wildlife Conservation Takes Flight with LightHawk
Jim Becker
CEO, LightHawk
Hi Friends,
We are pleased to share the details of two of LightHawk’s ongoing conservation projects in this edition of On The Wing. These two projects are illustrative of the wide variety of the ways that LightHawk uses general aviation to accelerate conservation across North America.
A successful endangered species recovery program is something to celebrate. The recovery of the Mexican wolf is certainly a success: 11 Mexican wolves in existence in the 1970s, now 200-plus in the wild and nearly the same amount in breeding facilities around the country. The story featured in this edition illustrates one small example of LightHawk’s contribution to this success and highlights our cooperation with a “boots on the ground” conservation partner.
If one needs to know what is going on on the ground, or shoreline, the best vantage point you can have is in a small plane, 1,000 to 4,000 feet above the ground. The second story illustrates one of the hundreds of monitoring flights LightHawk performs each year.
LightHawk’s critical work could not move forward without your continued support. Thank you for making this all possible.
Best, Jim
Jim Becker
LightHawk Chief Executive Officer
50 IN 50 CHALLENGE
50 FLIGHTS. 50 DAYS. ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES.
Between May 4 and June 22, LightHawk’s volunteer pilots will take to the skies to complete 50 conservation flights in just 50 days.
Some missions are already coming into focus. Others will unfold in real time as partners respond to urgent needs.
A few flights will return to familiar landscapes. Others will take us somewhere entirely new. Each one has the potential to change what happens next on the ground.
FOLLOW THE CHALLENGE
Follow along on social media and the Mission Map to see how the season unfolds, where and who we fly, and what becomes possible from above.
FEATURED MISSION
A Journey West for Mittermeier, the Mexican Gray Wolf
Mittermeier, a Mexican gray wolf, surveys his new surroundings after a cross-country flight as part of ongoing recovery efforts for the species. Photo by Joanna Weitzel.
Taking off from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a Mexican gray wolf named Mittermeier began a journey west toward a new home and, potentially, a future mate. The flight was arranged at the request of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Saving Animals From Extinction (SAFE) program, which asked LightHawk to transport the wolf from Zoo New England in Boston, Massachusetts, to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Mexican gray wolves are endangered, and adult wolves are sometimes moved between captive breeding facilities to strengthen the population’s genetic diversity. Commercial airline travel and air freight can add unnecessary stress, so partners look for safer, more direct transport options whenever possible. That is where LightHawk’s volunteer pilots can make a meaningful difference.
Longtime LightHawk volunteer pilot Tom Haas flew the mission in his Pilatus PC-24, an aircraft well-suited for cross-country wildlife transports. Its large cargo door makes loading a crate easier and safer, while the cabin provides room for those accompanying the animal. On this flight, LightHawk Eastern Program Manager Jonathan Milne and Chief Advancement Officer Joanna Weitzel were also aboard, with Weitzel documenting the mission.
Securing Mittermeier’s transport crate in the Pilatus PC-24 before takeoff. Photo by Joanna Weitzel.
A view above the winter clouds at 41,000 feet. Photo by Joanna Weitzel.
Flights like this can significantly reduce both travel time and stress for the animal. Because LightHawk can often operate from smaller airports closer to partner facilities, wolves like Mittermeier spend less time in a crate and in transit, making each transfer safer.
Once in New Mexico, Mittermeier was unloaded and transported to ABQ BioPark. After a flight spanning nearly two-thirds of the country, the crate door opened and the wolf sprang out, quickly beginning to explore the new enclosure.
Jonathan Milne reflected on the experience:
“It has been nearly 14 years since I first participated in a transport flight, and I was unprepared for the feeling of accomplishment that swept over me when the wolf was released into its enclosure in New Mexico. In that moment, we had given this species another chance to strengthen its numbers across its range. After nearly 37 years in conservation, seeing that wolf spring from the crate gave me real hope. It also reminded me of the extraordinary work LightHawk carries out year after year.”
Click here to read Joanna’s firsthand account from the journey.
In the coming weeks, Mittermeier will be introduced to a potential mate, with the goal of producing pups that can strengthen the population’s genetic diversity. Some captive-born pups may eventually be cross-fostered into wild dens, supporting future recovery efforts.
For LightHawk and our volunteer pilots, flights like this show how aviation can directly support species recovery when timing, distance, and care all matter.
Photos by Joanna Weitzel.
PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Endangered Wolf Center
A carefully timed flight can give wolf pups a chance at life in the wild.
Photo by New Mexico Division of Game & Fish
Located in Missouri, the Endangered Wolf Center has been a key LightHawk conservation partner for more than a decade, working to preserve and protect Mexican wolves, red wolves, and other wild canid species.
Over that time, LightHawk has helped transport Mexican and red wolves between breeding facilities across the country, supporting new breeding pairs and strengthening genetic diversity.
Many of these flights support the Mexican wolf cross-foster program, a remarkable effort in endangered species recovery where timing matters. Pups born in captive facilities are flown west by LightHawk pilots in temperature-controlled carriers to the species’ native range.
Once in the release region, biologists carry them into the backcountry and place them in wild dens with pups of similar age. There, a wild mother raises them as her own, giving these pups a chance to grow up where they belong, in the wild.
LightHawk’s volunteer pilots help make this work possible by flying quickly between breeding facilities and release regions during narrow windows where every hour counts.
CLIMATE CORNER
What Seagrass Can Tell Us
Aerial imagery helps partners locate and assess seagrass habitat along the coast. Photo by Jonathan Milne.
Seagrass may not grab attention the way forests or wildlife do, but it tells an important story about the health of an estuary. It helps store carbon, protect shorelines, and support the broader web of life that depends on healthy coastal waters. When seagrass declines, it can signal deeper environmental stress.
That is why monitoring seagrass matters in New Hampshire and Maine, where levels remain well below historic conditions. To help guide that work, LightHawk partnered with the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) on an overview flight across multiple seagrass locations.
Flying in a Cessna 172 with LightHawk CEO and volunteer pilot Jim Becker, PREP staff gained a broad-scale view of vegetation patterns across the estuary, helping them plan summer fieldwork with a drone contractor. That next phase will help distinguish between seaweed, eelgrass, and widgeon grass, each of which offers different clues about water quality, pollution, and environmental change.
Flights like this help partners start with the big picture, making follow-up work more targeted, efficient, and cost-effective.
Give With A DAF
If you give through a Donor-Advised Fund, please consider LightHawk as you plan your charitable grants. Your support helps keep conservation missions flying to protect wildlife, waterways, and landscapes.