This is what happens when science and the knowledge of experts is respected.
This is what happens when they’re not.
Message from Jim Hines, Sierra Club.
The iconic howl of gray wolves in the wildlands of the western U. S. may soon be heard no more. Thanks to a vote by the U.S. House of Representatives on November 16th, gray wolves currently protected from hunting, trapping and habitat loss under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) may soon be unprotected.
Now our campaign to protect gray wolves moves to the U.S. Senate. Congress is in recess this Thanksgiving week, so now is a excellent time to meet or communicate with your U.S. Senators while they are back home.
Please urge your U.S. Senator to vote NO on HR 6784 – “Manage Our Wolves Act” (Duffy R-WI) when it comes before the U.S. Senate sometime during the week of November 26th.
Wolves are part of America’s rich natural heritage and play an important role in our natural ecosystems. These magnificent creatures deserve protection from hunting, trapping and habitat loss.
I will be working the phones this week contacting as many U.S. Senators as I can advocating for wolf protection, I hope you will join me and others across our nation and be the voice for our voiceless wolves and urge your U.S. Senators to vote to protect wolves and vote NO on HR 6784.
Action – Call your senator and ask them to not only to save the wolf, but the environment that wolves protect.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Senator. [_____] to vote “NO” on HR 6784 – “Manage our Wolves” Act.
Contacts
Senator Feinstein: DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
and Senator Harris: DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884
Other Contacts: http://www.phoneyourrep.com
Background
Kitty Block, acting president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, issued the following statement: “Some members of Congress and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are moving to remove federal protections from wildlife threatened with extinction. This is shameful pandering to a vocal minority of special interests and an affront to American taxpayers who have supported and underwritten decades of efforts restoring these species. The duty of the federal government is to protect threatened and endangered species, not to pander to trophy hunters and predator-control agents.”
(defenders.org) “On the same day it is holding a congressional hearing on an extinction package that would cripple endangered species protections, the House Natural Resources Committee approved a bill that will strip the gray wolf of endangered species protections throughout the continental United States. Referred to as the “Manage our Wolves Act,” H.R. 6784 removes all gray wolves from the federal endangered species list and gives full management control to individual states.
Jason Rylander, senior staff attorney at Defenders of Wildlife, issued this statement:
“Science, not politics, should decide when to list and delist species. Gray wolf recovery is well underway, but the work is not done. If Congress really is committed to preserving and protecting wildlife, they would spend their time finding the funding needed to recover species, not attacking the process.”
- This bill directs the FWS to promulgate an administrative rulemaking to delist the gray wolf throughout the continental United States. The gray wolf is currently listed as endangered in most of the lower-48 states.
- While the return of gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains and the Great Lakes has been an incredible success story, this iconic American species still only occupies a small portion of its former range and wolves have only just started to re-enter areas like northern California, where there are large swaths of suitable habitat. This bill would reverse the incredible progress that the ESA has achieved for this species over the past few decades.
- This bill precludes judicial review of the FWS’s administrative delisting, thus furthering a damaging trend of Congress undermining the ability of Americans to seek out justice and defend our civil rights, public health, and environment.
- Text of the bill can be found here. The final vote was 19 to 15 in favor of the bill with no amendments.
Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities. With over 1.8 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come. For more information, visit Newsroom.Defenders.org and follow us on Twitter @DefendersNews.
More reading: House committee to vote on removing federal protecction for gray wolves. (animalwelfareinstitute)
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 