California has the opportunity to become a leader in the effort to protect people and wildlife from lead poisoning — and you can help make this happen.
AB 711 would outlaw the use of lead ammunition throughout California. The full California Assembly is set to vote on AB 711 this Thursday, May 16th. The danger posed by lead ammunition is simply too great to ignore, and the time is long overdue to protect people and wildlife from this threat! Please take action below to speak out on behalf of California's wildlife.
The Montana legislature is debating SB 397, a full-on assault on Montana’s carnivore species, including bears, wolverines, lynx, lions and wolves. The bill is also an attack on Montana’s Fish and Game laws, and undermines sound science and the basic principles of wildlife management.
What SB 397 does:
·Creates a 10-month long hunting and trapping season for wolves;
·Allows the use of snares for trapping wolves (snares are wire loops that choke to death any wildlife or domestic dog that gets caught inside one).
·Introduces bear-baiting into Montana, for the purposes of hunting black bears;
Take action now: Wolves nationwide losing critical protections
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed removing crucial Endangered Species Act protections from wolves across the lower 48 states.
Wolves in some areas of the country have recovered and we celebrate that success. However, this broad-brushed approach would put still-recovering wolves in the Pacific Northwest, southern Rocky Mountains, California, and eastern United States at real risk of never sufficiently recovering.
In areas where wolves have already lost Endangered Species Act protections, some states have allowed hunters to kill up to 60 percent of the existing populations--including wolf pups!
Please email Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell and President Obama and urge them to maintain protection for wolves currently listed under the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is poised to strip wolves across the lower 48 states of all Endangered Species Act protections! Wolves have only just begun to recover in large portions of the Pacific Northwest, California, southern Rocky Mountains and Northeast.
Gray wolves once roamed the vast majority of the country, but were nearly wiped out by government extermination programs. Their recovery in the northern Rockies and Great Lakes has been a success, but the job of returning wolves to the American landscape is still far from complete.
Right now members of Congress are ready to step in. Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) are circulating a letter to the Service opposing the premature removal of wolf protections. U.S. Representative's Grijalva, Barbara Lee, Cicilline, Moran, Farr, Waxman, Blumenauer, Honda, McCollum, Schakowsky, Barber, Loretta Sanchez, Keating, Langevin, Himes and McGovern have already signed on as co-signatories.
Please call your member of Congress at the number below and urge him or her to save wolves by signing onto Reps. DeFazio and Markey's letter.
Then follow up with this email.
*This action is open to United States residents only.
Ask Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to support CITES international protections for polar bears.
The killing of polar bears for international trade is second only to climate change in threats pushing polar bears closer to extinction. Canada has to this point resisted efforts to join the international community in restricting international trade in polar bear parts.
Please email Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper today and urge that he support this proposal at next month'sConference of the Parties (CoP 16) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations”
These were the President's words. He can quickly live up to them by denying TransCanada's request to move dirty tarsands oil through the middle of the United States.
Take action: Ask President Obama to say "NO" to TransCanada and the Keystone XL pipeline.
After a nearly decade-long wait, Gunnison sage-grouse may finally receive needed Endangered Species Act protections.
This unique ground bird was found in 2005 to have declined in population enough to warrant addition to the Endangered Species List, but appointees in the previous administration interfered with the listing preventing this crucial protection.
Now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed finally granting this species protection. Please take action and tell them that you support safeguarding Gunnison sage-grouse before it's too late.
African lion populations have declined by more than 50 percent in just 30 years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is accepting public comments now as they decide whether to protect these big cats under the Endangered Species Act.
Please ask FWS to list African lions as endangered and help to give lions the chance to recover.
African lion populations have declined by more than 50 percent in just 30 years. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is accepting public comments now as they decide whether to protect these big cats under the Endangered Species Act.
Please ask FWS to list African lions as endangered and help to give lions the chance to recover.
One of the most important fish in the ocean is on the brink of collapse. Menhaden are a medium-sized fish with an enormous impact on marine wildlife. These silvery fish are a vital food source for ospreys, bottlenose dophins, and endangered humpback whales. They are also among the most overfished species in the sea.
Menhaden population has decreased by an astounding 88 percent over the last 25 years. These fish aren't destined for restaurants or supermarket. Instead, they are ground up to be used as pet food, fertilizer, and as "fish oil" in supplements.
A single $100 million corporation, Omega Protein, takes more than 400 million pounds of these vital fish out of the Atlantic every year. This can't continue.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) could finally help the depleted population recover by setting a coastwide maroatorium on menhaden.
Please take action by sending them an email today.
Could there be an endangered seafood species on your plate?
Illegal Fishing Off the Coast of Gabon (Sept. 6, 2011). (Credit: NOAA)
More than 90% of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported, yet less than 2% of that is inspected. Recent studies have shown that consumers are often served species far different than listed on the menu or label.
Not only is seafood fraud deceptive, it's bad for the world's fisheries and imperiled fish. Providing a market for illegally caught fish drastically undermines efforts to control illegal fishing. Without the ability to know where seafood was caught or even what species it is, consumers can end up with endangered species on their plate!
A Boston Globe investigation found just that. Highly endangered southern bluefin tuna was being mistakenly sold as the much more prevalent yellowfin tuna. The SAFE Act would begin to address this gaping hole in species protection.
Please contact your U.S. Representative and urge that they support the Safety and Fraud Enforcement for Seafood (SAFE Seafood) Act.
*This action is open to United States residents only.
If Congress fails to reach an agreement by the end of 2012, disastrous cuts to important programs will go into effect. Funding for wildlife law enforcement, national wildlife refuges, and endangered species programs would be slashed.
Funding for endangered species programs is already too low to address the recovery needs of the nearly 1,400 listed U.S. species. These proposed cuts will further undermine crucial work that could impact Canada lynx, Florida panthers, endangered sturgeon, grizzly bears, gray wolves and more.
Please tell your Congressional Representative to take action to prevent these cuts.
*This action is open to United States residents only.
The Department of the Interior is considering a plan that would allow seismic testing along the Middle and South Atlantic. Tens of thousands of dolphins and whales will be affected, including critically endangered north Atlantic right whales.
The high-intensity pulses produced by seismic air guns can exceed 235 decibels--almost twice as loud as an airplane taking off! These pulses carry for thousands of miles and can cause whales and other marine species that use echolocation to become disoriented and even cause deafness or seriouis injury.
Tell President Obama that we need to protect endangered whales, not deafen them with seismic airgun blasts.
"It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins, catbirds, doves, jays, wrens, and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh." –Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring"
50 years ago this week, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring was published and brought the impacts of indiscriminate pesticide use into the national consciousness.
In Silent Spring, Rachel Carson laid out the results of her years of studies into the previously unreported effects of the chemical DDT. A marine billogist, she showed that widespread use of DDT was harming birds, fish, and the entire food chain. Iconic species like bald eagles, California condors, and peregrine falcons, in addition to countless songbirds, were killed or prevented from reproducing due do exposure to DDT.
Thanks to her efforts, DDT and some other pesticides drew greater government scrutiny and were eventually banned.
50 years later, the challenge remains. Five billion pounds of pesticides are applied worldwide annually, a fifth of that number in the United States. It is estimated that 672 million birds are directly exposed to pesticides from agricultural uses alone each year and that 10% of those birds (67 million) will die from that exposure.1
You can help keep the movement started by Rachel Carson alive by taking action today.
If you haven't already, go to your library and borrow Silent Spring.
Send your Senators an email today asking that they oppose the House of Representatives version of the Farm Bill that undermines protections for endangered species from pesticides. (U.S. residents only)
Cook Inlet beluga whales are already struggling--their numbers have plummeted from 1,300 just four decades ago to less than 300 today.
Now, Apache Alaska Corporation, an international oil exploration company, has begun using deafening seismic airguns in Cook Inlet. These sound-blasting devices subject the remaining belugas to excruciating pain, deafness, and even death.
NOAA has authorized Apache Alaska Corporation to operate these destructive sonar devices for 3 years--legally killing and harassing up to 30 whales per year. Beluga whales depend on sound to survive and these devices produce some of the loudest underwater sounds known to man.
Tell the Obama Administration to withdraw Apache Alaska Corporation's permit and to focus on the conservation and recovery of Cook Inlet beluga whales.
Urge your Member of Congress to investigate the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services.
Wildlife Services operates largely out of public view and with little oversight, killing more than 5 million animals every year. At an annual cost of $30 million to taxpayers, WIldlife Services has become the nation's most prolific killer of wildlife.
It uses some of the most indiscriminate killing methods, such as poisons, baited snares, and foothold traps. A recent Sacramento Bee investigative series found that the agency has accidentally killed more than 50,000 animals since 2000, including golden and bald eagles!
Stop Wealthy Water Brokers from Draining the Bay-Delta
California Governor Jerry Brown is expected to announce this month his plans to build a massive and hugely costly facility to divert water from California's San Francisco Bay Delta to municipalities and agricultural users. In the words of Congressman John Garamendi (CA), "The BDCP (Bay Delta Conservation Plan) process is heading toward the creation of a massive water diversion facility that could destroy the entire Delta".
This diversion project could cost as much as $20 billion and put species like Central Valley salmon at real risk of extinction. State and federal wildlife agencies opposed a larger plan that had a pumping capacity of 15,000 cfs. This plan, with a beginning 9,000 cfs pumping capacity, and potential expansion to 15,000 cfs has not been evaluated--a major reason for not moving forward too quickly.
Governor Brown and U.S. Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar are expected to announce their plans on or about July 25th. Please take action for San Francisco Bay Delta species by demanding a thorough evaluation before proceeding with this risky plan.
*Note: Only California residents are able to contact Governor Brown, however your message will be delivered to Secretary Salazar and Acting Secretary Blank if you're outside the state.
The 2012 Farm Bill is under consideration by the Senate and along with it a myriad of anti-wildlife amendments thoroughly unrelated to agriculture. Among the list is an amendment that would remove Endangered Species Act protections from polar bears, Florida panthers, and any other species that only exists in a single state.
Another would strip the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers from protecting small streams and wetlands--putting the bigger bodies of water they flow into at risk.
Still another would block the EPA from regulating lead ammunition, a poison responsible for the deaths of as many as 20 million animals like the bald eagle every year.
Please tell your Senators to oppose any anti-wildlife amendments to the 2012 Farm Bill.
Eiders on a lake in the NPR-Alaska. Photo courtesty NSSI.
The Western Arctic Reserve, also known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, is our nation’s largest single unit of public land. It supports some of America's most iconic species threatened and endangered species. Within the Reserve is Peard Bay, a nesting area for the endangered Spectacled Eider.
Polar and brown bears, walrus, beluga whales, caribou and millions of migratory birds call the Reserve home. For the first time ever, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is considering a new management plan for the Reserve that protects key habitat areas from oil and gas development.
Urge Secretary Salazar to protect special areas within the Reserve for future generations by signing our petition to him asking that he adopt "Alternative B" that would protect sensitive habitat for generations to come.
Last week was Bear Awareness Week, and we're thanking the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for making a sound, science-based policy determination in maintaining Endangered Species Act protections for grizzly bears while they study the impacts of recent changes on bear habitat and food sources.
Last month, FWS announced it was delaying delisting the grizzly while it studies the effects that the loss of one of the bears' primary food sources (whitebark pine trees) is having on their survival.
Please send FWS Director Dan Ashe an email thanking him for protecting grizzly bears.
Tell your Representative that our oceans can't wait!
Members of Congress led by Natural Resources Committee Chairman "Doc" Hastings (R-WA) want to "hit pause" on the National Ocean Policy--a common-sense plan to protect marine habitat, restore coastal ecosystems, and reduce government inefficiency.
Tell your Representative not to weaken protections for our oceans and coasts.
This action is for U.S. residents only. Please do not attempt to take action without a U.S. mailing address.
Ask your Senators to support Endangered Species Day
Friday, May 18th will be marked by thousands of people around the country as Endangered Species Day. The United States Senate can make it a national observance by passing a Senate resolution that will be introduced next week.
Tell your Senators to support the resolution designating May 18th, 2012 as Endangered Species Day. Passing this resolution will encourage our friends and neighbors to learn about the threats to species, success stories in endangered species recovery, and to promote conservation worldwide by observing Endanered Species Day.
Shell Oil's ship 'Noble Discoverer' nearly ran aground in Unalaska, Alaska over the weekend.
If they can't control their ships in relatively calm waters, how can we trust them to prevent or respond to a spill in the icy, choppy seas they plan to drill in?
We can't.
Tell President Obama to suspend Shell's Arctic drilling today.
It amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) to allow for the importation of polar bear "trophies" from Canada that are presented as having been taken prior to the May 2008 Endangered Species Act listing.
It requires federal agencies to open nearly all public lands to hunting--including national parks--and prevents federal agencies from reviewing the impacts of hunting on non-tartget species or their habitats under the National Environmental Policy Act.
It removes the ability of the EPA to regulate lead ammunition--the cause of death for up to 20 million birds and other animals every yeat.
HR 4089 is scheduled to be on the House floor this week! Pease tell your Representative to vote "NO" on H.R. 4089.
“I will not back down from making sure an oil company can contain the kind of oil spill we saw in the Gulf two years ago.”
That was what President Obama said in his 2012 State of the Union addresss. We need to hold him to that promise.
Just last week, the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report prepared for the House Energy and Commerce Committee finding that Shell does not have the ability to contain a spill of that magnitude in the Arctic. Its plan of relying on resources from concurrently operating drilling rigs is insufficent for the icy waters of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas where 20-foot swells, sea ice up to 25 feet thick, and sub-zero temperatures are the norm.
Royal Dutch Shell ships are racing to get to America's Arctic Ocean where they will begin the riskiest Arctic drilling project in history.
Tell President Obama to keep his word and stop keep Shell out of America's Arctic.
Then forward this to a friend, post to Facebook and Tweet it to help #SaveTheArctic.
Endangered Species Day 2012 is May 18th. Please sign your organization on to our letter to Senators asking them to co-sponsor a Senate Resolution marking May 18th, 2012 as "Endangered Species Day".
At the direction of President Obama, the National Ocean Council created a draft National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan to address some of the major threats facing the Great Lakes, our oceans, and our coasts.
The draft plan is a huge first step in tackling problems such as pollution, ocean acidification, and habitat loss but it could still be improved.
Please urge the National Ocean Council to finalize a robust ocean action plan that protects, maintains and restores our oceans' health.
A recently release Presidential Directive to the Department of Interior calls for opening up ALL of the lands designated as critical habitat for the northern spotted owl to logging.
There are less than 2,500 northern spotted owl pairs in the United States and they depend on old growth forests like those slated for logging for their continued survival. These magnificent birds are listed as "threatened" on the Endangered Species List due largely to the loss of habitat. The spotted owl has seen its population decline by forty percent in just four decades.
Please tell President Obama to protect old growth forests vital to the ongoing survival of northern spotted owls.
How did your member of Congress vote on H.R. 1837?
Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would take water from the San Francisco Bay and surrounding rivers and wetlands to benefit big agribusiness and a few billionaire water-brokers.
Find out how your Representative voted and either thank them for standing up for the 700+ species that rely on the water of the San Francisco Bay and surrounding rivers or tell them you're disappointed in their decision to vote for this misguided legislation that puts wildlife and cities at risk.
Stop Congress from Putting Billionaires Ahead of Endangered Salmon
Call your Representative now and urge them to oppose H.R. 1837
The House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill that could drastically alter the future of the largest estuary on the West Coast of North America.
H.R. 1837 would preempt state water law, eliminate environmental protections for salmon, undermine or overturn broadly supported water use agreements and threaten California's water supplies.
This bill would eliminate science-based protections for salmon and other endangered and threatened species, instead enacting outdated standards set nearly 20 years ago in a different environmental and political climate.
This is scheduled to come to vote TODAY! Please call your Representative now and urge them to vote NO on H.R. 1837.
Stop Congress from Putting Billionaires Ahead of Endangered Salmon
The House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill that could drastically alter the future of the largest estuary on the West Coast of North America.
H.R. 1837 would preempt state water law, eliminate environmental protections for salmon, undermine or overturn broadly supported water use agreements and threaten California's water supplies.
This bill would eliminate science-based protections for salmon and other endangered and threatened species, instead enacting outdated standards set nearly 20 years ago in a different environmental and political climate.
The full House could vote on this in less than 48 hours. Please email your Representative today and urge them to vote NO on H.R. 1837.
Gray wolves in Montana received well-deserved breather last week when the state’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission voted unanimously to reject a proposal that would have extended the wolf hunting season in one area of the state until April 1. The hunting season has now come to an end statewide.
Please thank all five of Montana’s FWP Commissioners for voting against a wolf hunt extension in WMU 250. Please thank the Commissioners in your own words. It's critical that good decisions be rewarded and a short, unique email is a valuable way to say, "Thanks".
Note: If you're a hunter or angler, please note that in the email to the Commissioners.
Background: Montana FWP had proposed an extension of the wolf hunting season to April 1 in one area of western Montana where wolves are thought to be contributing to a decline in elk calf survival. Since spring is the time of year that female wolves den and give birth, this proposal would have allowed hunting at a time when wolves are most vulnerable. Many Montana citizens and even some of the FWP Commissioners voiced ethical concerns about hunting an animal during its denning and birthing season. In the end, Commissioners did the right thing and voted 5-0 to reject the proposed season extension.
Tell Secretary Jewell to protect Wyoming's wolves and ban wolf hunting in the parkway.
Wyoming's 250 wolves are increasingly on the losing end of negotiations between the Department of Interior and the State of Wyoming to remove wolves from the Endangered Species List. The Department of Interior has capitulated on virtually every request from Wyoming, including allowing wolves to be shot on sight across nearly 90 percent of the state.
In the latest and perhaps last concession, Secretary Salazar's Interior Department is considering allowing hunting in a the John. D. Rockefeller Parkway. This 24,000 acre land passage in the northwest part of the state connects Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and is used by wolves passing between them. If Wyoming once again gets its way, the only safe harbor for the area's gray wolves will be in the parks with no way of moving between them.
The Park Service recognizes the error of this plan:
“NPS preference is to not allow wolf hunting within the boundaries of the parkway, particularly if the state can reach wolf management goals outside the boundaries of the parkway,”-John Wessels, Intermountain Region regional director, NPS
The Interior Department has given Wyoming more than enough. The proposed delisting agreement already treats wolves as predators and permits unmanaged killing across the vast majority of the state--including national forests. Secretary Jewell needs to stand up for Wyoming's wolves and maintain protections in the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway.
Please tell Secretary Jewell to ban all wolf hunts in the parkway.
Stop coal companies from dumping mining waste into streams
For decades following the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, mining companies were rightly prohibited from dumping waste directly into our rivers and streams.
That changed in 2002, when the Bush Administration redefined "fill material", allowing coal mines in Appalachia to destroy streams with the waste created by blowing the tops off of mountains. They further opened that loophole 2 years later, allowing for the dumping of toxic mine "tailings" into nearby streams.
This policy change has led to the destruction of more than 2,000 miles of Appalachian streams and caused the death of untold wildlife. Imperiled species like the Kentucky arrow darter and the tan riffleshell are being buried and poisoned by mining waste---an action that's perfectly legal because of this loophole!
The Obama Administration must close this loophole now and protect our waters and the wildlife, fish, and plants that live there, from further harm. Please write to the Obama administration (Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley) and tell them to close this loophole and stop the dumping of mining waste into our waters.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is accepting public comments on an outline for where Big Oil may be allowed to drill over the next 5 years. The current draft plan calls for expanded drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and opens the door for unprecedented and risky drilling in the Arctic.
In the Arctic, Polar bears, bowhead whales, and other endangered and threatened species would be put at immediate risk by new drilling authorized by this 5 year plan. This plan would open up both of Alaska's Polar Bear Seas--the Chukchi and the Beaufort--to oil development.
In the Gulf, endangered species such as the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle would face the threat of another spill while still recovering from the Gulf spill. Necessary new protections for endangered Gulf species have not been enacted and new drilling would put Guilf wildlife at risk.
Please take action today by sending your comment to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) calling for adequate protections for endangered and threatened wildlife prior to allowing any new oil development.
Senate Republicans are pulling out all the stops to reverse President Obama's denial of the Keystone XL pipeline. A vote restarting the disastrous pipeline may come as early as today!
If built, Keystone XL would transport dirty tar-sands oil 1,700 miles across six states and hundreds of water bodies, posing an unacceptable risk of spill.
This pipeline, or any other from the tar sands, absolutely should not be built.
Send your Senators a message -- "Say NO to any legislation that would approve Keystone XL!"
The Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline has once again been stopped in its tracks.
Following legislation that required a 60-day review of the tar-sands pipeline, the State Department announced that TransCanada's application to build the permit--somthing that was nearly a foregone conclusion 6 months ago--has been denied.
This wouldn't have been possible without committed activists like you that spoke up and told the President, the State Department, and your Members of Congress to say "No KXL".
This pipeline would have been disastrous for Whooping cranes and other imperiled species. Worse, it would cement our nation's reliance on dirty fossil fuels and could speed climate change if built.
The Keystone XL Pipeline is not history though. TransCanada can still reroute it to avoid the Sandhills region, a move that would do nothing to mitigate the threat posed to migrating endangered whooping cranes.
Take action now and thank President Obama for standing up in the face of relentless pressure from Big Oil and that you expect any revision of the Keystone XL Pipeline to be rejected. No reroutes will make this failed proposal safe for whooping cranes and no reroutes will change the impact of furthering our nation's reliance on dirty fossil fuels.
The energy company NiSource is seeking a 50-year permit to legally "take" endangered or threatened species or damage their habitat anywhere along their 15,000 mile pipeline.
This unprecedented request to the US Fish and Wildlife Service would put more than 75 species at risk. Louisiana black bears, West Virginia Northern flying squirrels, Cheat salamander, Indiana bats, and Eastern bog turtles would all lose protections within one-half mile on either side of NiSource's pipeline. If that weren't enough, NiSource would like this permit to last 50 years.
Tell the US Fish and WIldlife Service (FWS) that this plan is too vague, too long-lasting, and puts too many species at risk.
NiSource's requested permit would allow them to harm or kill endangered or threatened species during maintenance, upgrade, and operations of their gigantic 15-state pipeline. Under their plan, as long as the activities they engage in are otherwise legal, violations of the Endangered Species Act would no longer be violations. Essentially, they want their own set of rules--for 50 years.
The oil and gas industry have already built themselves loopholes into long-standing safeguards like the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Air Act.
Now, they're going to work on the Endangered Species Act.
Don't let them get a pass. Tell the U.S. FWS that 50 years is too long and NiSource's plan puts too many species--and the Endangered Species Act--at risk.
Last spring, the House of Representatives majority party pushed through a bill (HR 872) that would dismantle the Clean Water Act and allow virtually unregulated pesticide and chemical application, polluting our waterways and wildlife habitat.
Now the U.S. Senate is considering the bill and we need to stop it there. The Clean Water Act is time-tested, it's been in place for nearly 4 decades, and has prevented toxic chemicals from further desecrating our nation's water and wildlife habitat.
Congress is considering drastically altering this important safeguard. This attack on the Clean Water Act would not only put our water and wildlife habitat at risk, it would set the table for yet another attack on another bedrock conservation law--the Endangered Species Act.
Don't let big business do away with safeguards that protect wildlife and our environment. Tell your Senators you expect them to oppose HR 872 or any similar bill or amendment that would weaken the Clean Water Act.
Like the chemical DDT that was made famous by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, the herbicide atrazine is quietly pushing wildlife into extinction.
This harmful pesticide causes cancer in mammals, developmental problems in fish and turns male frogs into females.
It was banned by the European Union in 2004 but 80 million pounds of the pesticide are used annually in the United States making it the most commonly detected pesticide in our nation's rainwater and groundwater. Its continued use is pushing entire populations of endangered fish and amphibians closer to extinction and today we have a chance to stop it.
The deadline for public comments is November 14th and the Environmental Protection Agency needs to hear from you. Please tell the EPA to ban the production and use of atrazine.
Congress is deliberating Fiscal Year 2012 spending bills and some anti-wildlife Members are proposing deep cuts to programs that are vital to the continued survival of species.
We're working non-stop with our Coalition partners to prevent these attacks on wildlife. Together, we're running ads on Capitol HIll, we've brought wildlife experts to Congress for meetings this week and now we need you to back them up with your letter.
Please send an email to your Representative and Senators opposing any cuts to critical funding for wildlife.
Among the proposed cuts are:
Zeroing out the Endangered Species Act listing account. This would handcuff USFWS and prevent them from protecting any new species and push the more than 240 species awaiting needed protections closer to the brink of extinction.
Massive cuts to the Cooperative Endangered Species Fund that provides grants to states to help conserve endangered species on non-federal lands.
Cuts to the USFWS Office of Law Enforcement that prevents the poaching and smuggling of protected species.
Cuts to the National Refuge System that would result in the closure or elimination of major programs at 128 national wildlife refuges, putting species at risk and costing hundreds of jobs.
Spending on wildlife and conservation programs already comprises only about 1 percent of the federal budget. Making cuts here will not make a measurable impact on our nation's budget woes and will have a deleterious impact on the wildlife and wild places federal agencies are charged with maintaining.
Please send an email to your Representative and Senators right now urging them to protect wildlife funding.
Affecting nine species of bats in nineteen states.
Nearly 100% mortality at some sites.
White-nose Syndrome (WNS) spreads farther each year, with dire consequences for North American bats. Scientists are predicting regional extinctions of the little brown bat in the northeastern United States by 2026 because of this disease. Critical hibernation sites of endangered Indiana, gray, and Virginia big-eared bats are at risk. Twenty-five of the United States’ 47 bats species hibernate in caves and mines and could be affected by WNS.
WNS is decimating bat populations, and we need your help to stop it. Please ask President Obama to include WNS funding in his Fiscal Year 2013 budget.
Billfish stocks worldwide are at an all time low. Despite their impressive size and speed, these majestic marlin, sailfish and spearfish have been the vicitm of extreme overfishing by non-U.S. commercial vessels, often targeting other species.
Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Congress that would begin to address this rapid depletion of billfish by closing U.S. commercial markets to foreign-caught billfish preventing their catch and importation. The bill would help to restore the balance of life in the Pacific Ocean by keeping billfish off American menus and help protect other endangered species such as marine turtles, dolphins and sharks often caught in the same longlines and driftnets that ensnare billfish.
Please ask your Senators and Representative to co-sponsor the Billfish Conservation Act of 2011.
Congressman Rob Bishop (R-UT), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, has introduced a bil that would remove virtually all environmental and conservation protections from public lands within 100 miles of our borders.
This unnecessary and extreme bill would exempt the Department of Homeland Security from complying with as many as 36 laws within 100 miles of any land border. This would apply to an area that encompasses 10 whole states, including Florida and Hawaii!
Species including Canada lynx, West Indian manatees, Florida Panthers, and polar bears would see their habitats open to "immediate access" under the false auspices of securing our borders. The Department of Homeland Security has opposed similar bills and the Deputy Commissioner of the Border Patrol has testified that legislation affecting environmental laws is not needed.
Please urge your Member of Congress to oppose this extreme and unneeded legislation.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to nearly 200 wildlife species. This unique Arctic habitat is often described as America's Serengeti.
The ANWR coastal plain houses critically important denning area for Beaufort Sea polar bears, migratory habitat for more than 135 bird species and a vital calving area for the 123,000 head Porcupine caribou herd.
Today, we're on the verge of an important milestone in the decades-long effort to protect it. For the first time in history. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has released for public comment the draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) for ANWR.
This is a critical first step toward achieving enduring protection for ANWR's coastal plain.
Please submit your comment below urging the FWS to recommend a wilderness designation for the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain to protect it from oil and gas development.
The President is currently considering whether to grant a presidential permit to the oil company TransCanada for the construction of the Keystone XL tar-sands oil pipeline.
As part of that process, the State Department is accepting public comments to determine if the pipeline is in the national interest.
This is our last chance to stop this disaster before it's too late!
The Keystone XL Pipeline would carry nearly a million barrels a day of volatile raw bitumen through sensitive wildlife habitat and across rivers and streams.
This pipeline will be a disaster from start to finish if built as proposed. Even if the Keystone XL is somehow the single pipeline in Big Oil's arsenal that is secure and doesn't leak, the infrastructure it requires will put some of our most endangered species at great risk. The new aerial power lines alone could push whooping cranes closer to extinction as the pipeline stalks their migration route from border to coast.
Please email the State Department today and urge that the Pipeline be blocked.
The Obama administration has announced that they are undertaking an in depth review process to examine potential alternative routes to the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Citing multiple factors including climate change, the administration has delayed approval for an expected minimum of 12 months. This is potentially huge news for wildlife and a step towards policies that address the specter of global climate change.
Had this pipeline been approved, it would have carried dirty tar-sands oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico through sensitive endangered species habitat. Further, it would have cemented our nation's dependence on dirty fossil fuels. The habitats ofbald eagles, endangered American Burying beetles, and highly endangered whooping cranes would have been placed in unjust peril.
Thankfully, at least for the moment, TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline has been stopped in its tracks. Thanks to supporters like you that emailed the President, spoke up to the State Department -- and even turned out in person at the White House -- he heard the message "No Keystone XL" loud and clear.
Please take a moment and thank President Obama for leading and ask that he seize this opportunity to move forward to protect our nation and its wildlife from future fossil fuel related catastrophes.
Federal Judge James Redden recently ruled the Obama administration's Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead plan inadequate and illegal. This marks the third management plan from three different administrations to be ruled illegal. President Obama now has the opportunity to pursue a new path to recover wild salmon, rebuild jobs, protect communities, and invest in the clean energy economy. Many thousands of jobs and the integrity of the Endangered Species Act hang in the balance.
Please tell President Obama you support a salmon recovery plan based on sound science.
Thank Congressional Leaders for their Defense of the Endangered Species Act
An amendment to the House Interior Appropriations bill (HR 2584) introduced by Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) and co-sponsored by Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) struck down the Extinction Rider--a radical provision that would have pushed hundreds of species closer to extinction.
Please sign our petition thanking these leaders in the fight to save wildlife and to defend the Endangered Species Act.
How Did Your Representative Vote on The Extinction Rider?
Find out and contact them.
The House of Representatives passed the Dicks-Fitzpatrick-Thompson-Hanabusa Amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill by a vote of 224-202, preventing implementation of the Extinction Rider that would have pushed hundreds of species closer to extinction and crippled the Endangered Species Act.
How did your Representative vote on this historic day? Did they side with you and stand up for America's disappearing wildlife and wild places or did they side with anti-regulation big money special interests? Find out:
Contact your Member of Congress and Senators and tell them you do not support misguided riders that harm endangered species.
The 2012 House Interior Appropriations Bill contains multiple proposals that would devastate long-standing environmental and conservation programs, putting people and wildlife at great risk.
The bill currently contains language that would circumnavigate the democratic process by removing the role of the courts in reviewing the delisting of wolves, would limit the EPA from regulating pesticides under the Clean Water Act, and would remove virtually all federal protections from the remaining 8,000 bighorn sheep.
Please make a 30 second call to your Member of Congress and Senators now. Report your calls here when you're done so that we are able to track our efforts to defend the Endangered Species Act
A plan unveiled ast week by the State of Wyoming and the U.S. FIsh and Wildlife Service (USFWS) would allow wolves across most of the state to be shot on sight, without a permit and without limit. No protections for pregnant or nursing wolves, no protections for pups. Just a license to kill wolves across most of the state.
This inferior plan is by all accounts identical to those previously proposed by Wyoming which were--until now--found to be insufficient by the USFWS.
Tell Secretary of Interior Salazar that this unscientific shoot-on-sight "management" plan is unacceptable and ask that he use his power to force Wyoming to come up with a responsible, science-based management plan.
The House of Representatives Majority is proposing devastating funding cuts that would potentially derail the Endangered Species Act if passed as written.
Among the anti-conservation language in the appropriations bill are 2 provisions that would chip away at the foundations of the Endangered Species Act, putting already imperiled wildlife at greater risk.
One would prohibit all new listings of threatened and endangered species and the designation of critical habitat for currently listed species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has already identified more than 250 species that warrant ESA protections but cannot be listed due to lack of resources. This bill would do nothing to resolve that backlog and potentially lead to both listed and non-listed species inching closer to extinction.
The second would prevent judicial review of de-listing rules for gray wolves in Wyoming and the Great Lakes. Removing centuries-old checks and balances would be an invitation to ignore sound science in favor of political expedience in crafting state level management policy.
Take action now: Urge your Representative to oppose these provisions that would weaken the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Senate is considering legislation that originated in the House of Representatives that would exempt pesticide users who spray over water from the requirement that they obtain a permit under the Clean Water Act.
This legislation would allow polluters to circumnavigate the Clean Water Actand further desecrate our waterways,putting endangered and threatened species like the California red legged frog at even greater peril. The California red legged frog, or Mark Twain's frog--the subject of Twain's short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County--relies on habitat that could be exposed to deadly poisons if this legislation succeeds.
Further, it would also be used as a model for future legislative attempts to expempt these same polluters from complying with the Endangered Species Act.
Please email your Senators and tell them you do not support the weakening of environmental and conservation laws to benefit big polluters.
Urge them to vote NO on HR 782 or any bill that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from stopping toxic pesticides from entering our waterways.
Widespread use of the pesticide DDT pushed iconic species like the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and California condor to the brink of extinction before concerned citizens and conservation activists campaigned to have the chemical banned in 1972. Today, hundreds of other chemicals are poisoning endangered and threatened fish, reptiles, birds and amphibians as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to allow their use.
The Endangered Species Act requires that the EPA consult with wildlife officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to determine potential impacts on listed species before registering a chemical for use. Yet the EPA has for decades registered deadly chemicals without conducting these mandatory agency-to-agency consultations. This has resulted in endangered and threatened fish, frogs and other species suffering developmental deformities, infertility, illness and death.
Please ask EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to uphold the agency's requirements under the Endangered Species Act and undertake agency-to-agency consultations prior to approving chemicals for use in endangered and threatened species habitat.
Barely one year since our nation's worst environmental tragedy to date, Big Oil is intent on pushing forward with a risky drilling proposal in America's Arctic Ocean and Washington is poised to let them, unless we act.
The Department of Interior is making decisions this summer about whether to allow Shell Oil to drill ten wells in America’s Arctic over the next 2 years.
Tell Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and BOEMRE Alaska OCS Regional Director Dr. James Kendall to protect one of our nation’s greatest natural treasures – a vast, pristine place at the top of the world that polar bears, whales, walrus, seals and Alaska Native communities all call home!
Please make a difference for endangered and threatened ocean species today.
Please sign your organization to the letter to Congress below. We are asking Members to co-sign Representative Sam Farr's letter to the President seeking transfer of jurisdiction over the GSNM from USDA Forest Service to the Park Service.
In spite of a decade-old Presidential proclamation calling for an end to logging and roadbuilding within the boundaries of the Giant Sequoia National Monument (GSNM), the Forest Service recently approved a plan that would put this sensitive endangered species habitat at untold risk. Continued logging has damaged and fragmented ecosystems, displaced endangered and threatened plant and animal species and robbed future generations of the ability to be among Giant Sequoias--the largest trees on Earth.
Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) has prepared a letter to President Obama asking that he transfer GSNM to the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. You can read the letter below. The National Park Service is the appropriate agency to manage the Giant Sequoia National Monument, to ensure that all of our remaining Sequoias, along with the diverse array of rare, threatened and endangered plant and animal species, have full and permanent protection.
Threatened and endangered species including the Pacific fisher, great gray owl, American marten, northern goshawk, peregrine falcon, California spotted owl, California condor, several rare amphibians and the western pond turtle rely on the enduring protection of the Giant Sequoia National Monument. Please ask your Representative to co-sign Representative Farr's letter to the President today.
The Northern SpottedOwl Recovery Plan is now being finalized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency is facing heavy pressure to weaken the draft from the timber industry and states about provisions in the draft strengthening owl protections on private and state lands, as well as from the Bureau of Land Management and USDA Forest Service because of the agency’s plans to ramp up logging in owl habitat.
Due to a recent timber industry court victory, the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR) is back into effect because the administration failed to provide for notice and comment of the withdrawal as required by law. Thus far the administration has given no indication if it plans to again withdraw the controversial logging plan that proposes to triple old-growth logging on BLM managed-lands in Oregon.
The recovery plan has broad implications about the future of the Northwest Forest Plan and the protection of the region’s remaining at-risk old-growth. The WOPR is scientifically flawed plan that claims a huge increase in logging owl habitat, will be good for the owl.
Please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and urge them to finalize the spottedowl recovery plan using the best available science and to withdraw the Western Oregon Plan Revisions.
Please sign your organization onto the following letters:
Included is an organizational letter to the Senate in support of a Resolution sponsored by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse making May 20th, 2011 "Endangered Species Day". Please contact Mitch Merry with questions at mmerry@stopextinction.org
A letter to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committees regarding an upcoming hearing on pesticide use and registration. Unfortunately, for nearly 20 years the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has failed to meet its obligations under the Endangered Species Act to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) on the impacts of pesticide use and registration on threatened and endangered species. We are urging the EPA to complete its obligations under the ESA in a timely and responsible scientifically based manner.
Contact Kiyana Allen at Defenders with questions at kallen@defenders.org.
A letter to the President asking for a moratorium on uranium mining in and around Grand Canyon. Home to over eight threatened and endangered species and a dozen candidate or species of special concern, the Grand Canyon is a terrible place to mine for uranium. For more information, contact Erik DuMont at EDuMont@pewtrusts.org with questions.
Please check the box next to each of the letters and complete the fields below to sign.
Congress is in the process of passing a Continuing Resolution (CR) funding bill required to keep the federal governement running. Using the opportunity created by this "must-pass" bill, Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) and Representative Mike Simpson (R-ID) have inserted a policy rider that kicks gray wolves off the Endangered Species List in most of the Northern Rockies--ignoring sound science, the will of courts and nearly four-decades of Congressional history.
TAKE ACTION NOW FOR WOLVES AND THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: Contact your Senators now by calling their officesor the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121and urge them to remove the anti-wolf language from this bill before passing it. Then follow up with an email below.
Sample talking points are below, but please use your own words if you think inserting this non budget-related de-listing provision into a CR bill is wrong for wolves.
As a supporter of the Endangered Species Coalition, I am disappointed and appalled that the final budget deal contains a provision stripping Endangered Species Act protection from gray wolves across most of the Northern Rockies, leaving them at the mercy of states that plan to kill hundreds of them. Congress has no business making such decisions, especially without debate and in the dead of night. The law is clear that science, not the whims of politicians, should dictate which species deserve protection.
I strongly urge you to eliminate the non-budget wolf provision from the spending bill to fund the government through the remainder of 2011..
I want Congress to keep its hands off the Endangered Species Act and, as your constituent, I expect you to defend this bedrock environmental law.
Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar is finalizing a five-year plan for new oil and gas leases that could open the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas--the Polar Bear Seas--to risky new oil and gas drilling. The oil and gas industry has not demonstrated that it has the ability to prevent a spill or the capacity to clean it up.
Please take action now to protect polar bears, bowhead whales and walrus from a catastrophic oil spill. Tell Secretary Salazar no new drilling in the Arctic until the oil and gas industry demonstrates that they can effectively respond to a spill in this remote, icy environment.
The U.S. Senate is considering a must-pass funding bill containing language that would end federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for still-recovering wolves throughout Montana and Idaho and parts of Utah, Oregon and Washington.
If passed, this law will deny a single species from receiving ESA protections for the first time in our nation's history. The disastrous precedent set by this bill would make it much more likely that the another species will find itself stripped of protections for political expedience. Our nation owes wolves, a species we brutally drove to near extinction, the same protections afforded any other--no more, and no less. Tell your Senators to fix this bill.
Incredibly, this bill would prevent future re-listing of northern Rockies gray wolves as endangered, no matter how few remain. Several states have indicated their intention to enact policies that would drastically reduce wolf populations, greatly threatening their remarkable comeback--this unprecedented bill would allow for no recourse should wolves once again vanish from our landscape.
Please call your Senators today and urge them to vote no on HR 1 and pass a clean Senate CR bill.
Congress is in the final hours of debate over a funding bill that must be passed to keep the government running. Unfortunately, this legislation has been loaded with anti-wildlife language and attacks on the environment.
If passed as written, this funding bill will be a disaster for our nation's wildlife and wild places. It would invalidate water conservation agreements that have been in place for decades, make it nearly impossible for concerned citizens like you and I to seek the help of courts in the enforcement of federal regulations, prevent the regulation of emissions that are causing global climate change and, for the first time in history, remove Endangered Species Act protections for a single species-the Northern Rockies gray wolf.
ACT TODAY: Call your Senators by calling their officeor the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121and urge them to remove the anti-wildlife language from this bill and follow up with an email below.
When you're done, please spread the word and ask others to contact their Senators! We can't afford to let a single Senate office go uncontacted.
The recently passed House budget package (H.R.1) was filled with anti-conservation language that will remove protections for endangered species and slash funding for some of our most important public health and environmental laws.
Of critical importance to Oregon and California are three amendments authored by California House members which will do the following:
Remove funding for the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, and the Klamath Hydropower Agreement.
Remove funding for San Joaquin River Restoration, and re-introduction of Spring Chinook salmon to this once-productive river.
Block implementation of the Biological Opinions to protect California Central Valley Chinook salmon, steelhead and green sturgeon, potentially decimating these fisheries.
Salmon populations in California’s Central Valley have plummeted from 780,000 in 2002, to 48,500 in 2009 -- the lowest number ever recorded.Thanks to recent conservation efforts, these fish are beginning to rebound for the first time in nearly a decade. Provisions in the House budget bill would put an end to that by slashing the programs that made this recovery possible.
In Oregon, the Klamath River agreement that has helped to restore the basing would be invalidated by this anti-conservation bill.
The same is true for the San Joaquin River. An agreement that has allowed this river to come back from the brink will be blocked by this anti-wildlife, anti-salmon bill.
Please email your Senators asking them to strike these anti-conservation provisions from the budget package that came from the House
Last week, the U.S. Senate and House voted to pass a Continuing Resolution budget bill to keep the government running for the remainder of the fiscal year. Buried in the bill was a policy rider doing something no Congress has ever done before--selectively delist a single species from the Endangered Species Act.
This last-minute budget deal stripped Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves across most of the Northern Rockies, putting their fates in the hands of state governments who intend to kill hundreds of wolves.
We need to make clear to Congress that never again can a single species be so vilified and so unjustly treated. Never again will we allow politics to triumph over sound science and never again will Congress violate the will of one of this nation's most cherished laws, the Endangered Species Act.
State legislators in Helena are considering a bill to that would illegally declare the Endangered Species Act null and void in Montana. Please ask your legislator to vote NO on HB 321.
The Endangered Species Act is a safety net for wildlife, plants and fish that are on the brink of extinction. In Montana, it has successfully prevented the extinction of our bald eagles, bull trout, lynx and grizzly bears. The Endangered Species Act also protects the habitat that these and other Montana critters need to survive—our rivers, mountains and plains.
Background on HB 321
House Bill (HB 321) seeks to nullify the Endangered Species Act in Montana.
HB 321 would prevent Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks scientists from managing and conserving threatened and endangered wildlife within Montana.
Please email your legislators in Helena. You can also use the online form below to email your legislators.
Congress is considering several bills that would--for the first time in history--remove federal protections for a single species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Bills introduced by Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), seek to strip all of America's wolves of vital, life-saving Endangered Species Act protections. These bills would adversely affect the recovery all wolves, including the highly endangered Mexican gray wolf.
Additionally, these bills set a dangerous precedent. Never before has Congress acted to legislatively de-list a species from the Endangered Species Act. If successful, these bills would allow politics to take the place of sound science in the future recovery of endangered species in the United States.
Please ask your Members of Congress not to support these anti-wolf, anti ESA bills.
The Delta Stewardship Council is accepting comments on the fate of the Bay-Delta watershed. Please submit your comments below in support of the recommendations of the EWC and restoring the Bay-Delta and protecting California's precious water resources.
Each year, Wildlife Services-an agency within the USDA- is responsible for the killing of milliions of animals including foxes, pelicans, mountain lions and wolves.
One of it's cruelest, most hazardous and environmentally harmful methods of killing wildlife is through the use of the chemicals Comound 1080 and sodium cyanide. These are slow acting toxins that cause needless suffering and frequently result in the death of non-target animals including rare swift foxes, bears, eagles and household pets.
The Environmental Protection Agency is currently considering the re-registration of these two deadly toxins that indiscriminately kill wildlife. Please ask EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to ban the use of these poisons against wildlife.
The bipartisan commission appointed by President Obama in the wake of the Gulf oil disaster recently released its findings and recommendations to prevent another catastrophe.
Tell your Senators and Representatives you support the Commission's findings and implore them to enact these needed changes to reform offshore oil and gas drilling and to protect and restore our coasts and seas.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is reportedly promoting legislative language that would eliminate Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for all gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, including those in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah.
This legislation would set an incredibly dangerous precedent. Congress has never before removed an animal from the Endangered Species Act. Doing so now would allow future decisions to again be based on political judgement instead of sound science.
Please urge your Senators and Representative to reject Interior Secretary Salazar's backroom deal that would remove protections for wolves and weaken the ESA.
Polar bears are in real trouble. These iconic creatures of the arctic are seeing their frozen habitat rapidly disappear as the planet warms.
In response to a recent lawsuit filed by ESC member organizations, a federal judge has ordered the Department of Interior to reconsider it's 2008 decision to deny polar bears the full protection of the Endangered Species Act.
Taking appropriate action today and listing polar bears as "endangered" will provide them with critical protections vital to their continued survival in their current habitats.
Please act now and ask Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to grant polar bears full Endangered Species Act protections before it's too late.
In response to a lawsuit brought by ESC Member Organizations Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Defense Council, a federal judge has ordered the Department of the Interior to reconsider a Bush administration decision that granted polar bears only partial protection under the Endangered Species Act and exempted the primary threat facing the bear, greenhouse gas pollution, from some important regulatory programs under the Act.
We have just a few short weeks to convince the Obama administration to do what the law, the climate, and science require: Give the polar bear full protection as endangered, rather than merely threatened, under the Endangered Species Act.
Please consider signing your organization on to this important letter asking Interior to fully acknowledge the reality and science of climate change in the Arctic, and grant polar bears full protection as an “endangered” species by December 13th, 2010 (today).
White-nose syndrome is a real-life horror for bats and is decimating bat populations across the country. Nine species of bats are at risk from the epidemic. Two of those species, Indiana and gray bats, are already endangered.
Extensive research is needed to find out what causes white-nose syndrome among bats and how to stop it.
Bats serve a vital role in our ecosystem. They are one of nature's most prolific insect predators, vital pollinators and seed-dispersers for many plants. Bats allow farmers to use less pesticides on the food we eat and prevent the spread of insect-borne diseases.
Please take action for bats by asking President Obama to allocate desperately needed funding to stop white-nose syndrome.
The Department of Agriculture and the state of Idaho are planning to kill up to 80 percent of the wolves in the central part of the state. They would decimate entire packs of wolves, gunning them down from helicopters and killing defenseless wolf pups in their densthrough the use of poisonous gas.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service must study and approve the proposal. Ask that they intervene and stop USDA's Wildlife Services from slaughtering protected wolves.
Send a letter to Interior Secretary Salazar below.
Wolves were recently placed back under protection of the Endangered Species Act because Wyoming refused to prepare an acceptablewolf management plan.
In response, some members of Congress have drafted legislation that would bypass the Endangered Species Act by circumventing the court ruling and removing protections for wolves. Additionally, special interests are using this opportunity to attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act.
Write a letter to the editor to help save the Endangered Species Act.
Please enter your zip code in the field below and select a newspaper or media outlet you would like your letter sent to. If your zip code returns no results, please enter another nearby zip code.
You may instantly rewrite the text automatically by clicking "instant rewrite" in the letter window or you may hover your mouse over any of the blue colored text to see a menu of potential words and phrases.
You may also edit the letter independently by selecting "edit as regular text" in the letter window.
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack's Wildlife Services Agency, in coordination with the state of Idaho, intends to kill up to 80 percent of the wolves in the central part of the state. The plan they've put forward would decimate entire packs of wolves, gunning them down from helicopters and killing defenseless wolf pups in their dens through the use of poisonous gas.
Ask USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to intervene to stop this outrageous proposal.
International Bird Rescue and Research Center photo
Congress is considering a bill to address the Gulf oil spill and prevent the next offshore oil disaster. This is an incredibly important opportunity to demand stronger protections for our communities and environment. This bill is key to protecting endangered species and their habitat, including brown pelicans, sea turtles and whales from dirty and deadly oil drilling.
Please join us in calling on Congress to pass a strong oil spill response bill that protects our communities and wildlife habitat.
To write a letter to your members of Congress, enter your zipcode below.
Amanda Hill, USFWS Fisheries biologist, holds an oiled brown pelican captured off the coast of Louisiana on June 15th. Photo by Kim Betton, USFWS
Rescuers are working tirelessly to save the wildlife impacted by the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. They are faced with the overwhelming task of finding and saving thousands of oiled birds and hundreds of injured sea turtles and marine mammals.
We'd like to let them know that we appreciate the incredible work that they are doing. Please join us in sending a thank you letter to the wildlife rescuers on the Gulf Coast.
Personalized letters would mean more. So, please write from your heart.
Despite the oil spill befouling the Gulf, government officials plan to release endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle hatchlings into the oiled waters.
Kemp's ridley turtles are already one of the most endangered sea turtles in the world. Now, the BP oil spill disaster is threatening them with extinction. They nest along the Gulf Coast and their main feeding ground is directly in the area of the oil spill.
Normally, Kemp's ridley sea turtle hatchlings are released into the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, because of the BP oil spill disaster, they may get caught up in the same currents in the Gulf that are now full of oil.The baby sea turtles can be housed in federal facilities until expert scientists determine a safe time and place to send them to the sea.
Join us in calling for an immediate halt to the release of Kemp's ridley hatchlings into the Gulf of Mexico.
We all want as many wildlife as possible rescued from the BP oil spill disaster. Unfortunately, BP and the government are not doing enough to rescue injured wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.
Although wildlife rescuers are working tirelessly, there are too few people, resources and boats to find and save all wildlife in this vast area.In addition, rules and red tape are stopping qualified wildlife rescuers from helping to save oiled birds, turtles, whales and other wildlife.
Please join us in calling on BP and the federal government to do everything they can to save all wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.
Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/ U.S. Coast Guard.
BP is killing endangered sea turtles in its careless oil clean-up operations. Stop BP from burning turtles alive in the oil spill.
Wildlife rescuers and fishermen have reported that turtles and other wildlife are being burned alive in the Gulf oil spill. According to the New York Times, "so-called burn boxes are torching oil from the water's surface at the sacrifice of turtles, crabs, sea slugs and other sea life."
BP must be held accountable for killing endangered species and destroying their habitats. Send a letter to President Obama, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, and NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco asking them to ensure that all wildlife is saved from the oil spill.
The BP oil spill is now the greatest environmental catastrophe this country has ever faced. We need your help to stop oil spills from killing any more birds, turtles, whales or other wildlife.
Stronger protections are needed to ensure that we never again have an oil disaster devastate our nation's oceans, beaches and wildlife.
Sign the Petition to Interior Secretary Salazar to save wildlife and their habitat from deadly and dangerous oil spills.
Started by the United States Senate, Endangered Species Day is a wonderful opportunity to learn about the endangered species near you and the everyday actions you can take to help protect them.
Take the Endangered Species Day pledge! Check out our list of 10 things you can do at home to save wildlife and wild places and pick one thing to do for Endangered Species Day and try to do the rest throughout the year.
The BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is a potent and anguishing reminder of the disastrous consequences of oil development. The toxic oil spill is threatening our oceans, coasts, communities and wildlife. The disaster has already taken human lives and now puts at risk communities along the Gulf Coast, an important fishery, and senstive wetlands which are home to over 400 species. Endangered species such as sperm whales, sea turtles, manatees, pelicans, least tern and gulf sturgeon are all in harms way.
Please ask President Obama to protect our ocean, coasts and wildlife and stop new offshore oil drilling.
The BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is a potent and anguishing reminder of the disastrous consequences of oil development. The toxic oil spill is threatening our oceans, coasts, communities and wildlife. The disaster has already taken human lives and now puts at risk communities along the Gulf Coast, an important fishery, and senstive wetlands which are home to over 400 species. Endangered species such as sperm whales, sea turtles, manatees, pelicans, least tern and gulf sturgeon are all in harms way.
Please ask President Obama to protect our ocean, coasts and wildlife and stop new offshore oil drilling.
Senators Whitehouse (D-RI) and Collins (R-ME) are sponsoring a resolution (S. Res. 503) designating May 21st, 2010 as Endangered Species Day. The United States Senate has passed the Endangered Species Day resolution for several previous years.
Endangered Species Day is an opportunity for people of all ages to learn about endangered species and the places they live and the vital importance of protecting them. With approximately 2,000 species worldwide now listed as threatened and endangered, and thousands more threatened with extinction unless they are protected, every such public education effort is greatly needed.
Please join us in asking your Senator to support Endangered Species Day!
Please enter your zip code so that we can determine who your Senators are.
Climate change is already threatening our communities, our health and our natural world.
Together, we need to ensure the Senate passes a strong bill that includes science based emissions targets, preserves environmental protections and safeguards species in a warming world.
Please send a letter to your Senator asking them to pass a strong climate bill now!
Please enter your zip code so that we can determine who your Senators are.
Earth Day 2010 is a great opportunity to take action to help save the earth. This year to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, we are working with the Earth Day Network and other partners to encourage people around the world to take over a billion acts of green.
Each Act of Green represents an individuals commitment to do something to protect the environment. Check out our list of 10 things you can do at home to protect wildlife and wild places and pick one thing to do this month.
For nearly a quarter century, the International Whaling Commission's moratorium on commercial whaling has helped keep endangered species of whales from being hunted to extinction.
But now the ban itself is at risk. A proposal by a small working group of the IWC would reinstate commercial whaling for the first time since 1986. This proposal would legitimize the killing of endangered whales and allow commercial whaling in the Southern Whale Sanctuary. The United States is now deciding whether to support the proposal.
President Obama said in 2007 that if elected he would "ensure that the U.S. provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements, including strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling. Allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable."
Sign the petition to President Obama asking him to honor that pledge and oppose any deal that legitimizes commercial whaling.
On March 31, 2010, President Obama announced an offshore drilling plan that would open large parts of the Atlantic, Gulf, and Alaskan coasts to offshore oil and natural gas drilling. Offshore drilling threatens our oceans, coasts, beaches, coastal tourist economies, and wildlife, including whales, polar bears and other endangered species.
Sign the petition to President Obama opposing offshore drilling in sensitive coastal areas.
Last week, the government announced that the returns for west coast salmon are at an all time low. This could mean continued closure of the west coast salmon fishing and devastating consequences to family fishermen and coastal communities.
Unfortunately, greedy water users are pressuring Congress to waive Endangered Species Act protections to these endangered fisheries which could have disastrous consequences for America's iconic salmon fishery. California Senator Dianne Feinstein is considering attaching a rider to the Senate jobs bill, which could be voted on next week.
Please ask your Senator to support protections for our nation's fisheries and fishing families.
The magnificent San Francisco Bay and Sacramento River Delta is the largest estuary on the West Coast of North America and the source of the California salmon fishery which provides thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of income to the economy.Tragically, one of the nation's most important ecosystems is collapsing and the salmon populations are endangered.
Unfortunately, greedy water users are pressuring Senator Feinstein to introduce legislation to waive Endangered Species Act protections to these endangered fisheries which could have disastrous consequences for California's iconic salmon fishery.
Please ask Senator Feinstein not to waive Endangered Species Act protections for California's fisheries and the family fishing jobs that depend on them.
The Obama Administration is working on changes to endangered species programs. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has stated that he will announce changes to Endangered Species Act regulations in 2010.
Please sign the petition to the Obama Administration supporting a strong Endangered Species Act and strong scientifically based protections for our nation's wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction.
Take action: Ask President Obama to protect the polar bear's critical habitat from global warming and oil drilling.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has identified approximately 200,000 square miles of critical habitat for the polar bear. This includes marine sea-ice, barrier islands and onshore areas-including important denning areas on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
However, the Department of Interior continues to allow oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, including Shell Oil's plans to drill in the Beaufort and Chuchcki Seas, home to many of our remaining polar bears. Risky, aggressive oil development across America's Arctic will drastically harm the polar bear habitat, disturbing places that polar bears need to raise their young, and increasing the risks of devastating oil spills and global warming.
A strong critical habitat designation will play a vital role in ensuring the magnificent polar bear will be able to survive in America's Arctic. Submit a public comment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asking them to permanently protect polar bear critical habitat and prohibit oil and gas drilling projects there.
Anti-environment forces have been driving across the country to spread false information about endangered species protections in California.
Your help is needed to ensure that our nation's lawmakers recognize the importance of protecting endangered species and some of the facts about California's situation. Without your help, our opponents' efforts to bypass the Endangered Species Act may succeed during one of their upcoming attempts.
Please use the suggested letter below or fill in your own words to let your members of Congress know that endangered species protections are important and should be maintained.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Climate Change Strategic Plan is a coordinated strategy to reduce global warming pollution and safeguard fish and wildlife from the inevitable impacts of climate change. It will guide our nation's response to the impacts of climate change on natural resources such as changing wildlife migration patterns, the spread of invasive species, changing precipitation patterns and rising sea levels.
Please join this letter to the US Fish and Wildlife Service supporting their efforts to protect wildlife and wild places from climate change.
As Congress debates the climate change bill, there is increasing pressure from the dirty energy lobby to weaken the critical provisions of the bill that control global warming pollution from power plants.
The House-passed legislation eliminates the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to crack down on global warming pollution from new sources and from the nation's oldest, dirty power plants and other existing industrial sources. The Senate bill currently maintains existing tools under the Clean Air Act to control global warming pollution from coal-fired power plants.Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has drafted a letter asking Senate leadership to ensure that the final climate bill protects these key Clean Air Act provisions.
Ask your Senators to sign the Clean Air Act letter and oppose any attempts to weaken environmental laws in the climate bill.
The Natural Resources Climate AdaptationAct addresses the effects of climate change on natural resources such as forests, coastlines and wildlife habitats, and on the people and economies that depend on those resources. The programs will help manage forest health, restore watersheds to ensureabundant clean water supplies, and restore wetlands to protect coastal communities.
We need to ask our Senators to support the bill and support all efforts to protect wildlife and wild places from the impacts of climate change.
Send a letter to your Senators asking them to cosponsor the Natural Resources Climate Adaptation Act.
The Obama administration recently issued an draft national policy that would protect, maintain and restore our nation's oceans, coasts and Great Lakes. Urge the administration to quickly implement the interim report's recommendations through an executive order.
Send a message before the October 17th comment deadline.
Join thousands of Americans calling their Senators to urge them to support strong climate legislation that includes programs and funding to safeguard wildlife and wild places in the face of climate change.
Personal calls are one of the most effective ways to make your voice heard on important issues.
It's easy to call your Senator:
1) If you don't know who your Senators are, you can look them up easily here.
2) Tell them your name and where you live, to let them know that you are a constituent.
3) Ask them to support a strong climate change bill that includes science based emissions targets, preserves environmental protections and dedicates 5% funding to programs to help natural resources adapt to a changing climate.
4) Let us know that you called by filling out the form below.
The United States must take bold action on climate change now. Climate change is already threatening our communities, our health and our natural world.
Send a message to President Obama asking him to take leadership on the climate change bill. Ask him to support a strong bill that includes science based emissions targets, preserves environmental protections and safeguards species in a warming world.
As the summer draws to a close, the Senate is in the final stages of crafting climate change legislation. Please call your Senator and ask them to pass a strong climate change bill.
Personal calls are one of the most effective ways to make your voice heard on important issues.
It's easy to call your Senator:
1) If you don't know who your Senators are, you can look them up easily here.
2) Tell them your name and where you live, to let them know that you are a constituent.
3) Ask them to support a strong climate change bill that includes science based emissions targets, preserves environmental protections and helps natural resources adapt to a changing climate.
4) Let us know that you called by filling out the form below.
Climate change is already threatening our communities, our health and our natural world.
This is the time to make our voices heard. Now that the House of Representatives has passed a climate change bill, the Senate is drafting its version. There are many ways that the House bill can be made stronger. Together, we need to ensure the Senate passes a strong bill that includes science based emissions targets, preserves environmental protections and safeguards species in a warming world.
Please send a letter to your Senator asking them to pass a strong climate bill now!
Please enter your zip code so that we can determine who your Senators are.
The Obama Administration is asking us for our thoughts on the Endangered Species Act. Please sign the petition supporting strong scientific protections for our nation's wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction.
Specifically, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar is accepting public comment on the scientific consultation provision, which requires federal agencies to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife or National Marine Fisheries Services to ensure that their actions don't harm endangered species or their habitat. The Endangered Species Act requires that federal agencies use the best available science when developing common sense solutions to prevent the extinction of endangered wildlife, fish and plants.
However, developers, oil and mining companies, logging companies, pesticide companies and other special interests would like to weaken these scientific checks and balances. We have a responsibility to stop them from weakening the Endangered Species Act. Please sign the petition to the Obama Administration supporting a strong Endangered Species Act and strong scientifically based protections for our nation's wildlife, fish and plants on the brink of extinction.
California has the opportunity to become a leader in the effort to protect people and wildlife from lead poisoning — and you can help make this happen.
Welcome Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to her post and ask her to protect America's disappearing wildlife and wild places for future generations..jpg)
The Montana legislature is debating SB 397, a full-on assault on Montana’s carnivore species, including bears, wolverines, lynx, lions and wolves. The bill is also an attack on Montana’s Fish and Game laws, and undermines sound science and the basic principles of wildlife management. 
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed removing crucial Endangered Species Act protections from wolves across the lower 48 states.
Ask Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to support CITES international protections for polar bears.
“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations”
The Department of the Interior is considering a plan that would allow seismic testing along the Middle and South Atlantic. Tens of thousands of dolphins and whales will be affected, including critically endangered north Atlantic right whales.
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Shell Oil's ship 'Noble Discoverer' nearly ran aground in Unalaska, Alaska over the weekend. 
Congress is right now deciding whether programs that are vital to the preservation of our nation's disappearing wildlife and wild palces will be cut.
The Keystone XL tar-sands pipeline has once again been stopped in its tracks. 
NiSource's requested permit would allow them to harm or kill endangered or threatened species during maintenance, upgrade, and operations of their gigantic 15-state pipeline. Under their plan, as long as the activities they engage in are otherwise legal, violations of the Endangered Species Act would no longer be violations. Essentially, they want their own set of rules--for 50 years.
Affecting nine species of bats in nineteen states.
The Obama administration has announced that they are undertaking an in depth review process to examine potential alternative routes to the Keystone XL Pipeline..jpg)
Federal Judge James Redden recently ruled the Obama administration's Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead plan inadequate and illegal. This marks the third management plan from three different administrations to be ruled illegal. President Obama now has the opportunity to pursue a new path to recover wild salmon, rebuild jobs, protect communities, and invest in the clean energy economy. Many thousands of jobs and the integrity of the Endangered Species Act hang in the balance.
An amendment to the House Interior Appropriations bill (
How Did Your Representative Vote on The Extinction Rider?
A plan unveiled ast week by the State of Wyoming and the U.S. FIsh and Wildlife Service (USFWS) would allow wolves across most of the state to be shot on sight, without a permit and without limit. No protections for pregnant or nursing wolves, no protections for pups. Just a license to kill wolves across most of the state.
Among the anti-conservation language in the appropriations bill are 2 provisions that would chip away at the foundations of the Endangered Species Act, putting already imperiled wildlife at greater risk.
Widespread use of the pesticide DDT pushed iconic species like the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and California condor to the brink of extinction before concerned citizens and conservation activists campaigned to have the chemical banned in 1972. Today, hundreds of other chemicals are poisoning endangered and threatened fish, reptiles, birds and amphibians as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to allow their use..jpg)
Barely one year since our nation's worst environmental tragedy to date, Big Oil is intent on pushing forward with a risky drilling proposal in America's Arctic Ocean and Washington is poised to let them, unless we act.
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The recently passed House budget package (H.R.1) was filled with anti-conservation language 
Congress is considering several bills that would--for the first time in history--remove federal protections for a single species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
These iconic creatures of the arctic are seeing their frozen habitat rapidly disappear as the planet warms.
across the country. Nine species of bats are at risk from the epidemic. Two of those species, Indiana and gray bats, are already endangered.
The Obama Administration is deciding the future of our shared outdoor spaces now and they need to hear from you..jpeg)
Kemp's ridley turtles are already one of the most endangered sea turtles in the world. Now, the BP oil spill disaster is threatening them with extinction. 
We all want as many wildlife as possible rescued from the BP oil spill disaster. 
The BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is a potent and anguishing reminder of the disastrous consequences of oil development. The toxic oil spill is threatening our oceans, coasts, communities and wildlife. The disaster has already taken human lives and now puts at risk communities along the Gulf Coast, an important fishery, and senstive wetlands which are home to over 400 species. Endangered species such as sperm whales, sea turtles, manatees, pelicans, least tern and gulf sturgeon are all in harms way. 
