Breaking News: Bush Administration to Announce Wolf Delisting Tomorrow 2-21-08

[Kolesar]

Breaking News: Bush Administration to Announce Wolf Delisting Tomorrow

Here is the letter I received from www.defenders.org , the Defenders of Wildlife

Dear Boreal Avenger,

As soon as tomorrow, Interior Secretary Kempthorne is expected to
announce the elimination of federal protections for hundreds of
endangered wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

Please take a moment right now to call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service at 1-800-344-WILD (9453) and deliver this simple message:

"My name is The Boreal Avenger
and I'm calling from Gotham,
Ohio. I understand that the
federal government may remove wolves in the Greater Yellowstone and
Central Idaho regions tomorrow from the list of federally protected
threatened and endangered species.

I want your department to know that I strongly oppose the weakening of
protections for these wolves and expect you to fulfill your obligation
to secure a lasting future in the Northern Rockies for these amazing
animals."

The lives of hundreds of wolves are at stake. Please call tonight
before 8 PM Eastern Time or first thing tomorrow morning.

In a matter of hours, newspapers across the country could be reporting
on the Bush/Cheney Administration's expected announcement ... and
its potentially devastating impact on some of America's most
beloved wolves.

But today I need your help to let these federal officials know that
Americans love our wolves and want to see them protected.

Please call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at
1-800-344-WILD (9453) and speak out for our wolves. Leave a message if you can,
and remember to let us know that you called.

http://action.defenders.org/site/R?i=TKygaJBd4j5wZynwt39ycg..

Respectfully,

Rodger Signature

Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife

P.S. Stay tuned tomorrow for more details on this breaking news and
Defenders of Wildlife's action plan to save these wolves...

........I wrote a letter using some of their ideas and some of my own...........

https://secure.defenders.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=943&s_einterest=C3C4&s_Affiliate=savewolves_

I am a vacationer, a wildlife lover, and a citizen of the United States of America. I would like to express my strongest support for protection of wolves in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem and Northern Rockies region.

The wildlife professionals who work for your agency have worked on wolf programs for a long time. Please consult with them for good direction on how to manage the wolf program.

It is blithely deceptive to say that a wolf population that has grown to a population of about one hundred is a sustainable population that should have its endangered species protection removed. That idea is absurd. I have been following this issue for a while and I think that Bush administration plans reveal a crass and barbaric agenda to score cheap political points with a small minority of the population of two small states. I am disgusted.

As a supporter of Defenders of Wildlife and someone who cares about wolf recovery in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Rockies region, I am deeply disturbed and outraged with your agency's rule change that makes it easier to kill wolves in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana -- even while these wolves are supposed to remain protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Recent changes to the Endangered Species Act's "10j" rule are a set back for the conservation of wolves and other wildlife in the region, making it easier for officials in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana to kill wolves just for being wolves.

The states would only need to prove that wolves are a "major cause" of the inability of elk and deer to meet state management goals. Wolves could be killed even if they only have an effect on how elk herds move or behave -- not just if they affect herd numbers.

Meanwhile, these wolves are still listed as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act.

Your department has an obligation to ensure a sustainable population of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies. Making it easier to kill wolves in the region, especially while they remain an endangered species makes no sense.

I strongly urge you to reconsider the "10j" rule change for Idaho, Wyoming and Montana -- and to maintain strong federal protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies. It is important to me that the wolf population remains robust, now and after delisting.

Thank you for considering my comments.

TBA