Wolves Lose Vital Protection

From the Natural Resources Defense Council

It's the worst possible news for the wolves of the Northern Rockies: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has given the green light to a Bush-era plan that will kick them off the Endangered Species list.

Nearly 1,000 wolves from Greater Yellowstone to Glacier National Park could be caught in the cross-fire of state-sponsored wolf hunts -- and that killing could begin in just a few weeks.

The decision couldn't come at a worse time. Breeding season is here, and wolves will start giving birth in April. That means pregnant females and newborn pups will be among those gunned down.

I'm sure you share my disappointment that the Obama Administration has abandoned a science-based approach in this rush to hand wolf management back to the states.

That's why NRDC cannot stand by and let this deadly attack go unchallenged.

We're filing suit in federal court to block this flawed Bush-era policy -- a policy that will simply not stand up to scientific review. But to wage and win this life-or-death case for wolves, we need your emergency donation right away.

We've won this fight before, thanks to your support. Last summer, NRDC and 11 other conservation groups compelled the Bush Administration to abandon its first attempt to strip wolves of their protection when we made the case that wolf populations had not yet fully recovered.

Today, less than 6 months later, wolf populations still haven't reached biological recovery levels. In fact, over this past year, the wolf population in Yellowstone National Park declined 27 percent -- and wolf pups in the park are dying of a yet-to-be-determined disease.

It's incumbent on Secretary Salazar to withdraw this disastrous plan and submit it to the kind of rigorous scientific review that the Obama Administration has championed on so many other environmental issues.

Otherwise, we can expect a bloodbath in the Northern Rockies. The last time wolves lost their protection, 110 of them were gunned down in 120 days -- nearly one per day.

NRDC and our partners stopped the slaughter then. And we must do it again -- before the states get their "Open Fire" orders. Idaho has plans ready to go that would wipe out more than 100 wolves in just a single area of the state.

NRDC members and activists like you have always stood up for the wolves of the Northern Rockies when they've been threatened. That's why I'm contacting you first -- and counting on you to rally to the wolves' rescue.

Wolves have already been exterminated in 96 percent of their former range. They are making one of their last stands right now in the Northern Rockies. We can't afford to have the government drag them back to the brink of extinction.

Please click here to make an emergency contribution to save 1,000 wolves -- before the states have a chance to pull the trigger.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

P.S. Most Americans are not even aware that wolves are in danger. That's why I'm counting on NRDC members and activists like you to rush to the wolf's rescue now while there is still time to save their lives.

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