Use this thread to post actions for the animals!

Over the past few months, NRDC Members like you have played a pivotal role in defending the Endangered Species Act -- one of America's most important and effective environmental laws. I am writing to update you on this ongoing fight and let you know we are still depending on your efforts.

Ninety-eight percent of the species protected under the Endangered Species Act still exist today, and many are stable or improving.Without this landmark law, wildlife such as the bald eagle, American alligator, California condor, Florida panther and many other animals that are vital parts of America's natural heritage could have disappeared from the planet years ago.

Nonetheless, in September 2005, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill that would have severely undermined the Endangered Species Act. The bill (H.R. 3824), sponsored by Representative Pombo of California and backed by large-scale developers and other powerful industry players, would have
eliminated protections of critical habitat for all endangered and
threatened species, exempted the pesticide industry from wildlife safety regulations and authorized millions of dollars in payouts to wealthy developers, oil and gas companies and other special interests in return for not killing or injuring endangered and threatened species.

Opponents of strong wildlife protection then turned their attention to the Senate, and tried to push though a similar bill. NRDC Action Fund Supporters responded by sending more than 120,000 letters to the Senate, and delivered the unmistakable message that Americans support a strong Endangered Species Act.

Thanks to these efforts, to date the Senate has not taken up an
endangered species bill. This is a major victory over powerful industry groups, who were using their money and influence in an all-out effort to undermine the Endangered Species Act.

But we still need to keep up the pressure. So, if you haven't contacted your senators yet, go to
http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/esa/action.asp?step=2&item=53031
now and let them know that you support this landmark law.

If you have contacted your senators, please forward this message to your friends. Working together, we can help ensure that our nation continues to protect endangered species and their irreplaceable wild habitats.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
NRDC Action Fund

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My Dear Friend,

There is an animal catastrophe happening in the Congo thanks to man's greed for precious metals and ores.

It is looking very likely that Bonobo Apes (Pygmy chimpanzees) will be extinct within just a few years (95% population drop in two decades)

I am a member of Pan Pansicus, a group set up to raise awareness of the plight of the Bonobo Apes in the hope that urgent action can be taken.

A petition has been set in place.  This petition calls upon the United Nations General Assembly members to take firm and positive action to prevent the loss of the Bonobo from the world. These measures must include the protection of Bonobo habitat and the censure of organisations directly or indirectly responsible for threats to the Bonobo and its habitat.

Please may I ask you to sign our petition: http://www.savebonobo.org/container.asp?content=actions


There is also a website set up to help explain more this important and urgently needed petition.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Peace,
Wyllo

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I just posted a news story on Care2 regarding Banfield Pet Hospitals teaming up with Meals on Wheels to provide pet food to it's recipients who own pets. Note it if you wish and please participate if you can.

http://www.care2.com/news/member/693468233

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The northern spotted owl is in big trouble.  The Bush/Cheney Administration’s disingenuous draft “recovery plan” threatens to undermine years of progress in protecting these owls and the old growth forests they need to survive. 

Tell officials to go back to the drawing board and develop an effective science-based recovery plan that protects northern spotted owls -- not just timber companies. 
 
From the current draft plan, it is clear that:

• The Bush/Cheney Administration and the timber industry are in cahoots to weaken habitat protections and increase logging in the public forests where these owls live.
• The draft “recovery plan” as it stands now will destroy old growth forest networks -- the backbone of an effective conservation strategy for the northern spotted owl and many other species that depend on these forests to survive.
• The Bush/Cheney Administration continues to put politics before science.

Old growth forests once dominated the Pacific Northwest, but decades of logging have left them drastically reduced and forced endangered northern spotted owls out of vital habitat.   

Dwindling by almost 4% per year, the northern spotted owl is at risk of declining to the point that the species would need to be "uplisted" from threatened to endangered.  Some scientists believe there may be as few as 3,000 pairs left. 

In early 2006, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service created the Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Team, a broad coalition of scientists and other experts from state and federal agencies and local stakeholder groups, to develop a recovery plan for these beleaguered birds. 

But in what amounted to top-level political interference, a Washington, DC “oversight committee,” consisting of high-ranking officials from the Bush/Cheney Administration rejected the science-based plan put forth by the Recovery Team in favor of a plan that put timber interests first. 

Let officials know that we won’t stand for political interference when it comes to endangered species and habitat recovery. 

The so-called oversight committee ordered the recovery team to stop work on development of their conservation approach and develop a second approach that would allow federal agencies to decide where to place chunks of owl habitat ad hoc and without accountability in order to maximize timber profits. 

The “recovery plan” that emerged would set back nearly 20 years of progress for both the northern spotted owl and the old growth forests they depend on for survival. 

Science should govern wildlife management, not greed and politics.  Urge officials at the Fish & Wildlife Service to withdraw the politicized draft recovery plan and reconvene the Recovery Team to draft a new plan based on real science.

We have just days to act, but there’s still time to save northern spotted owls and the hundreds of other creatures that depend on these ancient forests to survive.  The deadline for comments on the draft “recovery plan” is this Friday, August 24th, so please take a stand for the northern spotted owl and against political corruption today. 

Thank you for being there for wildlife when they need us most.

Sincerely,

Gina LaRocco
Conservation Program Associate
Defenders of Wildlife

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