Help Save Polar Bears

Polar bears are dying and will soon be wiped out entirely if we don't take immediate action to curb global warming. One of George W. Bush's 11th-hour decisions greatly weakened protections for the polar bear and other species under the Endangered Species Act by issuing regulations reducing protections for the polar bear and exempting greenhouse gas emissions -- the number-one threat to the bear -- from regulation.

Congress, however, has passed special legislation granting President Barack Obama's Interior Secretary Ken Salazar 60 days to revoke the damaging Bush regulations with the stroke of a pen.

Please sign the petition at www.savethepolarbear.org and pass it on to a friend today.

With your help, we'll reach our goal to get 50,000 signatures and convince Interior Secretary Salazar to revoke the Bush regulations before the May 9, 2009 deadline.

Polar Bear to Be a Protected Species

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species Wednesday, saying it must be protected because of the decline in Arctic sea ice from global warming.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited dramatic declines in sea ice over the last three decades and projections of continued losses. These declines, he told a news conference, mean the polar bear is a species likely to be in danger of extinction in the near future.

Kempthorne also said, though, that it would be "inappropriate" to use the protection of the bear to reduce greenhouse gases, or to broadly address climate change.

Reflecting views recently expressed by President Bush, Kempthorne said the Endangered Species Act was "never meant to regulate global climate change."

He said the decision to list the bear includes administrative actions aimed at limiting the impact of the decision on energy development and other climate related activities.

(MORE)

Polar Bear Protection Delayed. Oil Drilling Okayed.

This letter urges concerned Americans to come to the rescue of the Alaskan polar bear, which is facing extinction due to global warming and is now threatened by the more immediate danger of oil development being rushed through by the Bush Administration.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Friend,

By speaking out today, you can help save Alaska's polar bears from the threat of toxic oil spills.

The Bush Administration is trying to rush through the sale of oil and gas leases in prime polar bear habitat -- the Chukchi Sea off of Alaska -- before the polar bear can win protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Please join us in supporting legislation -- the Markey bill -- that would reverse the go-ahead for this dangerous sale. Otherwise, the Alaskan polar bear, which is already facing extinction as global warming melts its sea ice habitat, would face the more immediate threat of a toxic oil spill.

There is no proven method of cleaning up oil spills in the Arctic's icy waters -- and there is virtually no way for oil-covered polar bears to survive.

Please speak out now to put polar bear protection ahead of oil and gas development.

Go to http://www.PolarBearSOS.org/takeaction_polar_bears

Thank you for speaking out at this critical time.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

Save the Grizzly Bear - Help Re-list Them as Endangered Species

On May 1, the Bush Administration removed the Yellowstone grizzly from the Endangered Species List. Instead of undoing protections for grizzly bears, we really should be guarding them more vigilantly than ever before.

Help save grizzly bears by asking the Secretary of the Interior to re-list them as endangered species!

The great grizzly bear has long symbolized the wild spirit of the American West. Grizzlies once ranged far and wide - at the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition, approximately 50,000-100,000 grizzly bears wandered through the rugged, mountainous West.

But as more humans settled the Rockies, the great bear's numbers began to dwindle. By 1975, the Yellowstone grizzly was on the brink of extinction and was listed as endangered. Under the Endangered Species Act, Yellowstone's bears have made a dramatic recovery - from just 200 bears in 1975 to roughly 600 today. But now the grizzly bear faces its biggest challenge ever: global warming.

One of the bear's primary food sources, the seed of whitebark pine trees, is disappearing. Scientists report that warmer temperatures are causing an explosion in the Yellowstone pine beetle population, leading to decimation of whitebark pine. In addition, more and more of the grizzly's range land is being opened to oil and gas development.

Tell the Administration that you want to see grizzly bears protected and that they should re-list the bears today>> http://go.care2.com/e/R0nw/ITZc/elWy

Together, we can make a difference!

Michael L.
Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team

Stop Polar Bear Trophy Hunting!

Polar bears are in such trouble that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has proposed listing them as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. So why does this same agency allow American trophy hunters to kill Canadian polar bears and bring them home?

Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to stop issuing polar bear trophy permits immediately!

Canadian polar bear populations -- like those in America -- are declining due to global warming and other threats.

In fact, the World Conservation Union's Polar Bear Specialist Group predicts that polar bear populations could drop 30% in the next 35-50 years and that polar bears may disappear entirely from most of their range within 100 years.

Hunting polar bears is already banned in the U.S. But half of the world's polar bears live in Canada, where hunting is legal. And due to a huge loophole in the Marine Mammal Protection Act, American trophy hunters can travel to Canada, kill a polar bear, and bring back polar bear trophies.

We may not be able to stop Canada from allowing hunting, but we can stop the U.S. from allowing Americans to import polar bear trophies. Please act today and urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop issuing polar bear trophy permits immediately!

Thank you for taking action today,
Rebecca Young,
Care2 and ThePetitionSite team

Help Save The Wolves!

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its proposal to strip wolves of crucial Endangered Species Act protections in Idaho and parts of Wyoming. Both states are now preparing massive wolf eradication plans, and hundreds of wolves could be killed.

I was so outraged by this proposal that I sent a message to Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, who oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service. I hope you'll take some time to send a message, too.

It's easy. Just go to the website below to take action:

http://action.defenders.org/rockymountainoutrage2

Both Idaho and Wyoming have begun actively planning efforts to kill hundreds of wolves. As many as two-thirds of the wolves in Wyoming could be killed. And as many as 60 of Idaho's 71 wolf packs could be eradicated!

The government once nearly allowed our Northern Rocky Mountain wolves to be shot, harassed and poisoned into extinction. We can't let that happen again.

Please send Interior Secretary Kempthorne a message about the importance of protecting our wolves right now:

http://action.defenders.org/rockymountainoutrage2

These wolves are in trouble. I hope you'll help...
To take action on this issue, click on the link below:

https://secure2.convio.net/dow/site/Advocacy?s_oo=lH2o41P5QcYAajEWfAkD0Q..&id=629

If the text above does not appear as a link or it wraps across multiple lines, then copy and paste it into the address area of your browser.