At this crucial
moment, the Tea Party is launching an assault on the Endangered Species Act,
trying to gut strong federal protections with weak local measures, and help
extractive industries destroy the last remaining habitat of endangered species.
The only thing standing between the Tea Party and the
gutting of this landmark legislation to protect rare species is the
Democratically-controlled Senate. That’s
why we need you to ask your Senator today to stand firm in defense of endangered
species.
Tea Party–sponsored legislation currently under
consideration in Congress would strip away federal protections from the sage grouse
and lesser prairie chicken.
The status of sage grouse and the lesser prairie chicken are
great examples of why state and local control is a disaster for wildlife.
For example, even though the Gunnison sage grouse in
Colorado and Utah has declined to less than 5,000 individual birds, local
politicians are saying that local control—not federal protection—are the
best hope for recovering these species.
But state and local conservation efforts have been weak and
optional at best—and completely lacking at worst—according to a new report by WildEarth Guardians and Rocky Mountain
Wild. The Gunnison sage grouse is a poster child for why protection in the form
of Endangered Species Act is so important, and why state and local efforts are
a one-way ticket to extinction.
Stand up for endangered species protection and send an email to your Senator today.
This Tea Party effort
to delay or deny Endangered Species Act protections is part of a much broader
anti-environmental effort to seize control of our public lands.
Gutting mandatory federal regulations and watching as species
go extinct while giving free rein to environmental destruction is just what the
Tea Party wants.
Strong, science-based Endangered Species Act protections—not
weak local efforts and political tampering—should guide the protection of rare
wildlife when they reach the brink of extinction.
Write your Senator
today with a strong message that the time has come to stand strong against the
Tea Party campaign to gut federal Endangered Species Act protections!
For the Wild,
Erik Molvar
Sagebrush Sea Campaign Director
WildEarth Guardians
emolvar@wildearthguardians.org
