Take Action:”Republican Budget to Wolves: Drop Dead”, Section 1713 Passed!!

UPDATE: FEBRUARY 21, 2010

The House  did sneak this section through.

=======

from page 266, Sec. 1713 of the House’s Continuing Resolution (passed 2/19/11).

SEC. 1713. Before the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this division, the Secretary of the Interior shall reissue the final rule published on April 2, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 15123 et seq.) without regard to any other …provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule. Such reissuance (including this section) SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO JUDICIAL REVIEW.

This means that this bill throws out Judge Molloy’s ruling and states, “the Secretary of the Interior shall reissue the final rule published on April 2, 2009” – which was when Obama delisted wolves.

They buried the delisting rule in the text of the resolution, hoping no one would see it. Now, this Continuing Resolution goes on to the Senate. If they pass it, it is all in Obama’s hands for signature. If he signs it, the wolves of the Northern Rockies are back in the hands of the states for “management.”

PLEASE CONTACT ALL US SENATORS NOW – tell them you want Section 1713 of the House’s Continuing Resolution stricken from the bill!   Please consider cutting/pasting and/or modifying the letter below in “comments” to send to every member of the Senate.

=======

Dear Senator —
As an wildlife conservation advocate, I am deeply disturbed by Section 1713 (p. 266) of the House’s Continuing Resolution – 2011 which was passed on Feb. 19, 2011. This… section states, “Before the end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this division, the Secretary of the Interior shall reissue the final rule published on April 2, 2009 (74 Fed. Reg. 15123 et seq.) without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule. Such reissuance (including this section) shall not be subject to judicial review.”

Please be advised that I vehemently oppose this section of the House’s version of the Appropriations bill. Buried deep within the text of the bill, it covertly voids US District Judge Donald Molloy’s ruling that returned wolves on the Endangered Species List as of August, 2010. In addition, Sec. 1713 seemingly precludes judicial review of any decisions related to de-listing the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List in the future.

It’s not the role of Congress to decide which species should or should not receive protection from the ESA. The ESA is one of our most respected environmental laws. Its power lies in the independent, scientific consultation at its heart. In fact, Congress has never successfully legislated a species-specific decision under the ESA. Wolves should not be the first. That is a decision that should be made by independent science. The ESA, and issues related to wolf restoration, requires clear thinking, strategic planning and science-based decision-making. To legislate such a decision would weaken the Act and set a dangerous precedent that could lead to more native fish, wildlife, and plants being wrongly stripped of protection.

Respectfully submitted,
Sign your name

=======

CONTACT US SENATORS

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

=======

Here’s a list of Senators that may be helpful on this issue:

Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

Benjamin Cardin (D-MD)

John Kerry (D-MA)

Jack Reed (D-RI)

Richard Lugar (R-IN)

Harry Reid (D-NV)

Chuck Schumer (D-NY)

 

Tom Udall (D-NM)

Mark Udall (D-CO)

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

 

=======

 

UPDATE: FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Please don’t forget what the Republican controlled House Rules Committee is trying to do. They’ tacked a provision onto the Budget Bill that would strip gray wolves of their ESA protections in Montana, Idaho and parts of Oregon, Washington and Utah.

The anti-wolf crowd couldn’t win in court. Now they want to mount a sneak attack on the ESA by hiding this provision in a Budget Bill, shades of the Burn’s Amendment.

We cannot allow this to happen. Please sign the NRDC petition. Continue to call, email and write Congress to protest this underhanded assault on gray wolves. Politicians SHOULD NOT be meddling with the Endangered Species Act, in the name of political expediency.

TELL THEM TO STOP THESE SHADY TACTICS. WOLVES HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BUDGET.

STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT FOR WOLVES!!!!

=======

Members of the Committee on Rules, 112th Congress

(click on their names to contact)

David Dreier, CA
Chairman

Pete Sessions, TX
Vice-Chairman

Louise Slaughter, NY
Ranking Minority Member

Virginia Foxx, NC James P. McGovern, MA

Rob Bishop, UT Alcee Hastings, FL

Rob Woodall, GA Jared Polis, CO

Richard Nugent, FL

Tim Scott, SC

Daniel Webster, FL
TBD

========

GOP budget bill lifts wolf protections

By MATTHEW BROWN

Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. —

A Republican budget bill would strip gray wolves of Endangered Species Act protections across most of the Northern Rockies – an indication the new Congress intends to move swiftly to settle the long-running legal skirmish over the predators.

To read the rest of the article CLICK HERE

=======

February 13, 2011

There is a very serious threat to wolves occurring on Capital Hill RIGHT NOW. More dirty tricks. This is straight from NRDC Andrew Wetzler’s Blog.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!!

=======

Andrew Wetzler’s Blog

Republican Budget to Wolves: Drop Dead

Posted February 12, 2011

“Last night the Republican controlled House Rules Committee released a “continuing resolution” to fund the federal government past March.  As I thought, the bill contains cuts to funding for endangered species (for those of you following at home, see section 1704).  But it goes far beyond that.

The Committee has decreed, without a hearing and in defiance of the best and most up-to-date science, that wolves will lose all of their Endangered Species Act protection in Idaho, Montana, and parts of Washington, Oregon, and Utah (section 1713). The bill reinstates a plan that would legally allow states to kill all but 300 wolves in the Northern Rockies, a number that is not sufficient to sustain wolves over the long term. More than 1,700 wolves now roam the Northern Rockies.  That means those who support this provision are content to see as much as 82% of the population wiped out.

How is this possibly related to the budget of the United States of America?  When the Republican Party swept to power last November the repeatedly promised a new day–a day in which, among other things, budget bills would no longer contain extraneous policy provisions inserted to avoid the normal legislative process.  In their words: “We will end the practice of packaging unpopular bills with ‘must-pass’ legislation to circumvent the will of the American people. Instead, we will advance major legislation one issue at a time.” It looks like that new day doesn’t include wolves.

We need to fight this provision.  Stand up and be counted here.“

=======

FROM THE NRDC:

Stop the Congressional Attack on Endangered Wolves

Wolves in Yellowstone and across the United States are facing a grave new threat — this time from Capitol Hill. Urge your lawmakers to oppose any legislative attempt — including a must-pass spending bill — to strip wolves of their endangered species protection, leaving them at the mercy of states that plan to slaughter hundreds of them. Tell your elected officials that managing our endangered species should be based on sound science, not political calculation.

=======

Please sign this petition immediately and let these legislators know they are not going to get away with stripping gray wolves out of the ESA and allowing the slaughter of 82% of wolves in the Northern Rockies!!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN

=======

Posted in: Wolf Wars, gray wolves

Tags: Congressional dirty tricks, gray wolves in peril, wolf persecution, tampering with the ESA for political gain