URGENT: TIME SENSITIVE!! TAKE ACTION FOR OREGON WOLVES NOW!!

It never ends.  If Oregon HB 3636 is signed into law by Governor Kitzhaber it would create the”Wildlife Conservation Fund”? The name is deceiving.

“The bill would create a voluntary fund for killing predators, including wolves and “fur-bearing mammals.”

Killing animals to conserve them? What fresh hell is this?

This would put Oregon’s tiny gray wolf population in extreme danger as well as other fur-bearers likes foxes, bears, raccoons, beavers and more.

From Oregon Wild:

“Rob Klavins of Oregon Wild says that rather than kill endangered wolves, “the state is required to conserve the species.” He says HB 3636 was “designed to fly under the radar” and slipped through unnoticed in the last days of the legislative session. Klavins says that it “hijacks the hunting license system.” He points out that Oregon’s 17 or so wolves already face 28 active landowner kill permits.”

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Contact Governor Kitzhaber and ask him to veto this bad bill. Let him know you are counting on him to do the right thing.

1-503-378-4582

license system.” He points out that Oregon’s 17 or so wolves already face 28 active landowner kill permits.”

You must do this by AUGUST 4th. Time is short. Do it today!! Thank you!!

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WILL GOV OK WILDLIFE KILL FUNDS?

A so-called Wildlife Conservation Fund is actually a wildlife-killing fund, according to Eugene-based Predator Defense and conservation group Oregon Wild. HB 3636 was passed unanimously by the Oregon House and by the Senate, and it awaits Gov. John Kitzhaber’s signature. The bill would create a voluntary fund for killing predators, including wolves and “fur-bearing mammals.” Oregon’s population of less than 20 gray wolves is state endangered species listed. Wolves in the western two-thirds of Oregon are also federally protected.

If Kitzhaber signs the bill into law, the fund would allow people applying for a license, tag or permit from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to make a voluntary contribution for predatory animal control within the counties that the license allows for the person to hunt.

This means the money will go to killing endangered gray wolves, as well as to lethally controlling bear, beaver, raccoons and foxes, among others. Sally Mackler of Predator Defense calls the bill “reckless” and says, “The state is spending a tremendous amount of money on killing wildlife.” Mackler says the amount of money the state spends on killing predators has doubled in the last biennium to about $840,000, but predators are responsible for very few livestock deaths.

Rob Klavins of Oregon Wild says that rather than kill endangered wolves, “the state is required to conserve the species.” He says HB 3636 was “designed to fly under the radar” and slipped through unnoticed in the last days of the legislative session. Klavins says that it “hijacks the hunting license system.” He points out that Oregon’s 17 or so wolves already face 28 active landowner kill permits.

A recent study in the journal Science says that humans’ destruction of top or apex predators like wolves causes previously unknown reverberations including changes in the landscape, increases in wildfires, pandemics and ecosystem shifts. The study called killing predators “humankind’s most pervasive influence on the natural world.”

The study gives as an example that when wolves returned to Yellowstone National Park it benefited creekside trees, and that without predators to kill deer, the populations explode with consequences such as more deer ticks to spread Lyme disease to humans.

Oregon Wild and Predator Defense are calling on Kitzhaber to veto the bill. Kitzhaber’s press secretary Christine Miles says, “The governor will review HB 3636 before making any decision on the bill.” — Camilla Mortensen

http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2011/07/21/news.html#6

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Photo: Creative Commons

Posted in: Oregon wolves, Wolf Wars

Tags: Governor Kitzhaber  Oregon wolves, bad bill HB 3636. Wildlife Conservation Fund, war on wildlife,