| In spite of all of our best
efforts, Sen. Baldwin apparently didn't listen. Sen. Baldwin and Sen. Ron
Johnson joined Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) to
introduce legislation on Tuesday (Jan. 17, 2017) that would remove protections
for the gray wolf in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Wyoming under the
federal Endangered Species Act.
 Baldwin, Johnson back bill to delist wolf
Meanwhile, a similar bill has
been introduced in the House of Representatives.
Wolves targeted as Congress moves to de-fang Endangered Species
Act
Opponents are already gearing-up
for a grassroots battle at the state level given the likelihood the de-listing
legislation will succeed under a Republican -controlled Congress and the
incoming Donald Trump administration. "I think we'll see the hardest fight
of our lives in the next four years," said Melissa Smith, who represents
the Great Lakes region for the Endangered Species Coalition.
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Please
phone WI's US Senator Tammy Baldwin at (202) 224-5653 and urge her to keep
wolves protected in Wisconsin! Sen. Baldwin has been "calling on
Congressional leadership and my colleagues in the United States Senate to pass
legislation to delist the wolf and return management to the state by the end of
this year." (Read Sen. Baldwin's 11/18/16 article "Washington should
act on Wisconsin’s wolf problem" here.)
All
you need to say is, "Please keep wolves protected in Wisconsin;
please do NOT remove federal protections for wolves." The message
will be noted by Senator Baldwin's staff and relayed to her.
Be
prepared to give your name, address, and phone number. Please, ALWAYS be polite
and respectful. Name-calling, and rude or abusive calls will hurt, rather than
help, our cause.
If
you, like many of us, are hesitant about calling because you don't know what to
expect, there is a very good article called "Shy Person's Guide to Calling
Representatives" --
you can read it here!
The
simple message above is enough, but if you want to add to it, here are some key
talking points you might share:
Removing federal protections for
wolves is premature, as wolves have barely recovered to their historic range in
the Great Lakes and elsewhere.
On top of that, they face
numerous threats including habitat loss, disease, and poaching.
Here in Wisconsin, aggressive
trophy hunters use exceptionally cruel methods, including hounding. Tracking
and trailing wolves with hounds leads to potentially disastrous encounters, and
is in our opinion no more than legalized dog- fighting.
Remind Senator Baldwin that the majority of Wisconsinites want
wolves protected and ask her to stay strong in protecting them.
Ask Sen. Baldwin
NOT to delist wolves through Congressional intervention - science not politics
should dictate wildlife management.
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