ACTION ALERT: Tell Senate NO anti-wildlife riders on this week’s spending bill

Friends,

Congress will vote this week on a bill to fund government operations, avoiding a shutdown. Must-pass bills such as this have historically been used to advance anti-wildlife legislation that lacks enough support to pass on its own. It is vital that your senators hear from you this week.

Call your senators and ask that they pass a “clean” government funding bill without any amendments that put wildlife or the Endangered Species Act at risk.

There are currently more than 30 proposed bills in this congress that could harm endangered species or the Endangered Species Act. Any one of them could be passed by adding them to the funding bill. Some of the most concerning proposals would:

1. Kick wolves in the Great Lakes states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin off of the endangered species list and allow these states to open wolf hunting and trapping seasons immediately. (S. 164)
2. Prevent the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) from protecting the greater sage grouse–a bird that has lost a substantial portion of its habitat to oil and gas extraction. (S. 273)
3. Put up costly and unnecessary barriers to citizens petitioning the government to protect species under the Endangered Species Act. (S. 375)
4. Interfere with efforts to recover Mexican gray wolves. This legislation would give states control over when to kick lobos off of the endangered species list–even if scientists and experts deem them in need of protections. With just 113 lobos remaining in the wild, legislation that meddles with recovery efforts only makes their extinction more likely. (S. 368)

Congress has until April 28th to pass legislation to keep the lights on and agencies running. Please call your senators today and ask them to keep all anti-wildlife bills and attempts to chip away at the Endangered Species Act out of this and future legislation.

Thank you for your commitment to wildlife and wild places.

c/o Endangered Species Coalition