It is crucial that we keep the pressure on by contacting state and federal officials and telling them we want to keep wolves protected.
WISCONSIN RESIDENTS: Figure out who your local elected officials are and how to contact them here.
U.S. RESIDENTS: Tell your U.S. Senators and Representatives that wolves need federal protection.
A letter to the editor (LTE) is another effective way to influence elected officials and educate others. Members of Congress are particularly responsive to letters in their constituents’ local newspapers. There may be no easier way to make a public statement of support for wolves than a writing a letter to the editor. To learn how to write an effective LTE, click here.
– PAST ACTION ALERTS –
Federal Wolf Delisting Comment Period Extended Until July 15th
Submit your formal comment in opposition to the USFWS prematurely stripping our wolves of federal protections TODAY.
Ultimately, if Wisconsin wolves lose federal Endangered Species Act protections, two-thirds of the population will die at the hands of trophy hunters. The last time federal protections were prematurely stripped from Great Lakes wolves, state agencies opened up brutal hounding and trapping seasons where more than 1,500 wolves were killed in just three years.
We have every intention to fight if and when ESA protections are lost, but we cannot take on this battle without your help…To learn more about how to submit your thoughts on delisting to the USFWS, review our training webinar where we help you prepare your official public comments:
>> All comments are due by July 15, 2019 <<
Tell your Senators and Representatives to Support Bill to End Wildlife Killing Contests
On February 8th, 2019, Wisconsin State Senator Fred Risser proposed a bill (SB 30/AB 29) to the Wisconsin State Senate that would prohibit wildlife killing contests. SB 30 was immediately assigned to the Senate Committee on Sporting Heritage, Mining and Forestry. The companion bill, AB 29, was introduced into the Wisconsin State Assembly on 2/22/19 and was assigned to the Assembly Committee on Sporting Heritage.
Senator Risser wrote: “In Wisconsin, there is no prohibition to wildlife killing contests. These contests use various tactics to attract, manipulate, confuse, and even temporarily blind wildlife in order to kill as many animals as possible. Dogs, semi-automatic weapons, ATVs, traps, snares, and snowmobiles are often used in such contests, including participants chasing animals on snowmobiles to the point of exhaustion and running them over repeatedly.
Many hunters have condemned these contests as unethical and say they create a bad name for those who hunt ethically. This bill would prohibit all wildlife killing contests, much like laws in California and Vermont which prohibit predator killing contests.”
This bill must have strong BIPARTISAN support in both houses of the legislature, as well as a companion bill in the Assembly, in order to advance.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. Check the SB 30 Bill History for the latest list of cosponsors. If you live in any of those districts, let them know that you support this bill and THANK them for supporting it.
2. If you are not a constituent of any of the current bill co-sponsors, please ask your Senator and Representatives to co-sponsor and SUPPORT SB30 / AB29 which would end the killing of wild animals for entertainment.
3. Contact all members of the Senate Committee on Sporting Heritage, Mining and Forestry and ask that they pass the bill out of committee for discussion by the full Senate. When emailing, please put “SUPPORT SB 30 / AB 29 banning wildlife killing contests” in the subject line.
Find Your Wisconsin State Representatives HERE
Voice Your Opposition to “Manage our Wolves Act”
With the House flipping to a Democratic majority in January, lawmakers are rushing to pass damaging legislation that would have the gray wolf delisted across the lower 48. The House Rules Committee will be meeting about HR 6784 at 5:00 PM Tuesday, November 13th.
If it passes there, it will go on to a House floor vote and could spell disaster for the gray wolf. The bill seeks to remove federal protection from gray wolves across the lower 48 no later than by the end of the fiscal year 2019. The bill explicitly includes language to block any chance for judicial review — a blatant attack on the very checks and balances at the core of our democracy.
WI Office: (715) 298-9344 | DC Office: (855) 585-4251
This bill is set to hit the floor as soon as next week so WE MUST ACT NOW. Please call Rep. Sean Duffy and tell him you OPPOSE HR 6784 today!
Barrasso Bill Would Destroy Endangered Species Act
Senator John Barrasso has put out a draft piece of legislation to rewrite the Endangered Species Act that undercuts science-based decision making, judicial review and imposes burdensome reporting requirements. It is all about politics, not science, and especially not improving the conservation of endangered species including the grey wolf, whooping crane, blanding’s turtle, wood turtle, and the karner blue butterfly.
AND IT’S COMING FAST.
This bill would dramatically weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA) – our nation’s most effective law protecting wildlife in danger of extinction. The bill would:
- Undermine the ESA’s reliance on science, especially in recovering species
- Give states the ability to veto endangered species restoration projects and, had it been law, would have prevented the restoration of wolves to Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies
- Make it harder to list imperiled species by requiring recovery goals during listing
- Reduce public involvement and agency accountability
- Slow agency conservation actions by requiring cumbersome and unnecessary new procedures.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Please identify your senator below, get on the phone and ask them to oppose the Barrasso bill. This piece of legislation would have devastating effects on wolves, other endangered species and the future of the Endangered Species Act itself. If you do not know who your senator is or they are not included on the list below, please click here.
>> Please pick up the phone and CALL TODAY.
Protect Endangered Species in the Farm Bill
The Farm Bill, an all-encompassing multi-year piece of legislation that directs what happens at the Department of Agriculture, is set to threaten about 58.5 million acres of protected forest land, eliminate regulations that protect endangered species from harmful chemicals and would weaken the organic industry.
The bill has a number of harmful elements including the “Poisoned Pollinators Provision” that would override Endangered Species Act protections which prevent imperiled species from being subjected to toxic pesticides.
The House of Representatives will vote on the 2018 Farm Bill this month. This legislation is supposed to support farmers and fund important conservation programs that help wildlife. Instead, it has become a vehicle for yet more attacks on conservation and the Endangered Species Act.
These anti-environment and anti-farmer provisions must be stopped. Urge your Representative to oppose this Farm Bill before it’s too late.
Call and ask your Representative to oppose the Farm Bill at 877-226-1189
“Hi, my name is [YOUR NAME] and I’m calling from [YOUR TOWN]. I am strongly opposed to the current farm bill, especially its attacks on conservation, endangered species like wolves, clean water, forests and attacks on pollinators. Please pass along this message to my representative so that they vote NO.”
Keep Rabies and License Tags for Bear/Wolf Hounds
On December 5, 2017, Assembly Bill 711 was introduced, which would eliminate the requirement that a person hunting bear or wolf with hunting dogs carry rabies and license tags.
Under current law, while a person is using a dog to hunt bear or wolf, the person is required to keep on his or her person, tags indicating that the person has been issued a license for the dog and the dog has been vaccinated against rabies. This bill eliminates these requirements.
Stop Wisconsin’s Wolf Poaching Bill
Ask your Wisconsin state legislator to oppose legislation SB 602 that would block the DNR and police from investigating wolf poaching and prevent any state expenditures to protect wolves. Here is the bill (SB 602).
This absurd legislation would make it illegal for law enforcement to enforce state or federal law relating to management of wolves in Wisconsin. It would also block the Department of Natural Resources from using its resources relating to carry out wolf management or protection other than paying claims for damage caused by wolves. This gives a green light to those who wish to harm wolves to do so without fear of consequences.
Tell your Wisconsin Legislator that poaching violations should be investigated and enforced and that state management of wolves, whether protected under the ESA or not, is crucial to their long term recovery.
wiwolvesandwildlife.org 