Two BIG Wins for Wildlife! Will You Help Save Polar Bears Too?
Rodger Schlickeisen
I’m proud to report that -- thanks to your caring support -- Defenders of Wildlife has been able to secure two major victories for wildlife in recent days.
- A six-month moratorium on a fishing practice that threatened Gulf of Mexico sea turtles; and
- The reversal of a regulatory change that threatened protections for hundreds of imperiled species.
I know that your action today can make a difference for polar bears.
For months, Defenders of Wildlife has been raising the alarm about bottom longline fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, where threatened and endangered sea turtles have been drowning and dying at alarming rates the victims of razor sharp hooks on fishing lines that span anywhere from four to nine nautical miles.
To save these turtles, the Defenders legal team engaged in intense negotiations with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), taking legal action and mobilizing nearly 50,000 caring Defenders supporters like you to speak out in favor of closing the bottom longline fishery in the Gulf of Mexico.
Last week, our efforts paid off in a huge victory for threatened and endangered sea turtles. On Wednesday, the NMFS ordered a 6-month emergency closure of the bottom longline fishery in the Gulf of Mexico, providing a crucial lifeline to protect the lives of imperiled sea turtles from capture and death in the fishery.
Now we need your help to save the lives of threatened polar bears in Alaska. Please take action now.
We’re already seeing progress in the fight to save threatened and endangered species like the polar bear. For months, we’ve worked with Congress and the Obama administration and in the media to reverse disastrous changes that the outgoing Bush/Cheney administration had made around the enforcement of the Endangered Species Act -- changes that threatened the nearly 1,300 wildlife species protected by this bedrock conservation law.
And last Wednesday our work for threatened and endangered species paid off when the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce announced that they would formally withdraw the Bush/Cheney changes. In the two days before the decision, more than 37,000 dedicated Defenders activists called on the Obama administration to reverse changes that would have gutted enforcement of the Endangered Species Act.
Unfortunately, Interior Secretary Salazar has so far stopped short of reversing an 11th hour regulatory change by the Bush/Cheney administration that denies polar bears important Endangered Species Act protections from the threat of global warming -- a threat that could drive these iconic ice hunters to extinction in America by the end of the century.
Thank you so much for your help in the last few weeks! Your actions on behalf of our sea turtles and other threatened and endangered species are already making a big difference for America’s imperiled wildlife. I hope you’ll continue to support our work and take action today to help us save polar bears…
Sincerely,
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 Rodger Schlickeisen President Defenders of Wildlife |
A Call to Action for
Polar Bears
Global warming and habitat loss could drive America’s polar bears to extinction by the end of the century or sooner.
Making a Difference
Last week, the actions and donations of caring wildlife supporters like you helped Defenders…
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Secure a six-month moratorium on bottom longline fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, where threatened and endangered sea turtles were dying at an alarming rate. |
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Reverse regulatory changes made by the Bush/Cheney administration that would have shredded the safety net for 1,300 threatened and endangered species. |