More great news from the USA – Mark.

 

Good News! Minnesota Moves to Ban Recreational Wolf Hunting

Posted by Carly Day | May 5, 2019

Image Credit: Pixabay/Skeeze

 

The Minnesota House of Representatives has voted in support of a bill that would ban the cruel sport of recreational wolf hunting in the state.

Although the bill narrowly pushed through with a 66-65 vote, the victory was unexpected in this largely pro-wolf hunting region.

Representative Peter Fischer introduced the amendment to an environmental bill, stating that wolves are an important species for Native American tribes and should not be hunted for sport.

Since 2014, federal law has banned wolf hunting in Minnesota (and most other states). However, a recent proposal by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to delist gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act could change that. If wolves are delisted, each state would manage their own populations, and hunters could be allowed to needlessly slaughter these graceful animals as early as 2020.

Most areas of the United States classify gray wolves as endangered; however, Minnesota, which has an estimated gray wolf population of 2,650, lists them as threatened.

While gray wolf populations are gradually recovering, they are still only present in about five percent of their historic range, and conservationists say that it’s far too early to consider removing protections.

Although the bill still needs to progress through the Senate, it is a promising first step in ensuring one of the United States’ most iconic species continues to be protected from trophy hunters.

 

Update – pm 15/5/19  from the NRDC:

https://www.nrdc.org/ 

Dear Mark,

In most of the range where gray wolves once lived, played, and roamed, no one has heard a wolf howl in decades.

Once driven to the brink of extinction, only about 6,000 remain in the lower-48 states. Yet the Trump administration has proposed to strip wolves of their vital Endangered Species Act protections.

Help NRDC ensure beloved species like the gray wolf receive the full protection they deserve under the law: Become a Monthly Partner by May 17, and your first three gifts will be MATCHED, up to $150,000.

Gray wolves could once be found across the country — until the mid-20th century, when a massive government-sponsored program eradicated almost every gray wolf in the lower-48 states.

When the Endangered Species Act passed in the 1970s, the unmitigated slaughter of gray wolves ended, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was charged with their recovery.

Help NRDC ensure beloved species like the gray wolf receive the full protection they deserve under the law: Become a Monthly Partner by May 17, and your first three gifts will be MATCHED, up to $150,000.

Gray wolves could once be found across the country — until the mid-20th century, when a massive government-sponsored program eradicated almost every gray wolf in the lower-48 states.

When the Endangered Species Act passed in the 1970s, the unmitigated slaughter of gray wolves ended, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was charged with their recovery.

Although wolves have made progress in some areas, they are still missing from significant parts of their historical range. But instead of helping wolves fully recover, the Fish and Wildlife Service has been trying to cut them loose for the better part of a decade — and now, the Trump administration plans to let that happen.

It’s heartbreaking to think we might have saved the gray wolf from extinction just to wind up here. The Trump administration is doing the bare minimum for gray wolves before yanking away the critical protections they need to fully recover.

NRDC has fought in court to protect gray wolves before — and we’ve won. And we’re prepared to file suit again to give wolves the chance at recovery that they deserve.

But Mark, we’re currently embroiled in dozens of other active cases against the Trump administration, too — and we urgently need your help to ensure we can respond swiftly and forcefully as soon as protections for gray wolves are stripped away.

For only a few more days, you can DOUBLE your impact to protect endangered species from the Trump administration’s cruel, deadly attacks. Please become a Monthly Partner now — this is urgent.

For the last few years, we’ve beat back a record number of threats against endangered species, from rusty patched bumble bees and giraffes to elephants and North Atlantic right whales. Responding to these mounting attacks requires unprecedented resources — but we can’t slow down. Not when so much is at stake.

Today, you can do twice as much to help make sure we stand strong, no matter what. Thank you for helping safeguard the earth — its animals, its plants, and its people.

Sincerely,

Dr. Sylvia Fallon
Senior Director for Wildlife, NRDC

 

I have given today to protect endangered species in the USA.

Can you do the same ?- please help.

Dear Mark,

Thank you for making a tax-deductible donation to support NRDC and our campaign to save endangered species from extinction. We have processed your donation, and the transaction information is below. We appreciate your generous gift at this critical time.

To do even more to protect wildlife, please encourage your family and friends to join you in supporting this critical campaign.

You can read about the new alarming United Nations report — and what it means for our ecosystem and its millions of wildlife species — in this blog post on NRDC.org.

Sincerely,
NRDC

No goods or services were provided to the donor, and thereby the entire gift is 100% deductible for federal income tax purposes.