Bison get a new home in Utah

Bison Make New Home on the Range

Great news for Bison! I was glad to see that state and advocacy groups worked together to bring this project to fruition. I can only hope that such efforts will be made for other symbols of our American West, such as the Mustang. This sort of cooperation is just the sort of thing we need!

Bush targets Wolves. AGAIN!

Alright, how many times are we going to have to go through this process? The Bush administration, even in its literal last days (THANK GAIA!) continues to mount attack after attack on one of the most amazing wildlife recovery success stories ever: The Grey Wolf. For the umpteenth time in the last few years the Bush admin is making a last ditch effort to once more strip wolves in the Yellowstone region of the vital protections that have allowed this keystone species to make such a remarkable comeback, revitalizing tourism and the very ecosystem itself in the process.
This is our moment, guys. This is the last chance the Bush Administration will ever have to destroy all the hard work of countless conservationists, and the people like you and me who help support them. Until individual states can come up with a SOUND plan to maintain their wolf packs in a SUSTAINABLE manner, this duty must continue to fall under Federal jurisdiction, which means that endangered species protections must remain in place until a management plan can be agreed upon by states and conservation organizations alike.
No other endangered species, save one, has made such a remarkable recovery from the brink of extinction as the wolf. That other species is the very symbol of our country: The American Bald Eagle. The Bald Eagle has made such an amazing recovery that it is now delisted. We can all hope that this is true for another symbol of American power and perserverance, the Grey Wolf. But today is not that day, friends. We still have a long road to travel, much to teach, and much to learn before the Grey Wolf can enjoy that fabled status. And they need our help to get there.
PLEASE HELP THEM!

Powellton Coal violates agreement

Hey kids, sorry for the lack of updates in the new year! I had a wicked nasty virus, but I'm better now. Here's a nice copy/paste email from Stop Mountaintop Removal to get you up to pace.

Powellton Coal Company is currently in violation of the terms and conditions of their surface mining permit for polluting the headwaters of Rich Creek in West Virginia. Now they're trying to get their permit renewed by the Department of Environmental Protection. Make sure this doesn't happen!

Large scale surface mines like Powellton's Bridge Fork West Surface Mine are environmentally devastating, resulting in wide-scale deforestation and water pollution. This mine is located between the New and Gauley Rivers, two of the premier whitewater rafting rivers in the United States! Although laws and permits are supposed to minimize the effects of mining, the laws only work if coal companies obey them. Powellton is definitely not! So why should they be rewarded with permit renewal? Tell the DEP to deny their application.

Take action to stop Powellton from polluting West Virginia even more! Sign this petition today or send your own letter by January 24, 2008 to:

Ed Wojtowicz
DEP Regional Office
116 Industrial Drive
Oak Hill, WV 25901

If you send your own letter, make sure to say that it's in reference to Powellton Coal Company’s Application to Renew Surface Mining Permit Number S300301.

Thank you for taking action!

Sincerely,

Your friends at Stop Mountaintop Removal
www.stopmountaintopremoval.org

Happy Solstice, and don't forget your friends!

Happy Solstice, everybody! Finally, it's officially winter, and Christmas and New Years are just around the corner. We at ALivingGaia.org can hardly wait for the new year, and our new President! Meanwhile we've been very busy with preparations for the holidays (hence the no updates thing) and with fighting off Bush's last minute attacks on the Endangered Species Act, and the environment. Recent actions include:

Stop Bush's Last Minute Attacks on the Environment
Stop Drilling off the Virginia Coast
Clean Slate Energy Agenda
Green Nation

Click any of those links and all you have to do is sign a petition to do your part!
Now, I know I'm too late to get in under the 'ship by Christmas' deadline but just in case you have any last minute shopping left to do, WWF, Defenders, and other organizations still have great gifts and adoptions available all year round! You can even send your loved ones an environmental e-card to let them know you didn't forget about them, and their gift is in the mail. You can go to these sites and others and choose from any number of great environmentally conscious gifts or symbolic wildlife adoptions:

World Wildlife Fund
Defenders of Wildlife
Oceana

Here's another holiday idea. When you get the feeling that sometimes your loved ones just don't know what to get your for the holidays, why not purchase some wildlife holiday cards and send them a little pre-holiday note. Let them know that all you really want to do for christmas is help save the world, and could your loved one maybe make a donation to the charity of your choice instead of buying you yet another turtleneck sweater, please? It's a great way to help your charity, AND get the word out there by introducing your friends and family to activism.

And a last minute holiday suggestion: Don't forget to send holiday cards to your elected officials wishing them a happy holiday and letting them know how important environmental legislation is to you!

Have a Happy Solstice, everyone!

Unbearable

Winter can be a bad time for bears. Helpless, asleep in their dens, they are easy targets for trophy hunters. In Russia, the killing of denning Brown Bears leaves thousands of cubs orphaned every year. Many die, while others become attractions in circuses and roadside zoos. Some are even eaten. Den hunting is just about the most unsportsmanlike method of trophy hunting, right up there with shooting animals from airplanes. Please tell Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin how you feel about this terrible sport.

In Alaska, Polar Bears continue to face the challenges of global warming, and trophy hunting. While it is illegal to hunt polar bears for trophies in the United States, it is still legal in Canada. In most cases it is illegal to transport the carcass (for example trophy bits, such as heads, paws, and hides) of an endangered or protected animal into the country even if it was killed elsewhere. Not only does this encourage poaching in the U.S., but puts added strain on struggling Polar Bear populations in Canada and other countries. There are only an estimated 20 to 25 thousand Polar Bears left in the world, and we need every one of them if the species is going to continue to survive. Please help Defenders of Wildlife stop Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Safari International from stripping these magnificent animals of vital protections.

Back to their old tricks

So, the election is over. Obama is the President-Elect, and gas prices are down to 1.77 or less in some places. But what about those erstwhile former players in the Presidential campaigns?
Well, while Mr. Bush is trying to push through damaging plans to log old-growth forests, and continues his attempts to undermine the endangered species act, Sarah Palin has returned home to Alaska, and continues to be the same woman we know and loathe.

Let's start with that debacle at the turkey farm, which highlights how completely clueless the woman is, not just about wildlife and compassion towards animals, but about her VERY SURROUNDINGS. It is kind of nice to know that she's slid so far down the scale now that she's doing her 'exclusive interviews' while standing in turkey manure. But no sooner has she settled in back up there in the frozen north than she's getting back to her old games.

Wild Horse Reprieve; but our work isn't done!

From the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign. I've highlighted some important points in this brief for you.

As many of you may recall, last summer BLM announced it was considering putting to death thousands of wild horses in its care, as a way to balance the books. After a massive public outcry, the decision was postponed until the next Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting. The meeting took place this past Monday, following release of a long-awaited Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on the federal Wild Horse and Burro Program.

The GAO Report was a disappointment in that it failed to address the systemic problems associated with BLM's wild horse management policies, focusing instead on options available to address the glut of horses in government holding: 'euthanasia,' sale without limitation (i.e. slaughter), or release of the captive horses on some of the 19 million acres lost by the herds since passage of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act. The GAO merely sent BLM and Congress back to the drawing board, while failing to investigate the underlying cause of the current crisis: the unnecessary removal of thousands upon thousands of wild horses from our public lands.

At Monday's meeting, BLM Deputy Director Henry Bisson announced that any decision regarding 'euthanasia' would be postponed for a year. In the meantime, BLM will be working with Madeleine Pickens, wife of oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, as well as other private parties, who have offered to take thousands of horses off BLM's hands into privately-run sanctuaries. Our deepest gratitude goes out to Mrs. Pickens and the other good Samaritans offering their land in this 11th hour reprieve for the horses.

A looming crisis has been averted, but many concerns remain:
- More than ever, a moratorium on round-ups is in order until actual numbers of wild horses and burros on public lands have been independently assessed, and legally-mandated range studies have been conducted.

- The BLM 'bail-out' by private parties should come with strings attached to ensure that we are not just emptying government corrals so that BLM can continue rounding up more and more horses.

- At Monday's meeting, the Advisory Board made some highly disturbing recommendations, including shipping horses abroad as 'foreign agricultural aid,' removing restrictions against slaughter for horses sold under the Burns Amendment, and extending Burns Amendment sales to younger horses and foreign markets. Death in a Canadian or Mexican slaughterhouse is no better, if not worse, than a government bullet to the head. WE MUST REMAIN VIGILANT.

The incoming Obama-Biden administration presents an opportunity toward a new beginning for the federal Wild Horse and Burro Program. Please contact the Office of the President-Elect and express your concerns and hopes for the future of our wild horses.

On behalf of America's wild horses and burros, thank you for your support,

The AWHPC Team
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
www.wildhorsepreservation.org
Click here to join our email list and receive the latest updates.

A big thanks goes out to all of the private parties who have donated time, money, and land to help these horses. However, just as the AWHPC suggests, it will all be in vain if we allow the BLM to use this 'bail out' as an excuse to round up more horses. I hope those parties have let it be known that this is a one time deal, and I hope that they will continue to put effort into encouraging the BLM to change their round-up policies, and stop the problem once and for all.