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The reintroduction of the gray wolf into Yellowstone National Park and surrounding wild lands, where they had once been wiped out, is one of the greatest success stories of the Endangered Species Act. And our tax dollars helped make it happen. Today, some 1,500 of these magnificent, endangered animals roam the Northern Rockies, where they have played a key role in reviving both the region’s environment and its tourist-based economy.
Unbelievably, the Bush Administration, bowing to pressure from Wyoming and a relatively few vocal ranchers and elk hunters, has just issued a new rule that allows the mass killing of gray wolves. Instead of doing its job to protect animals on the Endangered Species List, this administration is preparing to slaughter them. Even worse, it plans to issue a second rule that would strip wolves of federal protection altogether.
Using our tax dollars, the federal government would trap, hunt and gun down entire packs of wolves -- even from airplanes. Under either rule, hundreds of wolves could be killed. It’s madness.
Here are the facts: While some hunters complain about wolves killing elk -- their natural prey -- elk populations are at all-time highs across the Northern Rockies. And ranchers on private land already have the right to kill wolves that harass their livestock. No matter. The Bush Administration is determined to allow the killing of wolves -- and to reverse an environmental success story paid for by the American people -- just to satisfy politically powerful constituencies.
There’s still time to call off the guns. That’s where you come in. Go to CallOffTheGuns.org and tell your U.S. Representative to oppose the Bush wolf-killing rule. Let’s give America’s wolves a chance.
Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus.