AP Photo/Paul Sakuma
DCL
Yes, Obama's many green acts have dazzled—or at least encouraged—the environmental community. But nobody's perfect. In one of the Obama administration's more dubious environmentally related moves, they've decided to uphold the Bush ruling stating that gray wolves are no longer an endangered species.
But there are only 1650 gray wolves in existence. And now that they're no longer on the endangered species list, there are soon going to be a whole lot fewer: some of the state governments where they were delisted are gearing up to kill the wolves by the hundreds. Even though wolves are all but entirely harmless to humans, they nonetheless are loathed in many regions of the Midwest because they kill livestock and create fear in communities. So in Montana and Idaho, the states where wolves have been delisted, many are gearing up for a much-anticipated wolf hunt.
It's often an inexact science when it comes to determining how big a population needs to be before it's considered stable, many scientists feel that there should be at least 5,000 gray wolves in the wild before they should be taken of the endangered species list.
But for now, unfortunately, the gray wolves are once again in danger of being hunted and killed to the brink of extinction. You see, all this has happened before: it wasn't so long ago that there were only a handful of gray wolves left in the wild. And conservation measures—widely acknowledged to be some of the most successful in the US—brought them back. Conservation measures enabled in part by the Endangered Species Act, which no longer protects them.
When I wrote a post about the newly hatched plans to kill the, for all intents and purposes still-endangered gray wolves, many left comments asking what they could do to help.
Here are a few places to start. You can make a donation to the Natural Resources Defense Council—this esteemed organization lobbies tirelessly for conservation rights, and was largely to thank for getting the wolves back on the endangered species list last time they were delisted. You can trust them to use your contribution wisely.
Defenders of Wildlife is another group that fights for wolves, and you can donate to them as well.
If you'd rather let your pen do the talking, sign this internet petition urging Obama to protect gray wolves or support the drafting of a National Wolf Recovery Plan.
So help save the wolves. Because Obama's not going to do it without your help.
