ACTION ALERT: Endangered Species Act under attack

A few minutes of your time could help preserve America’s natural heritage.  The Endangered Species Act, the country’s landmark legislation that helped rescue the bald eagle, the peregrine falcon, the grizzly bear and black footed ferret–the Act that is currently protecting rare plants, endangered frogs, migratory sturgeon, butterflies and birds across the North America, is now threatened by political maneuvering in the waning days of the Bush Administration.

This August, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne quietly proposed changes that would remove independent scientific oversight from federal projects or federally funded projects and prevent any consideration of global warming impacts.  And they are trying to push this change through with little opportunity for the public to voice its opposition.

Please act now – the comment period ends on October 14th – to join us in standing up for the integrity of the Endangered Species Act.  In these critical times, short-sighted decision making should not be allowed to further erode our nation’s biological wealth.

The changes being proposed by Secretary Dirk Kempthorne of the US Department of the Interior would:

● Exempt thousands of federal activities – from mining to dam building and highway construction projects  – from independent expert oversight regarding potential impacts to endangered species;

● Limit what can be considered harmful, including any consideration of global warming impacts; and

● Shorten to just 60 days the time that wildlife experts have to review and comment on a project if invited to do so; otherwise, projects get an automatic green light.

Click here to read the letter submitted by the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic at Vermont Law School on behalf of the Connecticut River Watershed Council and Vermont Natural Resources Council.

Take Action:

● Print out the letter below – or write your own – and mail it today

— OR —

● Simply respond to this email with your name and address and we will take care of submitting your comments.

Thank you for your participation.  If you would like more information, please visit us at ctriver.org

Sincerely,

Chelsea Gwyther

Executive Director

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