CALL TO ACTION: Political Meddling in Grizzly Delisting

The process for removing GYE grizzly bears from the Endangered Species list stinks! It is rife with conflicts of interest, delayed reports, suppression of information, and deliberate dissemination of misinformation (as we saw last week with the article claiming mortality levels were down when they are at record highs). 

This is not right. This is not how the Endangered Species Act is supposed to work. This week's action aims to garner attention for the blatant political meddling contaminating the delisting process. Please leave Facebook comments, tweet the TweetSheet, send emails and make phone calls.

TWITTER: Here is the TWEETSHEET

FACEBOOK COMMENTS: Please leave a comment on an article on the following pages, expressing your concern that politics are taking precedence over science in the process of delisting grizzly bears. Where possible, share one of our graphics.

1) White House
2) USFWS
3) Raul Grijalva
4) your Senator and/or Representative (click here to find their contact information)
5) Interior

EMAILS: Please email President Obama, Sally Jewell, Dan Ashe and your Senator and Representative telling him or her the following:


I am extremely concerned that a process which is supposed to be driven be science - removing a species from the protections of the Endangered Species Act - has been contaminated by political meddling. First, an oil, gas and mining company has no business overseeing the scientific peer review. Second, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team delayed its released of the 2015 annual report by several months and only produced the final report when pushed to do so by the public and media. Unfortunately, the final report omitted critically important information - statistics on population growth, mortality rate and more. Critics believe that this information was omitted because it does not support the agenda of removing grizzlies from the Endangered Species list. As if that were not sufficient, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, itself, is headed by a former Safari Club lobbyist and an avid hunter who strongly believes in managing predators. Finally, FOIA documents have revealed that the USFWS handpicked "independent" scientists for the peer review. It is clear that this plan is politically motivated and not in accordance with the best available science. Another document obtained through FOIA reveals that Director Dan Ashe felt the same way. This is not how the Endangered Species Act was meant to function. It is time to clean up the conflicts of interest and questionable decisions and follow the best available science. 

PHONE CALLS:

President Obama - 202-456-1111
Secretary Sally Jewell - 202-208-3100 
Director Dan Ashe - 202-208-4717