Greater Yellowstone in danger - act now!

A rugged land of sparkling lakes, 10,000-foot peaks and world-class wildlife habitat, Montana's stunning Lionhead Recommended Wilderness, just west of Yellowstone National Park, is a dazzling area of tranquility. The area is so rugged that the Forest Service proposed that it be off limits to all mechanized travel, including mountain bikes.

But the proposal to protect the rugged Lionhead area is in danger.

That's why Lionhead needs your help before July 18. Tell the Forest Service to do the right thing.

Mountain bike activists have mounted a campaign to convince the Forest Service to give in and give cyclists total access to wilderness quality lands.

Alternative trails – including many primitive roads outside recommended wilderness areas – are available for bike rides but no alternative will replace the Lionhead Wilderness.

Please urge Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Mary Erickson not to give in to proponents of mechanized trails.

Tell her to stand by her proposal to fully protect traditional hiking and pack trails and the Lionhead Recommended Wilderness.

Sincerely,
Kathy Kilmer
The Wilderness Society

Yellowstone Bison Slaughter Tops 1,100

Bison once numbered in the tens of millions across the Great Plains until a wholesale slaughter nearly wiped them out.

Now some of America's last free-roaming wild bison are being slaughtered on a scale not seen since the 1800s. And hundreds more could to be killed.

Take action now! Write the Montana Promotion Division -- the state's tourism officials -- and speak out for sensible wildlife management of these American icons!

Each winter, Yellowstone National Park bison migrate from snow-covered highlands to lower elevations outside the park’s boundaries in search of food.

But because of an unfounded fear that bison will transmit a disease called brucellosis to domestic cattle, bison face a grim fate -- even though there has never been a documented case of a wild bison transmitting the disease to cattle.

Once these majestic animals cross park boundaries, federal and Montana state officials chase bison back into the park where food is scarce -- or they are shipped off to slaughter.

This year alone, more than 1,100 bison have been killed -- nearly a quarter of the wild population. This is no way to manage one of the most beloved icons of the American West.

Write Montana tourism officials today and tell them that you want Montana to stop killing America’s bison.

The Montana Promotion Division -- the state’s tourism department -- is our best ally in Montana to press state officials to stop the shameful bison slaughter.

Together we can help ensure that America’s wild bison will continue to roam the American West.

Thanks for all you do to protect wildlife and the places it lives.

Sincerely,

Mike Leahy
Rocky Mountain Region Director
Defenders of Wildlife

Tell the Park Service to Save Yellowstone's Buffalo, Not Slaughter Them!

Yellowstone's wild, free-roaming buffalo herd is under siege.

The Bush Administration is turning the herd's birthing ground into a killing ground for hundreds of mighty bison -- better known as American buffalo.

We must speak out against this cold-blooded cruelty NOW -- because every week, more of these noble creatures are being herded into cattle trucks to be slaughtered.

This winter alone, more than 1,200 wild bison have been brutally killed -- or shipped to slaughterhouses -- by the Montana Department of Livestock, with the cooperation and approval of the National Park Service.

And come May, newborn calves are just as likely to be killed as their mothers.

We cannot stand by and let this massacre continue: Send a protest message now.

Right now, it's still winter in Yellowstone, and these unsuspecting buffalo are following historic migratory routes in search of food at lower elevations where there is less snow.

When the buffalo venture near or beyond the park's boundary, they will continue to be rounded up and killed -- unless we start a national outcry.

What makes this sacrifice so senseless is that it's all to protect roughly 200 domestic cows and steers that graze near the park from the theoretical risk of a disease -- brucellosis -- that has never been transmitted from bison to cattle in a natural setting.

Even more tragic, newborn calves and their mothers will be rounded up this spring in their birthing ground of Horse Butte, Montana -- a completely cattle-free zone -- which means they are being killed for absolutely no reason.

Please speak out and stop the slaughter. Yellowstone's buffalo are a national treasure: America's last, free-roaming herd. The National Park Service should be their guardian, not an accomplice to their execution.

Already, more than 90,000 Americans have submitted protest messages demanding that the National Park Service call a halt to the killing.

But now with so many newborn buffalo about to be killed -- we need to do more. Please submit your protest message and help us stop the spring massacre.

Together, we must speak out to spare the lives of Yellowstone's surviving buffalo so that they can again roam wild and free.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President

Yellowstone Buffalo Headed to Slaughterhouse. Save Them Now.

Yellowstone's wild, free-roaming buffalo herd is under siege.

The Bush Administration is turning America's greatest national park into a killing ground for hundreds of mighty bison -- better known as American buffalo.

We must speak out against this cold-blooded cruelty NOW -- because every week, more of these noble creatures are being herded into cattle trucks to be slaughtered.

This winter alone, more than 1,000 wild bison have been brutally killed by the National Park Service and the Montana Department of Livestock -- or shipped to slaughterhouses.

And come May, newborn calves are just as likely to be killed as their mothers.

We cannot stand by and let this massacre continue: Send a protest message now.

Right now, it's still winter in Yellowstone, and these unsuspecting buffalo are following historic migratory routes in search of food at lower elevations where there is less snow.

When the buffalo venture near or beyond the park's boundary, they will continue to be rounded up and killed -- unless we start a national outcry.

What makes this sacrifice so senseless is that it's all to protect 12 to 16 domestic cows and steers that graze near the park from the theoretical risk of a disease -- brucellosis -- that has never been transmitted from bison to cattle in a natural setting.

Yes, you read those numbers right: 1,000 wild bison slaughtered to protect a little more than a dozen cows outside the park that have most likely been vaccinated against the disease, or easily could be.

Please speak out and stop the slaughter. Yellowstone's buffalo are a national treasure: America's last, free-roaming herd. The National Park Service should be their guardian, not their executioner.

Our goal this week is to create a virtual "stampede" of 50,000 protest messages that will convince the National Park Service to call a halt to the killing.

Together, we must speak out to spare the lives of Yellowstone's surviving buffalo so that they can again roam wild and free.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
NRDC Action Fund

Protect Yellowstone and the Greater Rockies

Facing its final year in office, the Bush administration is intensifying its push to open the wildest parts of America's national forests to destructive logging, roadbuilding and development. As part of this scheme, the U.S. Forest Service has proposed to weaken -- and in some areas completely eliminate -- existing protections for 4.4 million acres of Colorado's wild forests. These wildlands provide crucial habitat for the Canada lynx, the greenback cutthroat trout and other imperiled wildlife. They also serve as the watersheds for much of Colorado's drinking water. The Forest Service proposal threatens some of the state's most outstanding recreation spots, like Herman Gulch, a wild escape within short driving distance of Denver, and the Pagoda Peak area, the summer range for part of the largest elk herd in North America.

Please speak out now and help us block this attack on America's last wild national forests.

http://www.savebiogems.org/yellowstone/