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[Lotus]

Please read this....open the link and do what you can....donate, sign the petition....or both.

http://www.defenders.org/take_action/

Dear Defender of Wildlife,

Aerial wolf killing has come to Idaho.

In one of its first moves since retaking the reins of wolf management, Idaho officials last week called in Wildlife Services -- the federal government's chief wildlife-killing agency -- to kill wolves in the central part of the state.

Federal marksmen took to the skies in Idaho's Lolo wilderness, targeting up to 60 wolves to help artificially boost game popuations in the region.

Please take action now: speak out against Wildlife Services' aerial gunning of wolves in Idaho.

Using radio collars to track down wolf packs in the area, the airborne marksmen only managed to kill five wolves. The mission was quickly abandoned, described as both inefficient and expensive by the Wildlife Services agents themselves.

But that's not stopping Idaho's plan to kill dozens of wolves in the region to artificially boost elk populations. Wildlife Services could continue gunning from the skies and trapping on the ground.

Help stop Wildlife Services' terrible wolf-killing operation to artificially boost elk populations in Idaho.

Wildlife Services is a program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Their mission is to "create a balance that allows people and wildlife to coexist peacefully."

But instead, they have become the federal government's de facto wildlife hitmen -- heavily relying on killing wildlife rather than using proven, effective non-lethal methods of control.

Now, it seems, Wildlife Services has gotten into the business of killing wolves to artificially boost elk populations.

Take action now: Urge Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to abandon aerial wolf-killing in Idaho by Wildlife Services.

Idaho officials claim that wolves are a major cause of elk declines in certain parts of the state. But the science says otherwise: In 23 of 29 elk management zones, populations of these animals are at or above targets. In fact, many of the areas experiencing declines contain few or no wolves.

And the Clearwater National Forest -- an area targeted by Wildlife Services' aerial gunning plan -- was experiencing steep declines in elk numbers in 1988, well before wolves returned to the area.

Science tells us that predator populations are naturally maintained by their prey population levels -- almost never the other way around. But Wildlife Services' plan kills wolves for doing what they do naturally: Preying on elk and fulfilling their ecological role in a natural system.

Help ensure a lasting future for wolves in Idaho. Speak out to help stop Wildlife Services' aerial gunning program to artificially boost elk populations.

Together, we can ensure a lasting future for America's wolves.

For the Wild Ones,

Jamie Rappaport Clark
Executive Vice President
Defenders of Wildlife