This morning, July 22, the Obama Administration’s nominee for the new Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sam Hamilton, had his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. As the person with the ultimate responsibility and authority for endangered species, Sam Hamilton holds the fate of Mexican gray wolves in his hands. Whether he commits to turning the program around and fully protecting our lobos or decides to let the killings and removals that have blocked recovery thus far continue will be influenced greatly by what he hears from your members in Congress.
Help save our lobos!
Write to your representative in Congress today, and ask him/her to use his/her influence to make Mexican wolf recovery a priority for the new Director. Then, cc your letter to Sam Hamilton to make sure he gets the message.
Important things to include in your letter:
1. Make it personal – if you live, work, hike, hunt, fish, or camp in the Recovery Area, let your representative know this. Share your experience and feelings concerning wolves and/or the area in which they live, so that it’s clear that this is important to you, and why.
2. Tell them who you are: As a (Recovery Area resident, parent, backpacker, sportsman, teacher, etc.), I value wolves and want the Fish and Wildlife Service to make their recovery a priority. Ask them to tell Mr. Hamilton that he has an important opportunity to correct the mistakes of the past.
3. The situation is urgent; Thirty-three years after receiving protection under the Endangered Species Act, the Mexican gray wolf remains the most endangered mammal in North America and the most endangered subspecies of gray wolf in the world.
4. The recovery effort has failed to reach the first reintroduction objective of at least 100 wolves in the wild. The wild population of Mexican gray wolves has declined over the past five years, and at the end of 2008, only about 50 wolves lived in the wilds of the Southwest. The wild population was lower at the beginning of 2009 than it was at the end of 2003.
5. The vast majority of Arizona and New Mexico residents support the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction. A 2008 poll by Research and Polling, Inc. showed that 77 percent of Arizona respondents and 69 percent of New Mexico respondents support the reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves into public lands in Arizona and New Mexico.
6. Based on scientists’ recommendations, the following are actions the new Director can take to turn this program into a success for the Fish and Wildlife Service:
a) Enact a moratorium on agency predator-control actions against Mexican wolves, whether through lethal control or capturing animals alive.
b) Actively reduce livestock-wolf conflicts through non-lethal, proactive means.
c) Reclassify Mexican wolves as a fully "endangered" or an "experimental, essential" population.
d) Allow wolves to leave the designated Recovery Area
e) Work to improve genetic integrity
f) Include the U.S. Forest Service in recovery
g) Complete and adopt a new Recovery Plan
Mailing and email addresses for Arizona and New Mexico members of Congress are below. Please copy your correspondence to Congress to the nominee for new Director, Sam Hamilton, at:
Email: sam_hamilton@fws.gov
Mailing Address:
Sam D. Hamilton
Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1849 C Street NW – Room 3238
Washington, D.C. 20240-0001
Members of Congress Arizona and New Mexico
Arizona
Gabrielle Giffords
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Gabrielle Giffords
1661 N. Swan, Suite 112
Tucson, AZ 85712
Electronic Correspondence: https://giffordsforms.house.gov/contact/email.shtml
Raul Grijalva
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Raul Grijalva
810 East 22nd Street
Tucson, AZ 85713
Electronic Correspondence: http://grijalva.house.gov/?sectionid=49§iontree=2,49
Ann Kirkpatrick
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Ann Kirkpatrick
240 South Montezuma Street #101
Prescott, AZ 86303
Electronic Correspondence: https://forms.house.gov/kirkpatrick/contact-form.shtml
Harry Mitchell
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Harry Mitchell
7201 East Camelback Road, Suite 335
Scottsdale, AZ 85253
Electronic Correspondence: https://forms.house.gov/mitchell/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm
Ed Pastor
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Ed Pastor
411 North Central Avenue, Suite 150
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Electronic Correspondence: http://www.house.gov/writerep/
New Mexico
Jeff Bingaman
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Jeff Bingaman
625 Silver Ave. SW, Suite 130
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Electronic Correspondence: http://bingaman.senate.gov/contact/types/email-issue.cfm
Martin Heinrich
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Martin Heinrich
20 First Plaza NW, Suite 603
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Electronic Correspondence: https://forms.house.gov/heinrich/contact-form.shtml
Ben Ray Lujan, Jr.
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Ben Ray Lujan, Jr.
811 St. Michael's Drive, Suite 104
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Electronic Correspondence: https://forms.house.gov/lujan/contact-form.shtml
Harry Teague
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Harry Teague
135 West Griggs
Las Cruces, NM 88001
Electronic Correspondence: http://forms.house.gov/teague/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm
Tom Udall
Mailing Address:
The Honorable Tom Udall
Albuquerque Plaza, Suite 710
201 3rd Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Electronic Correspondence: http://tomudall.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
