Contents
RECENT VICTORIES
* New Law Expected to Save 5,000 Marine Turtles Each Year
* U.S. Congress Boosts Funding for Protection of Imperiled Species
* Huge Response to Gorilla Crisis
* Energy Bill Down (But Not Out)
* U.S. Senate Gets Serious About Global Warming
SETBACKS
* Misguided Forest Fire Legislation Enacted
* Department of Defense Wins Exemptions from Key Environmental Laws
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RECENT VICTORIES
New Law Expected to Save 5,000 Marine Turtles Each Year
Hundreds of personal letters from WWF activists helped persuade government
officials in Mozambique to pass legislation requiring motorized trawlers to
fit their nets with "turtle excluder devices." These simple and inexpensive
tools allow marine turtles caught in fishing nets to escape through a trap
door rather than drowning because they cannot get out. An estimated 5,000
marine turtle deaths will be averted each year when the legislation goes into
effect starting in 2005. WWF's staff in Mozambique asks us to express their
sincere gratitude to everyone who sent letters.
U.S. Congress Boosts Funding for Protection of Imperiled Species
Congress approved $9.5 million for the Multinational Species Conservation Fund,
which helps protect great apes, rhinos, tigers, elephants, and neotropical
migratory birds. That's $1.7 million more than last year and a four-fold
increase since 2000, when WWF activists first began speaking out. This is
tremendous progress during a time of very tight budgets. The funds will go
toward antipoaching programs, habitat protection, disease control, and public
education. The 36,000 emails, faxes, and letters from WWF activists were a
crucial part of the campaign to increase the funding.
Huge Response to Gorilla Crisis
Your response to the gorilla crisis has been tremendous: In just over two weeks
, Conservation Action Network activists raised $18,500, which when added to
contributions from other WWF supporters, brings the total to more than $43,000.
WWF has been working to protect great apes and their habitats since our
founding in 1961. We sought your help because habitat loss, poaching for a
growing commercial bushmeat trade, and an outbreak of Ebola that is affecting
human and ape populations alike threaten to decimate Africa's population of
lowland gorillas and other apes.
Fortunately, there are solutions within reach. For example, we recently helped
win agreements from a logging operation in Gabon both to hire eco-guards to
clamp down on poaching and to provide an alternative source of protein for
its workers in logging camps. Your contribution has helped make work like
this possible.
If you have already made a donation, we sincerely thank you for your assistance
. You can help even more by telling your friends and family about the problems
facing great apes in Africa.
If you have not already done so, there is still time to make a donation to WWF.
Learn more about gorillas and WWF's projects.
Energy Bill Down (But Not Out)
Opponents of a short-sighted national energy bill that was close to final
passage won a huge victory when they blocked the measure in the U.S. Senate in
late November. But, the bill's supporters are regrouping and plan to bring the
legislation back up for consideration in January. Tell Congress that you want
an energy plan that transitions us to a sustainable energy future, instead of
just more drilling and pollution.
WWF activists fought hard and succeeded in keeping language out of the bill
that would have allowed oil and gas development in the pristine Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge. Activists also helped prevent a requirement for an inventory
of potential oil and gas resources in the entire outer continental shelf, which
could have been the first step toward overturning a long-standing offshore oil
drilling moratorium that protects thse fragile areas.
U.S. Senate Gets Serious About Global Warming Legislation
In a historic vote, legislation to cut U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and
other heat-trapping gases that are causing global warming made a strong showing
in the Senate last month. Although the Climate Stewardship Act lost, 43-55, the
strong bipartisan vote shattered the myth that the U.S. Senate will never
seriously consider action to address global warming. Senator John McCain
(R-Ariz.) vowed to keep bringing the issue back until the Senate takes a
responsible approach to climate change, reflecting the tenacity he has
demonstrated on other important issues in the past. WWF thanks the activists
who sent 33,000 messages to their senators prior to the vote and 7,000 thank
you letters afterwards to those senators who voted for the bill.
SETBACKS
Misguided Forest Fire Legislation Enacted
In a disappointing conclusion to a three-year long fight, Congress and the
president approved a harmful forest fire bill. The so-called Healthy Forest
Restoration Act will accelerate logging on 20 million acres of federal land,
block the public from participating in forest management decisions, and
constrict the review of hazardous fuels reduction projects required under the
National Environmental Policy Act. The 22,000 letters WWF activists sent to
Congress surely helped prevent the much worse House version of the bill from
being adopted.
Department of Defense Wins Exemptions from Key Environmental Laws
We're sorry to report that Congress and the president approved a bill that
exempts the Department of Defense from provisions of both the Marine Mammal
Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, in the name of military readiness.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act changes are the most damaging in the law's
30-year history and will allow the secretary of defense to exempt virtually any
military activity from compliance with the act, putting dolphins, whales, and
porpoises at risk. Such a broad change is unnecessary since the law currently
provides for permits that would allow combat readiness activities while
providing much-needed protection for marine mammals. We may have a chance to
undo some of this damage when the marine mammal law is up for reauthorization
next year. We'll keep you posted on the best time to lend your voice.
The change to the Endangered Species Act is also disappointing. It allows the
Pentagon to substitute its own land management plan instead of designating
critical habitat for endangered species. The impact of this change was slightly
tempered when the Senate required that the substitution can be made only if the
military provides assurances that the plan will protect endangered species and
be fully funded. Designating critical habitat is important because habitat loss
is the greatest cause of species endangerment.
Fortunately, the Pentagon did not win exemptions it had sought from the Clean
Air Act and two hazardous waste control laws.
--
Think, talk, feel.
And life will be different.
--
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