Our friends at WILD EARTH GUARDIANS campaigning to "restore equilibrium to ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK by putting Wolves back into the ecosystem............Let us assist them in this effort in every way possible

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: WildEarth Guardians <action@wildearthguardians.org>
Date: Tue, May 17, 2011 at 2:00 PM
Subject: Bring Wolves Back to Rocky Mountain National Park!
To: rick.meril@gmail.com

Restore the Balance,        Heal the Park Dear rick,  Rocky Mountain National Park has a big problem. There's a piece missing from the Park's ecosystems, and it shows. In the absence of wolves, elk are stripping bare the Park's streams and meadows, causing ripples through the ecosystem that harm many other species. These elk are not behaving as they would in a truly wild system with its full complement of native carnivores. But instead of committing to restoring the ecological balance of predator and prey, the Park Service is bringing in sharpshooters to target elk for doing what comes naturally in the absence of wolves. Tell Colorado Senators Udall and Bennet that the Park Service should bring wolves back to Rocky Mountain National Park. We've already seen the benefits of restoring wolves in Yellowstone. If we learn from the lessons of Yellowstone, we could heal Rocky Mountain National Park without resorting to guns. Wolves would not only reduce elk numbers in the Park, but would keep elk on the move, reducing browsing pressure on aspen and willow and allowing streamside vegetation to rebound. Wolves will be on the job twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and don't need a salary. But the Park Service would rather allow snipers into this crown jewel of our National Parks, undermining the wild character of this natural area. We are challenging anew the Park Service's decision because it fails to seriously consider wolf reintroduction and moves ahead with allowing snipers to kill elk in the Park. Tell the Senators that National Parks should stay firearm-free. Seventy-one percent of Coloradans support wolf protection in the state, including sixty-five percent of citizens west of the Continental Divide. The return of wolves – by natural recolonization or reintroduction – could prove an economic boon for the state. Restoration of wolves to Yellowstone National Park brings in over $35 million each year in tourism revenue for local economies. Western Colorado's large population of elk and deer and vast federal lands could support more than 1,000 wolves. Tell the Senators that wolves need Colorado, and Colorado needs wolves. For the wild, Nicole Rosmarino Wildlife Campaign Director WildEarth Guardians nrosmarino@wildearthguardians.org photo credit: Tim Springer Wolves modulate elk naturally, and they don't need a National Park salary or arsenal to do it.     Tell a friend to join you in taking action for wolves.   WildEarth Guardians' mission is to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places and wild rivers of the American West.