Remember: wildlife is dying, too

To the editor,

Every day, Trump and his lackies such as the head of the Department of Interior disbands health, environmental, climate change and wildlife protections and puts you, your family our beautiful lands, and the whole world at risk.

The Clean Air and Water acts have been weakened; safeguards regarding pesticide removed; the Endangered Species Act has been gutted where already in our world we are in an extinction crisis – 10 million species slated to go extinct in next decade or less. They have shrunk our – yours and mine – public lands, such as Bears Ears, to a fraction of what they were and aided oil and gas and cattle to impact those lands. Fossil fuel expansion is aided as much as possible, with oil and gas exploration taking place along our coasts where marine life is already imperiled. Meanwhile the world is in crisis due to climate change, which scientists agree is caused by us humans and our addiction to fossil fuels. (Just ask an Alaskan native – six of their villages have to be relocated due to storms and flooding. Or ask a native islander in the Pacific who had to move to another island due to rising seas).

With removal of protections of wildlife – and lethal attacks on our precious wildlife – including killing bear cubs and wolf cubs in their dens in wildlife refuges in Alaska and scheduled killing of two wolves in Washington State (all that is left after being killed by WDFW). Why aren’t there major protests about this? Where are the college students who should be marching as occurred in the ’70s?

The America we love and our beautiful world are at risk. I ask that you do what you can: contact your congressperson, post of Facebook, support candidates who work for a sustainable future and renewable energy, vote, contact and support organizations such the Sierra Club, and use your money to aid valuable causes instead of buying the latest gadget. In terms of our amazing wildlife (do you know how precious our wildlife is and how presidents and individuals fought long and hard for our national parks and to save grizzlies, wolves and whales?) This is what is precious. I have gone and walked near the wolves and grizzles of Denali, I have watched the antics of grizzly cubs sliding down snow. People from all over the world come to see this, baby bears and wolves deserve our protection, especially in a wildlife refuge.

For these immediate issues, I ask that you go to Defenders of Wildlife, Center for Biological Diversity or Endangered Species Coalition. Write a letter to ADFGWE, P.O. 115525, Juneau, AK, 99801. Write a letter regarding the proposed killing of the two wolves to Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, Attn. Nicky Kloepper, P.O. 43200, Olympia, WA, 98504-3200 and contact Washington Gov. Jay Islee. Care deeply and act.

– Margaret Mayer, Durango