Action Alert:  Your letters to Congress needed today!

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has indicated they will move forward soon with a plan for delisting wolves across most of the United States. In March, the AZ Game and Fish Commission also voted to support the nationwide removal of protections for gray wolves.

This includes Mexican gray wolves outside the current recovery zone. Additional protected populations in the Grand Canyon and elsewhere are essential to the recovery of these critically endangered animals who remain at the brink of extinction in the wild. The FWS plan will not let that happen.

Still-recovering wolf populations across the U.S. will be left to be managed by states with often competing interests if Endangered Species Act protections are removed.

Our lands need wolves. But wolves need protection to recover.

Act now: Tell your member of Congress to use his/her influence to maintain protections for wolves currently protected under the Endangered Species Act!

You can find contact info for your Congressperson at this link: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

March 29 is the 15th Anniversary of the return of Mexican wolves to the Southwest – help ensure their future today!

March 29 is the 15th Anniversary of the return of Mexican gray wolves to the Southwest. To celebrate and make sure the world knows about the lobo's story, Defenders of Wildlife is organizing simultaneous tweets to be sent on noon on March 29.

Help tell the United States Fish and Wildlife Service that now, as we come up on 15 years of lobos back in the wild, is the time to take action to ensure their future.

If you're on Facebook or Twitter, sign up for our Thunderclap and you'll be able to help us spread the word in a big way! And it takes less than a minute to do.

Through the Thunderclap, we'll all be able to send the exact same message at the exact same time: at noon on March 29th. Together, we'll cut through all the noise and take a stand for Mexican gray wolves – before it's too late.

There's only one day left to sign up, so please do it now.

Click here to read a special Mexican wolf 15 year anniversary blog by Defenders' Eva Sargent.

Majority of Arizonans Excluded from Giving Input to Decision Affecting Arizona's Endangered Mexican Wolves

Please contact the Arizona Game and Fish Commission today and tell them you oppose removing protections for gray wolves through a national delisting plan.

A meeting of the AZ Game and Fish Commission has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 20 at noon in Phoenix to discuss sending congress a letter advocating national delisting of gray wolves.

This is not surprising since two years ago the Commission voted to send a letter of support send a letter of support for federal legislation to strip all gray wolves of their endangered species protections, including the only 42 Mexican gray wolves surviving in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico at that time.

Now the Commission is considering another betrayal of its responsibilities to science-based wildlife management and stewardship. We need to flood them with phone calls and emails telling them that this is not acceptable.

The Commission apparently hoped to discourage participation in this decision process from the majority of Arizona voters who support the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction in Arizona. The agenda for this meeting was posted on March 19, only one day before the meeting. And while normally, anyone can participate telephonically in commission meetings at any of the state offices, for this one, members of the public have to be present at the meeting in Phoenix in person to speak about the proposal.

Let's make sure the AZ Game and Fish Commission knows they can't exclude wolf supporters from conversations that are important to us.

Call the Phoenix AZ Game and Fish Department and leave a message for the Commission: 602-942-3000.

You can simply tell them that you want endangered species protections kept in place for Mexican wolves and other gray wolves and do not want the Commission to advocate for national delisting.

Please also send the Commissioners an email with the same message:

Commission Chair Jack Husted – Springerville
John W. Harris, Member – Tucson
Robert E. Mansell, Member – Winslow
Kurt R. Davis, Member – Phoenix
Edward 'Pat' Madden, Member – Flagstaff

If you can't use the Commissioner's email form, call: 602-942-3000. If you are out of the country, you can email a message to the Commission to AZGF Director Larry Voyles: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For a pdf of the March 20 meeting announcement and agenda, click here.

Thank you for taking action on behalf of critically endangered Mexican gray wolves!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 is AZ Gives Day

AZ Gives Day is a 24-hour day of giving to support charities in Arizona.  We appreciate your support of our work for bringing back wolves and restoring ecological health in the Grand Canyon region.

Please write a letter to the editor of The Salt Lake Tribune today, thanking them for the recent series of articles on anti-wolf lobbying and expressing outrage at Utah's tax dollars being spent to enrich Don Peay and his cronies at the expense of education, wolves and the Endangered Species Act.

The letters to the editor page is one of the most widely read, influential parts of the newspaper. One letter from you can reach thousands of people and will also likely be read by decision-makers. Tips for writing your letter are below, but please write in your own words, from your own experience.