This week's e-newsletter from Defenders of Wildlife contains some great
information - many of these issues impact birds directly (including the new
Harry Potter movie!). Please read on...


-----Original Message-----
From: Defenders of Wildlife [mailto:DENlines at den.defenders.org]
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2001 11:20 AM
To: DENlines at den.defenders.org
Subject: DENlines


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NO REFUGE: High risk for national wildlife sanctuaries
ENVIRONMENTAL TRIUMPH: Court rejects lawsuit against national monuments
THREAT TO ARCTIC REFUGE: 'The Sacking of Science at Interior'
HARRY POTTER'S OWL: Movie driving up demand for Snowy Owls as pets
SAVING LYNX: Rare wildcat needs protection in northern U.S.
ON THE BRINK: Prospects dim for endangered caribou
HOLIDAY GIFT SPECIALS: Great gifts for friends and family
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1. NO REFUGE: High risk for national wildlife sanctuaries


In these times, Americans need places of refuge. But nearly 100 years after
Theodore Roosevelt established the national wildlife refuge system, these
land and water habitat sanctuaries are badly in need of help. Even as their
popularity grows, many of the 538 refuges don't have enough staff or money
to rescue endangered species or restore damaged habitats. That's why
Defenders of Wildlife, as part of a coalition, is calling for increased
funding for the 93 million-acre refuge system. The coalition's report,
Shortchanging America's Wildlife, calls on Congress and the Bush
administration to more than double spending from $320 million to $700
million. "National wildlife refuges have never been more at risk," the
report says. "Severe funding and staffing shortfalls have led to declining
refuge habitats and wildlife populations, aging facilities and
infrastructure and the cancellation of popular wildlife-oriented public use
programs." The group releasing the report, the Cooperative Alliance for
Refuge Enhancement, represents 20 organizations, including Defenders. Click
here: http://www.defenders.org/habitat/new/funding.html
<http://www.defenders.org/habitat/new/funding.html> to read the report.

At a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Defenders President Rodger
Schlickeisen said, "From protecting America's highest concentration of
unique plants and animals, to restoring a population of 16,000 trumpeter
swans from just 73 birds at the brink of extinction, to providing crucial
stepping stones to other migratory birds, the first 100 years of the
national wildlife refuge system have been a triumph. But without adequate
funding, the promise of the refuge system over the coming century will be
seriously compromised." Click here:
http://www.defenders.org/releases/pr2001/pr111501.html
<http://www.defenders.org/releases/pr2001/pr111501.html> to read his full
statement. To learn more about threats to the refuge system and to watch a
slide show of pollution from oil drilling in Louisiana's national wildlife
sanctuaries, visit http://www.defenders.org/habitat
<http://www.defenders.org/habitat> .

2. ENVIRONMENTAL TRIUMPH: Court rejects lawsuit against national monuments

In a major victory for the environment, a federal judge sided with a
coalition of conservation groups, including Defenders of Wildlife, and
dismissed a lawsuit challenging the establishment of national monuments to
protect our remaining natural treasures. Judge Paul Friedman's ruling
upholds the creation of six national monuments in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon
and Washington. The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, for instance, is a
spectacular wild land in southwestern Oregon. With lofty fir forests, steep
canyons and lush wetlands, it provides undisturbed habitat for a rare
assemblage of animals and plants. It's home to cougars and one of the
highest diversities of butterfly species in the country. The Mountain States
Legal Foundation, the anti-environmental law firm that once employed
Interior Secretary Gale Norton, filed the lawsuit challenging the
constitutionality of the 1906 Antiquities Act, which was used to create the
monuments. "Judge Friedman's ruling confirms what environmentalists
suspected all along, namely that the Mountain States Legal Foundation
lawsuit borders on the frivolous and that its intent all along has been to
create political leverage for poor management of the historic monument
designations," said William Snape, Defenders' vice president for law and
litigation.

3. THREAT TO ARCTIC REFUGE: 'The Sacking of Science at Interior'

With Big Oil and its allies in Congress cranking up the pressure for
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a respected former
government official is warning senators not to trust Interior Secretary Gale
Norton on this issue. Jamie Rappaport Clark, former director of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Norton has
undermined her credibility by ignoring evidence from her own staff that
drilling would harm wildlife in the refuge. Under the headline, "The Sacking
of Science at Interior," Clark wrote: "As they consider the fate of the
Arctic refuge, senators would do well to question any advice provided by
Norton. Given her penchant for misstatement and for misrepresenting her
responsibility, the evidence shows that the secretary's pro-drilling
arguments must not be accepted on faith." Click here to read Clark's column:
http://www.latimes.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=la%2D000093972nov2
5
<http://www.latimes.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=la%2D000093972nov
25>

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski is once again attempting to
force the Senate to consider legislation opening the Arctic Refuge to oil
drilling, even though Senate Majority Leader Daschle has promised that the
Senate will consider comprehensive energy legislation in January or
February. This time Senator Murkowski is threatening to offer an Arctic
drilling amendment to the national farm bill, which is on the Senate floor
this week. To spread the word about the danger to America's greatest
wildlife sanctuary, share this issue of DENlines with friends. And go to
http://www.denaction.org <http://www.denaction.org> (Alert 121) to urge
your senators to save the Arctic refuge for future generations.

4. HARRY POTTER'S OWL: Movie driving up demand for Snowy Owls as pets

Bird experts fear the popularity of the Harry Potter movie will drive demand
sky high for pet snowy owls, and they're warning parents not fill this item
on their children's <http://www.defenders.org/den/issues/snowyowl.jpg>
Holiday wish lists. It's illegal in the United States to keep owls as pets.
Owls are so difficult to keep as pets that eventually they usually are
released into the outdoors where they most likely will starve to death. "To
keep a snowy owl correctly, you need the biggest aviary you could ever
build," Jenny Thurston of the British World Owl Trust told National
Geographic. Snowy owls also feed primarily on lemmings. If you give them the
wrong food, they will die. "Where do you buy lemmings?" Thurston asked. "You
can't." Defenders of Wildlife hopes Hedwig's popularity will help snowy
owls, not hurt them, by raising awareness of the threat posed by the
proposal now before Congress to drill in the Arctic refuge. To learn more,
visit http://www.saveowls.org <http://www.saveowls.org> .

Also, for a tax-deductible contribution of $25 or more, you can help pay for
programs to protect the Arctic refuge by "adopting" a snowy owl - and we'll
thank you by sending a plush owl toy - a more practical holiday gift than
the real thing. Go to http://www.defenders.org/adopt/snowyowl
<http://www.defenders.org/adopt/snowyowl> .

5. SAVING LYNX: Rare wildcat needs protection in northern U.S.

The lynx once roamed throughout the northern Lower 48 states. Hunted and
trapped <http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/new/meso/lynx.html> for their
fur for many years, they now inhabit only a fraction of that historic range.
The U.S. Forest Service is considering a plan to save the lynx in the
northern Rocky Mountains. But this plan doesn't go far enough to protect
dwindling lynx habitat. The Forest Service must clamp down on intensive
logging, road building, and unauthorized snowmobile use in our national
forests. If improvements aren't made to the plan, lynx will continue to face
an uphill battle for survival.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Go to http://www.denaction.org <http://www.denaction.org>
(Alert 120) to send a fax to the Forest Service urging improvements in the
lynx conservation plan for the northern Rockies. Thanks for helping to
protect this rare wildcat, and please let your friends know about this
important issue.

6. ON THE BRINK: Prospects dim for endangered caribou

Defenders of Wildlife is petitioning the Interior Department to protect
habitat critical to the survival of the last remaining herd of caribou in
the Lower 48 states. At least six of the last 34 endangered woodland caribou
in Washington's Selkirk Mountains have been found dead this year alone,
according to the Associated Press. Yet the timber industry is lobbying to
relax restrictions on logging of the old-growth forests where the caribou
live. "We are slowly and surely getting in a precarious position," said John
Almack, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist. Caribou
aren't the only wildlife in trouble in the Selkirks. There are so few
grizzly bears remaining that biologists are calling them "the walking dead."

7. HOLIDAY GIFT SPECIALS: Great Gifts for Friends and Family

With the holidays fast approaching, you're no doubt looking for that perfect
gift for a loved one. Here are a number of gifts through which you'll also
be helping generate funds to save America's imperiled wildlife and habitat.
As a bonus, you won't have to go to a crowded mall to take advantage of
these gifts. You won't even have to leave your house!


* Adopt a wolf or another favorite animal. Give the gift of
sponsorship and that person will receive a huggable animal toy, an adoption
certificate and a year's subscription to our award-winning Defenders
magazine. Click here to go to our Wildlife Adoption Center:
http://www.defenders.org/adopt <http://www.defenders.org/adopt>


* NEW! Adopt a snowy owl -- as featured in the Harry Potter movie and
books -- and receive a plush, toy owl to commemorate your donation. Snowy
owls are under threat from those who would drill in their sanctuaries. With
your tax-deductible gift, you'll receive our toy snowy owl, an adoption
certificate and a year's subscription to our award-winning Defenders
magazine. Click here to adopt: http://www.defenders.org/adopt/snowyowl
<http://www.defenders.org/adopt/snowyowl> . To insure holiday delivery place
your order through our toll-free number 1-800-385-9712 by December 3rd.


* Special discount on popular Defenders gear. Click here:
http://www.defendersgifts.org/den <http://www.defendersgifts.org/den> for
special prices on clothing and items featuring wildlife, including photos
from world-famous wolf photographer Jim Brandenburg.


* Enter and bookmark our shopping portal to over 150 online
stores(including Amazon.com, REI, PetsMart, GreenMarketplace, L.L.Bean, H&R
Block, DiscoveryStore, Harry and David, Orvis, JCPenny, and Old Navy), and
these stores will make a 15% contribution to Defenders at no additional cost
to you. Go to: http://defenders.greatergood.com
<http://defenders.greatergood.com> .

<http://cgi.earthlink.net/joinnow/dw/index.jhtml?RN=400063534>

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DENlines is a bi-weekly publication of Defenders of Wildlife, a leading
national conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most
progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. It is known for its
effective leadership on endangered species issues, particularly predators
such as brown bears and gray wolves. Defenders also advocates new approaches
to wildlife conservation that protect species before they become endangered.
Founded in 1947, Defenders is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with more
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Defenders of Wildlife
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Copyright Defenders of Wildlife 2001