I am proud to live in the beautiful State of Oregon. My family and I enjoy our natural surroundings and lovely forests. To walk amongst the great trees brings my heart so much joy! It would be a terrible tragedy to destroy the delicate ecosystem in which we Oregonians have fought so hard to protect. Please read the letter below from Oregon Wild to see the danger our Oregon forests face today…

Dear Teri,

Last fall, we told you about Oregon’s 10 Most Endangered Places. Coming in at #8 on the list were the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests, threatened by a proposal to ramp up clear-cut logging.

Now, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) is set to approve this logging increase, and they need to hear from you! Tell them our state forests are vital for the salmon, wildlife, clean water, and recreational opportunities they provide!

Write a letter to ODF today and tell them to protect clean water, salmon, and recreation opportunities in our state forests.

Oregon prides itself on protecting its natural heritage, but what is being done to our state forests should be an embarrassment to every Oregonian. Instead of a legacy of abundant wildlife and clean water, we are leaving our children a heritage of clear cuts, mud slides, and wrecked rivers.

For decades, all forests in Oregon (including the Tillamook, Clatsop, Elliot, and Santiam state forests) were managed primarily for industrial timber production. As a result, most of our old-growth is gone and the species that rely on complex native forests are still vanishing.

Finally, in the 1990s, forest managers began using science to determine how their logging activities would impact things like salmon populations and water quality. Not surprisingly, clear-cutting doesn’t do wildlife and favors and doesn’t keep streams more pristine. Recognizing this, ODF refocused some of their management plans towards restoring more old-growth forest habitat, calling for an even 50/50 split between timber emphasis and forest protection.

Now, they plan to do away with any sense of balance and ramp up clear-cutting on up to 70 percent of State Forest land.

We need to tell them that protecting only 30 percent of our state forests isn’t enough. Write a letter before the January 29th comment deadline here.

With approximately 50% of Oregon’s forests in private hands (and subject to a constant rotation of industrial logging), it is imperative that we protect the small portion of forest land that we all own as Oregonians.

Thanks for standing up for the Tillamook and other state forests.

For wild forests,
Sean Stevens
Communications Associate
Oregon Wild

Salmon survival is at stake in the ODF decision to ramp up clear-cutting. (photo courtesy Wild Salmon Center)

Sumatran Tigers are the smallest sub-species, and they are critically endangered with around 350 tigers left in the wild. The Sumatran Tiger, as its name suggests, is found only on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.

Sumatran Tigers are distinctive for being the only subspecies to live in isolation on a large island they have been isolated from their cousins on mainland Asia for over 10,000 years; this happened after a rise in sea level.

At the turn of the 20th century, there were three subspecies of tiger in Indonesia – the Bali tiger (on Bali) the Javan tiger (Java) and the Sumatran. Today both the Bali and Javan tigers are EXTINCT and only the Sumatran tiger survives.

Sumatra prior to 1900 was largely covered in primary forest and the tiger was more or less found throughout the entire island. Today just 100 years later its distribution has become fragmented and substantially reduced. Although found in all the islands eight provinces in highly populated areas such as the provinces of North Sumatra and Lampung, the animal has been squeezed out. It is sad to not that only about 350 wild Sumatran tigers are believed to exist, primarily in the island’s five national parks.

Greatest Threats

Today the greatest threat to the Sumatran Tiger is Man. In Sumatra, tiger habitat is shrinking fast with timber resources being exploited on a large scale. The tiger in Sumatra faces precarious prospects if its present distribution continue to be substantially reduced and populations become small, fragmented and isolated from one another. Loss of their natural habitat often leads tigers to move into settled areas in search of food, where they then encounter problems.

Tiger poaching and the illegal trading of tiger parts and products is one of the most immediate threats to the Sumatran tiger. Chinese medicine has spread throughout Asia. Nearly every part of the tiger is reported to have healing properties from the eyeball-a treatment for epilepsy to the whiskers – a cure for tooth ache.

Symbolic History of the Tiger

Tigers (and all other carnivores) are descended from civet-like animals called miacids that lived alongside the DINOSAURS about 60 million years ago. Fossil remains have been found which put the tiger in Indonesia 2 million years ago

Images of tigers have been discovered as far back as 1700 B.C. (4,000 years ago) and throughout history the tiger has been a symbol of both power and strength. Used as executioners in Asian courts; for entertainment in European gladiatorial combats; and as a status symbol for monarchs.

Tigers have long been thought to hold some mystical, supernatural power. The shang people of China believed tigers (lau hu) were messengers between the human and spirit world, images of tigers were placed upon tombs to warn off evil spirits. In the Hindu religion Shiva the destroyer rides a tiger (Bagh) and wears a tiger skin, followers of Buddah ride tigers to show their supernatural ability to overcome evil. Forest dwellers of India built shrines and temples to worship them, Islam followers in Sumatra believe tigers (rimau) punish sinners on behalf of Allah.

Captive Tigers in Zoos

Approximately 361 captive Sumatran Tigers live in zoos around the world. In addition to the 119 Sumatran tigers living in Indonesian zoos, there are 73 tigers managed by North American zoos, 98 in European zoos, and 2 8in Australasian zoos. (Source International Tiger Studbook – courtesy of Zoological Society of London)

More Information about Donations

If you feel inclined to help the survival of these wondrous and beautiful wild creatures, you may visit the Sumatran Tiger Trust, and become a proud foster parent of a wild Sumatran Tiger.

100% of money raised finances tiger monitoring, habitat preservation, community development, anti poaching patrols, park ranger training and the purchase of essential field equipment. (Activities managed under the Sumatran Tiger Conservation Programme, a collaborative conservation partnership with the Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (PHKA) of the Indonesian Department of Forestry.)
It is this field equipment – notably remote cameras that have provided us with these magnificent rare shots of these otherwise elusive wild, free animals going about their daily lives within Sumatra’s National Parks.

Your generosity will entitle you to a certificate of adoption, complete with a photograph of your chosen tiger. Also, we promise to keep you informed of your tigers progress and update you on sightings and in recognition of your support will add your name to the roll of honor to be displayed in the park and on the website.

In a perfect world, humans would know better than to blatantly abuse the gifts this Earth once boasted in great abundance. We would not hunt animals unless they present a danger to our lives or our little ones. Wolves could coexist alongside us, surviving in their remote regions, in which they were placed upon this planet to roam. Life on this planet, in the natural realms, would continue to evolve in a manner consistant with the nature of things. This is what creates the natural balance in our lives as well. This is how Life on this planet was meant to be.

It is clear to me that there is no reason good enough to condone such brutal behaviour as the senseless slaughter of Wolves, young and old. It is such a waste of time, energy, and the intelligence we are granted with. This is not even a battle we should be fighting. The World has much greater issues, and our focus should be on the positive, as well as creating a viable world in which to live in. A world in which Wolves are an integral part of.

I am here to share the latest news from Defenders of Wildlife. The battle to save our four legged friends is still going strong, and we cannot let the killing continue! Please find it in your heart and spirit to pass the word along, and do what you feel you can to save these beautiful, graceful beings we name Wolves.

Teri,

Wolf packs in Alaska again face savage slaughter from death squads using helicopters and airplanes to kill these helpless animals.

Please help Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund win the Congressional votes we need to end this unnecessary and cruel practice once and for all.

More than 1,000 wolves have been shot dead by aerial shooters who chase the poor animals to exhaustion in the deep snow. The animals are shot from the air and left wounded to die a slow and agonizing death or pursued and shot at point-blank range after the plane has landed.

We’ve had success telling this horrible story to more and more representatives and senators and securing their votes for the Protect America’s Wildlife (PAW) Act — H.R. 3381 and S. 1535 — federal legislation to end Alaska’s awful, unscientific and unnecessary aerial wolf killing and prevent this brutal practice from spreading to other states.

Our vote count stands at 121 representatives and 4 senators. But with another deadly aerial wolf killing season on the horizon, we must redouble our efforts to get the votes to stop it.

Donate today to help save the lives of wolves from Alaska’s aerial wolf-killing programs.

Your donation today will help us convince Congress to pass the PAW Act and educate more Americans about the awful practice championed by former Governor Sarah Palin. 

Palin’s handpicked Board of Game has escalated the aerial killing of wolves, and we need your help to mobilize more citizens (we’ve already generated tens of thousands of messages to senators) to win passage of the PAW Act and stop brutal and unnecessary aerial wolf killing.

To make sure these voices are heard, our staff will be collecting messages from constituents and delivering them in personal meetings with representatives and senators. We will dedicate literally hundreds of work hours in the coming weeks to this important effort.

Will you help support our work to save these magnificent wolves?

Our wolves don’t have a voice, but Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund does. With your help, we can ensure that the story of these magnificent animals is heard on Capitol Hill. Please make your contribution to save wolves today. 

For the wild ones,

 

Rodger Schlickeisen President Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

P.S. Aerial gunners will soon be taking to the sky in helicopters and airplanes to slaughter defenseless wolves. With your help, we can end this cruel and unnecessary killing by passing the PAW Act. Please make a secure donation online now. 

 

Mitaku ye oyasin (All my relations)… I would like to pass along a very important message, from a sister who walks the Lakota path as I do, concerning our Sacred Earth. Prayers are needed, as well as action from those who know what to do, to help save the land from unnecessary desecration. Please look into your hearts and find the time to send out a message to preserve our lands… Pilama ye for your time in this urgent matter.

“Good Morning,

Carolyn Gray”

EarthWorks takes Action

Rio Tinto and BHP – Billiton have created a subsidiary that is proposing to mine a rich copper vein more than 7,000 feet below sea level east of Superior, Arizona. As a first step, Rio Tinto is currently shopping around a land exchange bill that would end an executive order banning mining from Oak Flat Campground and privitize more that 3,000 acres of public land.

Concerned citizens are worried about the loss of Oak Flat Campground, a very popular recreation area. Birders, climbers, campers, canyoneers, bikers, and hikers enjoy the area throughout the year, all of whom would be greatly harmed if these lands were forever taken from public access. Western Apache people have traditionally used the area for cultural, spiritual, and subsistance. The land exchange would include Apache Leap, a cliff where more than 80 Apache warriors chose to leap to their deaths rather than surrender to the US calvary.

Both the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the White Mountain Apache Tribe has passed unanimous reslutions opposing the mine and land exchange. In addition, the Concerned Citizens and Retired Miners Association in Superior, AZ has been meeting regularly opposing the land exchange and is circulating a petition.

Of all the horrors on this planet, I find the use of animals for the pleasure of humans (those with a very sick nature), to be one of the most despicable. It is rather disgusting to think people actually pay money to view a creature being used in ways that totally disrespect their nature, and dishonors our guardianship over those less capable of protecting themselves.

The atrocities commited on a daily basis really makes me wonder which is the better role, being a human, or being an animal. At least animals, when left alone in their true habitat, are true to their own basic nature and have no wish to control the world around them. Some humans behave in such a way as to show they are more inhuman than they would like to think. Pehaps if this treatment by humans, of animals against their will, were reversed… well then one might take a step back and see just how sick some people really are.

I would like to point the way to a rather disturbing example of why I find a world where humans mistakenly believe they have the power over animals to do things that go against their basic nature so abhorrent. 10 Animals Being Used for Human Entertainment is just a very small example of how widespread this travesty truly is.

I find no amusement in the disrespectful treatment of those beings the Creator has placed upon this planet as part of the Great Balance. Who are we to take advantage of the wild ones who live alongside us? There is only shame in such treatment. We can stop this simply by not participating, and letting our voices be heard in protest of these bizarre practices. Most people don’t even think about it, but it is the darker part of human nature which turns a blind eye to the dishonor we show when we condone such behaviour.

In the next few weeks, the U.S. Forest Service plans to reopen a
road that runs through the heart of grizzly bear habitat in
Wyoming’s Sweetwater Valley.

Please go to www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction and urge the
Forest Service to keep the road permanently closed.

With encroaching development on nearby lands, the Sweetwater
Valley — inside the Shoshone National Forest — has become a
secure oasis for threatened and imperiled wildlife.

In the eight years that the road has been closed, an abundance
of wildlife has thrived here, including grizzly bears, wolves,
lynx, cougars and moose.

In fact, grizzlies that have just come out of hibernation are
grazing right now on grass and other plants found in the valley.

There is no rationale for the Forest Service’s proposal to
reopen the road, which leads nowhere and has languished for
years. Reopening the road would only disturb and threaten the
Sweetwater Valley’s wilderness and wildlife.

Please go to www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction right away and
urge the Forest Service to leave the road closed. Time is
running out, as forest officials plan to reopen the road in the
next few weeks.

Thank you for taking action to protect our remaining western
wildlands.

When I first began to blog about the Earth and the natural world, I knew it would not be easy. Sometimes I become overwhelmed with all of the avoidable tragedies occuring on a global scale. Some days I feel it is a downhill battle, and I become discouraged. Yet most days I am optimistic, and strive for a better place for all of us (man and animal alike) to live in a harmonious balance. I have been in the middle of an unpleasant battle on my own homefront. My family is in turmoil, and I am falling short of my environmental and nature goals. This does not mean I have given up. It just means my skills as a parent and concientious human being have been shifted to a different front as of late.

Today I would like to share a message which touches upon a subject dear to my heart. I have followed the journey of Koko the Gorilla for a very long time. I love all animals, yet Koko has endeared herself quite soundly! Let’s take a few moments to delve into the most current chapter of Koko’s story, and see what we can do to help out…

I wanted to share some exciting news with you ? the United Nations has declared 2009 The Year of the Gorilla. I urge you to observe this with us by renewing your commitment to the Gorilla Foundation today.

During this special year, we all need to intensify our efforts to raise awareness and encourage action.? Gorillas need more than a stimulus package; they need a safety net. Your gift today will allow us to:

Please donate today

Thank you so very much, and please accept my deepest gratitude for your generous donations during this very special year.

Penny and Koko

Penny Patterson, President and Director of Research
Koko, “Fine animal gorilla person”

PS: When you donate, you’ll receive an official Gorilla Foundation membership card (above right) and unique gorilla bookmarks (right) in addition to all of our other membership benefits. If you’ve already renewed your support (or are an APE member) thank you so much!

Let’s take a look at what’s going on with the amazingly graceful and beautiful creature known as the Sea Turtle…

Did you know that Sea Turtles are some of the planet’s most ancient and endangered creatures? Unfortunately, in recent years, hundreds of these Sea Turtles in the Gulf of Mexico have been killed or injured by an indiscriminate fishing practice known as bottom longline fishing. This is a cruel way to die, and we must put a stop to it!

Please help us save sea turtles. Take action online at – Defenders of Gulf Turtles. Sign the petition, so we can avoid a costly court battle, which will leave the Sea Turtle extremely vulnerable, as time is wasted on such a venture.

Between July 2006 and the end of 2007, the government estimates that the Gulf of Mexico bottom longline fishery, which targets reef fish like grouper and tilefish, resulted in the capture of nearly 1,000 threatened and endangered Sea Turtles — and that in more than 80% of these incidents, the turtles were injured or killed.

Six of seven species of Sea Turtles are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and indiscriminate fishing practices are a grave threat to sea turtles around the world. Loggerheads nesting on Florida beaches — the same turtles captured in the Gulf of Mexico bottom longline fishery — have plummeted by more than 40% over the last decade.

We need to take action right now to save Sea Turtles. Please take action online today at – Defenders of Gulf Turtles.

Thanks for taking the time to help save this endangered species…

I was afraid to look at this horrifying news, as I did not really want to see the horrible impact on the environment and the community. It really makes me angry to see such destruction caused through ignorance and neglect, and the magnitude of this disaster is mind boggling. The breach of a pond dam full of toxic sludge at the Kingston Steam Plant, which brought destruction across the Roane County countryside and into East Tennessee waterways, will create such a huge magnitude of lasting and far reaching deadly consequences as to break ones heart. The families living in the area are in extreme danger, as this giant river of toxic sludge plowed through homes and into the rivers and lake, and the government needs to wake up NOW and clean this mess up!

Although it will take much just to get these families to a safe place and compensation for their losses, too much damage has been done. The first estimate from TVA claimed just over a million cubic yards had roared across the area following the collapse of a dike wall holding back the coal ash waste. They tripled that amount, again “estimating” the total was more like 5.4 million cubic yards, yet as they are not forthcoming with information or accountability I believe the true amount is much more.

The impact on nature and the environment is heartbreaking to contemplate. Looking on the horrifying devastation from images and videos makes me shudder, and I cannot even imagine what it looks and feels like in person. From personal accounts it is a nightmare; a nightmare people are not going to wake up from anytime soon. One would think people learn from their mistakes and we would have evolved enough by now, and know not to play with toxic waste. How are we going to clean this up? It hasn’t even stopped moving, and by the time it reaches the ocean it will have poisoned the land for many, many miles.

I simply cannot express the scope of this horrifying event without crying my heart out for the land and the people, so if you want more information and updates as this event unfolds please visit –> Knoxvillebiz to find a link roundup full of news and articles relating to Tennessee’s latest environmental disaster.

It appears our government officials are unsuprisingly absent on this one, and it’s up to the people to push this to the front of the table. We need to get the word out and stay on top of things, as we cannot allow this to happen again elsewhere. This is bigger than some people think, and we need to fight to get the attention and help that will be needed to contain this disaster as much as possible. I cannot believe they are not all over this, but that is just me. I tend to want to believe other people think like me, and it just isn’t so.