WILDALERT NEWS: March 2009 Update

WildAlert Community News March 2009

IN THIS ISSUE:

* Welcome
* Take Action
* Support Our Work
* Inside Story
* News

PACIFIC WALRUS

Pacific walrus mothers and young spend most of their lives at sea, making them particularly vulnerable to Arctic Ocean oil spills.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS

Tell Your Friends about Wilderness Society News today

Your purchases can help protect wilderness if you use The Wilderness Society/BAC credit card.

WELCOME

With a new administration in place, we're seeing some good signs for the future of wild lands. However, not all is rosy just yet. Unfortunately, I have some alarming news to report.

The Minerals Management Service is considering offering more leases to the oil and gas industry in a 73-million-acre area of Arctic Ocean waters off Alaska's northern coast. That's an area the size of Arizona!

These waters are the lifeblood of Pacific walruses, polar bears, endangered bowhead whales, sea birds, and many other special creatures that are already struggling in the face of climate change.

What's so disturbing is that there's no safe way to drill there. Studies show that even seismic testing of potential drilling sites has an impact on marine animals. The MMS' own research found that crude oil and petroleum spills are inevitable, and they predict a 40% chance of a major oil spill.

Oil exploration will only exacerbate survival-related stresses for animals of the Arctic Ocean. Please join me in asking the Obama Administration to put a hold on this project until there's enough research to fully understand the impacts drilling would have on the abundant creatures that depend on Arctic waters.

Thank you for all you do to protect our wildlands and wildlife.

Best wishes,
Kathy Kilmer

P.S. Be sure to check out the status of the historic piece of wilderness legislation you've helped move through Congress.

________________________________

Take Action

The Minerals Management Service is considering allowing more leases for unsafe oil and gas drilling in Arctic Ocean waters where Pacific walrus, polar bears, endangered bowhead whales, sea birds, and other creatures struggle for survival.

These animals are struggling under the stresses of climate change. Oil exploration and drilling will only make survival more difficult by exposing marine life to booming seismic testing, air and water pollution, and oil spills for which no ice-water cleanup technology exists. Help us protect this fragile ecosystem by halting the leases.

________________________________

Support Our Work

Protect Alaska's Wildlife – Donate Today!

Polar bears, walruses, and other animals that call the Arctic Ocean home are at risk from declining sea ice, just one of the effects of climate change. These animals would be subjected to even more harm if the Minerals Management Service (MMS) moves forward on new oil and gas leases in a 73 million acre swath of the Arctic Ocean.

We must stop this misguided plan. Despite the fact that no technology yet exists to clean up spills in icy waters, the MMS predicts over 900 small crude oil and petroleum spills and a 40% chance of a major spill, putting Arctic Ocean wildlife and the native communities that depend up on them at substantial risk.

Please make an emergency donation today to help The Wilderness Society protect Arctic wildlife from oil and gas drilling, and thank you for your help.

________________________________

Inside Story

The Scoop on Pending Wilderness Legislation

It's a thrilling time to be part of wilderness conservation. Since August, the WildAlert community has sent a resounding 120,000 letters to Congress in support of historic legislation that would protect spectacular places, from Oregon's Mount Hood to Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.

In January, your support helped the Omnibus Public Land Management Act gain passage in the Senate. Then in February, when the vote in the House of Representatives was expected to be razor close, you helped again, either by making phone calls or by sending letters. Since then, the House vote has been unexpectedly postponed, primarily because Congress has been focused, understandably, on passing the economic stimulus bill.

Our wilderness lobbyists are in daily contact with House members about this bill, and we know that House leadership considers the bill to be a priority. Unfortunately, it is impossible to say with certainty when the House will vote, but we expect the timeframe to be within weeks. We know you want to see a victorious resolution as much as we do. That's why we must persist until there is a final vote and this well-deserving legislation becomes law. Until then, we hope you'll continue to be part of this historic effort.

________________________________

In the News

Wild Lands Spared from Dirty Oil Shale Development...For Now

Good news! The Secretary of Interior has cancelled the Bush Administration's second round of public land leases for oil shale research and development. The cancellation gives the public needed time to weigh-in on oil shale development before wild lands are leased. Not only is oil shale believed to be economically unviable, but it's one of dirtiest fuels on the planet. Learn about it here.
http://action.wilderness.org/ct/Spd1I6E1fmsK/

Yet More Calls to Drill Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

While there's a lot of positive change afoot in Washington, some things just never seem to change. One of those is the Alaska congressional delegation's single-minded determination to drill in one of America's last true wilderness areas, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This is in addition to calls for drilling in the wildlife rich Arctic Ocean. Read more.
http://action.wilderness.org/ct/S1d1I6E1fms-/

Remembering Wallace Stegner

The Wilderness Society has been guided by truly remarkable leaders in conservation. Renowned western writer Wallace Stegner was one of them. In February, the beloved author and member of The Wilderness Society Governing Council would have turned 100. We celebrate his life here
http://action.wilderness.org/ct/S7d1I6E1fmsD/

________________________________

Words to Inspire

"We are the most dangerous species of life on the planet, and every other species, even the earth itself, has cause to fear our power to exterminate. But we are also the only species which, when it chooses to do so, will go to great effort to save what it might destroy."
- Wallace Stegner

________________________________

The Wilderness Society's mission is to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. As a subscriber to WildAlert, you join more than 310,000 Wilderness Society members and supporters in protecting and restoring America's wild places.

1615 M St, NW
Washington, DC 20036
1.800.THE.WILD
action@tws.org
www.wilderness.org