Sorry this is so long, some of it is two cut and pasted press releases. In the spirit of know your opposition, I just thought this info was interesting:
In Tom Remington, Dir of DOW's memo, he wrote about how many on our side pointed to the WildEarth Guardians efforts as being a 'toe in the door' for further hunting restrictions. He validated this concern, citing a previous effort by Sinapu when in the recent past it apparently sued the CO DOW to ban ALL trapping after 'Amendment 14' was passed with the intent of ONLY banning "unethical leg hold and body-gripping snares." He clearly advised the commissioners of these ARA's tactics.
Given this Sinapu's previous efforts, it was interesting to me that they
merged with the Forest Guardians to become the WildEarth Guardians, complete with a $1.5 mil budget and now including CO offices in both Denver and Boulder. Their plans and tactics are clear as day.
Like others here, my guess is that they aren't just going away any time soon. I believe this war will consist of numerous battles in several arenas, from p/r to the courts and ballot box.
Consider organizing with the other groups on our side. It's a pain in the a$$ but these WildEarth people have a decent budget and p/r like this gets them more $$$. I'd say keep the NRA-ILA on this, too. Be proactive, not just reactive. The time to hit them back is now, before they take their next action. Look at their finances, are they properly structured to permit political activity? Look at their people. Do they all pay their taxes? Any have wants warrants, etc.? Everybody current on their child support? You get the idea.
How about letters to the editor of every CO newspaper? Some possible points to raise: Thank the CWC for its reliance on
science and
the law to reach its decision on 'rodent control.' This is a great service that will save lots of livestock, especially horses and everybody would rather see a plague-ridden rodent (not too far from a RAT, really) go rather than a friendly, young girl-loving, personable, doe-eyed HORSE, wouldn't they? And shame on DU School of Law for permitting a student to write and file a petition containing demonstrably false allegations, not correctly supported by credible citations to authority. Clearly, the professor advisor wasn't exercising proper oversight of the students. DU has a responsibility to the community to at least be honest and ethical, blah, blah...
Proactive: Hit them now, en masse, to put THEM on the defensive. Just vary the different letters somewhat, but have each author mass email them to the CO papers. I'd do that asap, while this is still fresh in folk's minds. Also, what about talk radio there? Try to get this one the air as much as possible by calling into various local shows. Don't limit it to the hunting fishing shows, get on the local shows on the stations that carry Limbaugh, Hannity, etc.
Again, IMHO. I'm just presenting some ideas. I know these kinds of people all too well and I don't want anyone to underestimate what you are up against. They are like cockroaches. By publicising their defeat and their character as liars you will really help yourselves. Remember, these people believe their cause justifies them saying or doing anything to win. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Press Release
DATE: 1/28/2008
Conservation Groups Merge To Create a Force of Nature for the American West's Wild Places, Wildlife and Wild Rivers
Group Expands to Westwide Scope, Retains Fierce Approach - Forest Guardians and Sinapu, two regional conservation groups have joined forces to create a stronger organization to protect and restore wild places, wildlife and wild rivers of the West.
Santa Fe, NM - Forest Guardians and Sinapu, two regional conservation groups have joined forces to create a stronger organization to protect and restore the wild places, wildlife and wild rivers in the American West. The new organization, , creates a conservation force that will pressure policy-makers and government agencies to better protect and restore the lands, wildlife and waters from the Great Plains and Desert Southwest across the Rockies and through the Intermountain West.
For nearly two decades Sinapu, based in Boulder, Colorado, has worked to defend and restore large carnivores across the Southern Rockies while Forest Guardians has worked to protect and restore national forests, endangered species and rivers in the Greater Southwest. Integrating and expanding upon the two groups' specialties, WildEarth Guardians has four core programs: Wildlife, Wild Rivers, Wild Places and Climate & Energy.
"We've created a bigger, bolder and better organization to achieve our goals to restore wolves across the West, protect iconic western rivers such as the Rio Grande and keep wild places like the Sagebrush Sea intact," said John Horning, Executive Director of WildEarth Guardians. "With the merger and other staff additions we've assembled a powerful team of incredibly talented, passionate and hard-working advocates for wild nature," Horning added.
Both organizations collaborated closely over the last two years and agreed to merge a year ago. WildEarth Guardians will continue to do much of the same work, but has also amplified its strategic focus in several critical respects.
"The work of restoring and protecting wild carnivores will be enhanced considerably as a result of this merger," said Wendy Keefover-Ring, formerly of Sinapu, and now the Carnivore Protection Director for WildEarth Guardians. "We will have more resources to defend habitats and key corridors for large carnivores," she added.
Among WildEarth Guardians priorities are: restoring wolves to the American West, including protecting Mexican wolves in the Gila bioregion and reintroducing wolves to the Southern Rockies; protecting the Rio Grande from its headwaters in Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico; restoring keystone species such as prairie dogs across the American West; restoring wildfire as a natural and restorative process in healthy western forest ecosystems; abolishing the USDA's Wildlife Services wildlife-killing program; and inspiring residents of the West's urban and rural communities to become a cohesive and powerful voice for the protection of wild nature.
Two other new developments at WildEarth Guardians that parallel the merger announcement and name change include the creation of a new Climate & Energy program and the formal integration of the Sagebrush Sea Campaign into WildEarth Guardians.
The Sagebrush Sea Campaign, which had been a sponsored project of Forest Guardians until recently, focuses on protecting and restoring the vast sagebrush-steppe landscape in the Interior West. To protect native wildlife and ecosystems of the Sagebrush Sea, the Campaign Director, Mark Salvo, will lead WildEarth Guardians' efforts to obtain Endangered Species Act protection for the Greater sage-grouse, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse and Gunnison sage-grouse. These three iconic grouse species have dwindled precipitously in the recent past because of habitat destruction due to livestock grazing, energy exploitation, and urban development.
The Climate & Energy program will fight fossil fuel extraction including coal and oil and gas while promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency. "Unless we do more to bring about a shift away from dirty energy and towards clean, renewable energy and efficiency, the climate crisis is going to have a devastating effect on the wild places, wildlife and wild rivers of the American West," said Robert Ukeiley, the Climate & Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians.
WildEarth Guardians also has its own legal department. The organization has hired four staff attorneys over the last year to provide the legal muscle necessary to enforce environmental law and ensure that government agencies are protecting wildlands, imperiled species, biodiversity and clean air and water. In the past the organizations have relied exclusively on outside law firms.
"The law is one of our most powerful tools to protect our public lands and endangered species," said Jay Tutchton, WildEarth Guardians' general counsel, who has successfully brought about the protection of more than 100 endangered species. "By having experienced litigators on the Guardians team, we can move quickly and make sure that endangered species have a fighting chance."
WildEarth Guardians has 18 staff members-15 full-time and 3 part-time-and a budget of nearly $1.5 million in 2008. The group has offices in Denver, Boulder, Santa Fe and Phoenix as well as more than 10,000 members and e-activists from all across the country, the majority of whom live in the Four Corners states.
While the merger, name change and staff additions are each new and different, much will remain the same about the organization's work according to Horning. "A WildEarth Guardian is a staunch guardian for wild nature with legal and ethical duties in the same way that guardians are appointed by the courts to represent the interests of children. That core value has always been with us and it will always be at the heart of our work," continued Horning.
"Our mission is to protect the wild and we will use the law and mobilize the public to make sure wild nature in the West is defended and restored," said Horning. "This is an exciting time to be a Guardian-both new and old."
John Horning, Executive Director, 505-988-9126 x1153
Wendy Keefover-Ring, Carnivore Protection Director, 303-447-8655, x1
Mark Salvo, Sagebrush Sea Campaign Director, 503-757-4221
Staff Profile and Contact Information
Note that 4 are lawyers
Bryan Bird, MS is WildEarth Guardians’ Wild Places Program Director and has more than a decade of experience in National Forest policy and management. He is responsible for monitoring and challenging proposed activities on public lands such as off-road vehicles, logging, and road building that threaten ecologically significant areas within the Southern Rockies, the Gila Bioregion, and the Sagebrush Sea. He also oversees WildEarth Guardians' hands-on ecosystem restoration projects.
bbird@wildearthguardians.org, 505-988-9126 x1157
Rosie Brandenberger, WildEarth Guardians' Communications Director, is responsible for all marketing and public relations materials including the organization's newsletter, website, e-communications, brochures, advertisements, and distribution of press release releases. She also works with the Associate Director and Office Manager on event planning and preparation as well as fundraising appeals.
rbrandenberger@wildearthguardians.org, 505-988-9126 x1155
Lori Colt is the Office Manager of WildEarth Guardians’ Santa Fe location. Lori manages the membership database, coordinates public events and manages the organization’s volunteer and internship programs. Lori also manages the day-to-day office issues and provides support to all conservation staff.
lcolt@wildearthguardians.org, 505-988-9126 x1151
Rob Edward is the Carnivore Recovery Director for WildEarth Guardians. Rob has worked on issues pertaining to the restoration and protection of wolves and other carnivores since 1994. In his present capacity, he oversees the scientific, political and public policy aspects of the organization's efforts to restore wolves, grizzly bears, lynx, wolverine and other large carnivores to the American West.
redward@wildearthguardians.org, 303-447-8655 x2
Billie Gutgsell is WildEarth Guardians’ Outreach Coordinator. Billie works to build community awareness of and support for bears, cougars and other wildlife. Billie also manages the Boulder, Colorado office and works to support the staff located there.
bgutgsell@wildearthguardians.org, 303-447-8655
Melissa Hailey, JD, is a Staff Attorney for WildEarth Guardians. Melissa identifies and pursues legal challenges to reduce public lands grazing and protect endangered species and their habitats. Melissa’s work focuses on safeguarding the wildness of the Gila bioregion, a priority of which includes restoring viable populations of the Mexican gray wolf to the American Southwest.
mhailey@wildearthguardians.org, 505-988-9126 x1159
John Horning is the Executive Director of WildEarth Guardians and oversees all conservation programs. He directs the organization’s Wild Rivers program, the primary focus of which is to assure that federal and state water policies and agencies protect and restore western rivers and the endangered fish and wildlife that depend on them.
jhorning@wildearthguardians.org, 505-988-9126 x1153
Wendy Keefover-Ring, Carnivore Protection Director, works to advance progressive state and federal management policies for and to educate the public and decision-makers about wild native carnivores such as coyotes, black bears, and mountain lions. A long-standing conservation priority of her work is to reform the federal Wildlife Services agency, which kills approximately 2 million wild creatures annually.
wkeefover-ring@wildearthguardians.org, 303-447-8655 x1
Lauren McCain, PhD, Desert and Grassland Projects Director, works on protecting and restoring focal species and public lands in these fragile landscapes. Key projects include conserving biodiversity hotspots in the southern prairie; promoting stricter conservation standards on National Grasslands; and advancing Endangered Species Act protection of deserved grassland and desert wildlife including prairie dogs, lesser prairie-chicken, and mountain plovers.
lmccain@wildearthguardians.org, 303-573-4898
Jim Matison is WildEarth Guardians’ Restoration Projects Director and leads efforts to restore riparian/wetland ecosystems with hands-on habitat restoration projects on private, public, and state school trust lands. He also directs the organization’s restoration projects on National Forests, which entail closing roads as a means to restore forest ecosystems.
jmatison@wildearthguardians.org, 505-988-9126 x1154
Carol Norton, Associate Director for WildEarth Guardians, is responsible for development opportunities and works with donors, foundations and members. She also oversees all organization events as well as administrative tasks including financial accountability, information technology, and internal systems.
cnorton@wildearthguardians.org, 505-988-9126 x1150
Nicole Rosmarino, PhD directs the Wildlife Program at WildEarth Guardians, which works to protect and restore native wildlife and plants throughout the West. Nicole protects species on the brink through legal enforcement of the Endangered Species Act by catalyzing listings, critical habitat designations, and adequate recovery efforts.
nrosmarino@wildearthguardians.org, 505-988-9126 x1156
Mark Salvo, JD is Director of the Sagebrush Sea Campaign for WildEarth Guardians. The campaign focuses public attention and conservation resources on protecting and restoring the vast sagebrush-steppe landscape of the Interior West. Mark leads efforts to
obtain Endangered Species Act protection for the Greater sage grouse, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse and Gunnison sage grouse.
msalvo@wildearthguardians.org, 503-757-4221 (c)
Rebecca Sobel is the Conservation Organizer for WildEarth Guardians. Rebecca works to mobilize citizens to participate in priority conservation initiatives in order to create political support at state and federal levels for positive conservation decisions. She also manages the organization’s activist network.
rsobel@wildearthguardians.org, 505-988-9126 x1152
Jay Tutchton, JD is the organization’s General Counsel and in this role manages the legal staff and litigation docket. Either independently or with the assistance of outside counsel, he pursues litigation to advance WildEarth Guardians’ programs.
jtutchton@wildearthguardians.org, 720-301-3843 (c)
Robert Ukeiley, JD is the Director of the Climate and Energy Program as well as serving as a Staff Attorney for that program. He works on advocacy campaigns and litigation aimed at lessening the impacts from the use and extraction of fossil fuels as well as encouraging the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency.
rukeiley@wildearthguardians.org, 720-563-9306 (c)
