July 13, 2007

It’s getting hot, so you know what that means – dogs being left in cars. The death of a bulldog in Boulder shows that this is often a fatal decision. If you see a dog in a car in even reasonably warm weather – even for a short time – do not hesitate to speak up. Putting a flier on the car may educate the driver, but it may not be enough to save the dog’s life. Either call the police or (whenever possible) go into the nearest store and ask the manager to make an announcement. PETA has a great flier on this topic that you can print out.

Attention bakers, cake-makers and fans of all things indulgent: RMAD’s 2nd Annual All You Can Eat Pie Party is  just over a month away. It will again take place at Boulder’s beautiful Chautauqua Park, and will again feature tons of pie and cake for stuffing your face. There will be no speaker this time – simply eating, lounging around, more eating, and then hopefully some more eating. It takes place at 1 p.m,, so you can simply skip that salad for lunch and come have pie (right up until dinner time, at which point you can have more pie).  

And we need pies! If you can bake a pie (or cake or cupcakes), please let us know. Shoot an email to Art Lundquist if you want to help out.

This week RMAD assisted the Prairie Dog Coalition in creating an ad for media located near South Dakota’s Conata Basin. Plans have been hatched to poison thousands of prairie dogs on this national land, which would not only kill prairie dogs in a horrifically cruel, drawn-out manner, but would also jeopardize the recovery effort of the black-footed ferret, North America’s most endangered mammal. For that reason, many would argue that Conata Basin is the most critical prairie dog colony in the country at this time.

The black-footed ferret depends on large prairie dog towns for food, shelter and raising its young. About 250 ferrets live in the basin– the largest wild population among the 13 sites where reintroduction of the species has been attempted. The plan stems from more complaints from the ranchers who graze their cattle on the public land. Even though the U.S. Forest Service generates a mere $3,300 a year from these grazing permittees, the government is again bending to political pressure by even considering this heinous poisoning plan.

TAKE ACTION! Please write a polite, succinct letter to Don Bright, Nebraska National Forest Supervisor. A sample text is provided, and we encourage you to customize it with your own words.

Dear Mr. Bright,

I am writing in regards to the Black-tailed Prairie Dog Management Plan recently proposed by the Nebraska National Forest and Associated Units. I request that the Forest Service drop this plan and take no action. Americans do not want any more of our taxpayer dollars spent spreading dangerous poisons on our grasslands and killing keystone species. Furthermore, I support prairie dog protection and black-footed ferret recovery on our public lands, and ask that priority be given to these species.

You can contact Mr. Bright by mailing your letter to Don Bright, Nebraska National Forest Supervisor, 125 N. Main St. Chadron, NE, 69337, or via email at comments-rocky-mountain-nebraska@fs.fed.us, with the subject line: 2007 Black-tailed Prairie Dog Comments

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.