As America looks toward a new era of hope and change, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and special interests are working feverishly to expand her out-of-control wolf killing frenzy.

Governor Sarah Palin¿s aerial wolf-killing program is on a record deadly pace. Airborne sharpshooters have already gunned down 50 wolves this season.

How far will Sarah Palin go to slaughter wolves?

After state officials ruthlessly killed 14 orphaned wolf pups last year -- each with a bullet to the head -- Palin¿s Department of Fish & Game approved an aggressive policy allowing for the killing of wolf mothers and the savage shooting of newborn pups in their dens.

Now Sarah Palin is joining forces with the Alaska Outdoor Council (AOC) and other wealthy hunting lobby groups as they plan their push for legislation to expand the bloody wolf slaughter.

They¿ve already committed hundreds of thousands of dollars to expand the state-sponsored aerial wolf slaughter -- even into Alaska¿s pristine federal wildlife refuges.

With the incredible contributions from caring people like you, we were able to expose Palin¿s terrible record on wolves as she took to the national stage in last year¿s election -- helping to prevent Sarah Palin from becoming Vice President of the United States.

Now we need your support to end Sarah Palin¿s ghastly aerial wolf-killing program.

Defenders Action Fund will forcefully oppose Governor Palin and her Board of Game¿s plans to kill wolves to artificially boost game populations for out-of-state trophy hunters and fight the Palin/AOC-supported legislation to gun down even more wolves. We stopped her last year, and with your help, we can defeat her again.

But we¿re not stopping there. With a new leadership in Washington, DC comes real hope for wolves. In Congress, we can pass the Protect America¿s Wildlife (PAW) Act to end Governor Palin¿s aerial wolf slaughter -- and prevent programs like it from spreading to places like the Greater Yellowstone region. We¿ll work with the Obama Administration to close the deadly loophole that Palin exploits to kill more wolves.

And we¿ll continue to bring the fight nationwide by keeping Palin¿s wolf-slaughter program in the national spotlight.

This year, Governor Sarah Palin is aiming to slaughter more than 600 wolves in what could be the bloodiest aerial wolf-killing season ever -- now, with the help of wealthy special interests, she wants to expand the brutal program even more.

We can¿t let that happen.

Arctic, you've helped save animals across the continent in 2008;
From: Rodger Schlickeisen, Defenders of Wildlife (defenders@mail.defenders.org)
Sent: Tue 12/23/08 3:49 AM
To: arcticwolfx@msn.com

Can't read the message below? View it online now instead...
Defenders of Wildlife


Polar bear and cub (Norbert Rosing, National Geographic)

Happy Holidays! Thank you for helping us protect wildlife...
Seasons& greetings, Arctic!

Each year at this time, I like to write dedicated Defenders supporters like you to thank you for all that you helped us accomplish for the wildlife that you and I care about.

This year, I thought wed do something a bit different by showing you what an incredible difference you've made in 2008.

Please take a moment to check out some of the amazing ways you helped us protect wildlife in 2008;

Check out our interactive Google map of accomplishments

With your support, Defenders of Wildlife helped stop planned wolf hunts in Greater Yellowstone, secured protections for Americas vanishing polar bears under the Endangered Species Act, saved imperiled wolverines from trapping plans and won dozens more victories for our wildlife this year.

Learn about some of the great victories you helped make possible this year on our new interactive map.

As proud as I am of our accomplishments in 2008, I know that the year ahead will be challenging. The incoming Obama Administration offers new opportunities to address important conservation issues that have been ignored (and in many cases made worse) during the past eight years under the Bush/Cheney Administration.

In 2009, Defenders of Wildlife will need your help to;

*
End Governor Sarah Palins out-of-control wolf killing programs in Alaska;
*
Stop the outgoing Administrations plans to once again green-light the slaughter of wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies;
*
Reverse devastating eleventh hour regulations by the Bush/Cheney Administration that would gut the Endangered Species Act;
*
Pass legislation to help polar bears and other wildlife survive the threat of global warming;
*
And continue efforts on the ground, in the courts, in Congress and on the state and local levels to protect imperiled animals and the habitat they need to survive.

The accomplishments of this past year are just a preview of what we can do to safeguard wildlife for our children, grandchildren and future generations. Working together, I know that we can accomplish even more in the year ahead.

All the Best to You and Yours,

Rodger Schlickeisen, President Rodger Schlickeisen, President Signature
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife

All area's defenders are working to protect both wild and demestic animals

Dear Arctic,

The killing in the Greater Yellowstone region has already begun.

One of the first victims: Wolf 253M -- a celebrity wolf, affectionately known as Limpy.
Limpy was many things to many people -- to wolf-watchers, he was the hobbling member of Yellowstone's famous Druid Peak Pack. To Utahans, he was the first wolf to be seen in the state for more than 70 years.

But wolf s celebrity didn't save him in the end. Limpy and two other wolves were shot dead in an elk feeding ground, part of Wyoming's brutal shoot-on-sight policy that covers virtually the entire state.
Limpy's death was just the beginning. It's been 26 days since wolves were stripped of federal protections in the Greater Yellowstone area -- and at least 17 wolves have already been killed in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. And there are surely more to come.

Officials in Idaho changed their state law on the day wolves were delisted, making it far easier for anyone to kill wolves near livestock or domestic animals.

In Wyoming, state officials stripped all protection from wolves in 88% of the state. Locals have organized weekend eradication wolf hunts to kill any wolf that they find. One group tracked a wolf for 35 miles on snowmobiles before shooting it dead.[1]

K253M Limpy

ARCTIC WOLF

January 22, 2008



Dear Mr. Arctic Wolf:



Thank you for contacting me regarding the Protect America's Wildlife Act (H.R. 3663) and the practice of aerial wildlife hunting. I appreciate hearing from you and welcome the opportunity to respond.



You will be happy to know that I have co-sponsored H.R. 3663. This bill implements prohibitions of shooting wildlife from aircraft except when the state is authorized to do so for biological emergencies or the threat of species extinction. H.R. 3663 was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources on September 25, and then to the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans on September 27, 2007.



Like you, I share the belief that it is important to protect and preserve our natural wildlife populations. Throughout my time in Congress, I have worked hard to defend our most treasured and threatened ecosystems and will continue to do so. I have been diligent in my efforts to afford the highest degree of protection to our environmental resources and wildlife. I am proud to have helped preserve some of our most precious wildlife habitats in Washington State . As residents of Washington State , we are blessed to live in and among some of the most beautiful natural places in the world.



I am a proud member of the Congressional Wildlife Refuge Caucus. I believe it is important to protect these refugees and have been working in Congress to support refuges in Washington State . I have supported expansion and rehabilitation of the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in Thurston County and the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Clark County .



In addition, I founded the Congressional National Parks Caucus and introduced successful legislation to establish the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park at the mouth of the Columbia River . In 2005, I was successful in passing legislation to include a portion of the White Salmon River in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. This bill creates wild and scenic river protection for twenty miles of the Upper White Salmon River and its tributary, Cascade Creek, within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest .



Thank you, again, for contacting me on this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me again in the future if you have any further questions or concerns.





Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so in the future if I may be of further assistance. In addition, I invite you to visit my website at http://www.house.gov/baird/IMA/email.shtml and sign up for periodic email updates about my work in Congress.

Dear Arctic,

Ive got some great news!

Officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) say that they plan to rescind the agency's plan to delist gray wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies sometime soon and place them back under federal protections.

Thanks to your incredible efforts and support over the last few months, the Fish and Wildlife Service has finally bowed to reality by recognizing that there are serious scientific and legal problems with their plan for delisting wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

I am so proud of your efforts and grateful for your support in this fight. This important victory couldn't have happened without the efforts of tens of thousands of Defenders supporters, our dedicated staff and our conservation allies.

letter from defenders of wildlife.


Dear Arctic,

Congratulations! Your Representative, Brian Baird , has joined the fight against aerial hunting of wolves as a cosponsor of the Protect America's Wildlife (PAW) Act.

Thank your Representative for taking a stand against this brutal and unnecessary practice. Send your message now

As Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund's lead advocate in Washington, I spend a lot of time on Capitol Hill. One thing that's become crystal clear as I've met with Congressional offices over the last several weeks is that caring people like you are making a powerful difference in our fight to end aerial hunting of wolves.

So far, supporters of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund and our sister organization Defenders of Wildlife have generated almost 118,000 messages in support of federal legislation to close the loophole that has allowed Alaskan officials to license private hunters to use low-flying aircraft to harass and kill almost 700 wolves.

And thousands of dedicated activists picked up the phone and personally called their Members of Congress to urge them to cosponsor the PAW Act.

These calls, emails and faxes are making a real difference. Seventy Representatives -- including yours -- have now joined the fight to end aerial hunting, with more signing on to cosponsor the PAW Act every day.

Please take a moment to thank your Representative for supporting this important legislation. Send a message now.

We're making progress in the fight to end aerial hunting of wolves, but we've got a long way to go. We've got plenty planned in the weeks ahead, so please stay tuned for details on other ways you can help.

With great appreciation,

Robert Dewey
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

Wolf death toll: 37
The mass killing of wolves in the Northern Rockies has begun. But NRDC is fighting back in federal court to save hundreds more from slaughter...

The government-sanctioned massacre of wolves is now under way..

A mere 30 days after the Bush Administration stripped Yellowstone's wolves of their Endangered Species protection, the Northern Rockies have been turned into a killing field..

Thirty-seven wolves are already dead. Hundreds more are being targeted by Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, which have waited years for this chance to put their plans for extermination into action..

But today there is reason for hope: America's best wildlife legal team is riding to the rescue..

Our partner organization, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) -- and 11 other groups -- filed suit this week in federal court to stop the killing and restore the wolf's desperately needed Endangered Species protection..

The court action comes not a moment too soon. Eyewitness reports of the latest wolf-killing rampage have been heartbreaking to people all over the world who care about wildlife..

On the very day that these wolves lost their Endangered Species protection, a crippled wolf named "Limpy," one of the most photographed wolves in Yellowstone's famous Druid Peak pack, was shot to death when he ventured outside the park..

Another wolf was stalked for over 35 miles by snowmobile before being overtaken and shot. Another was found dead on the side of the highway, his still-warm body torn apart by bullets..

And, tragically, at least four female wolves have been killed just prior to the denning season, which could doom some of the region's wolf pups..

Wolves simply cannot outrun these relentless attacks. Their last, best hope now rests with the life-saving reprieve that NRDC is seeking in federal court...

As NRDC presses the legal fight, we'll continue working night and day to broadcast the wolf's plight and mobilize America against the Bush Administration's heartless, wolf-killing policy. You can help by telling Congress to ban the poisoning of gray wolves and other wildlife: send your message now...