SIGN PETITION to Urge President-elect Obama & Senators to support wildlife conservation to create green jobs to protect endangered species & habitat!

		Can a Jobs Plan Save Wildlife? Investing in projects that will help imperiled wildlife like wolves and river otters and restore public lands could help put nearly 60,000 Americans to work. Urge President-elect Obama and your Representative and Senators to support green jobs that protect wildlife and lands. Help spread the word! Please forward this message to your friends… Dear LYNN, As soon as tomorrow, President-elect Obama will give what is being billed as a major address on creating jobs and stimulating America’s economy. Here’s a forward-looking, wildlife-friendly way that he and Congress can create tens of thousands of green jobs: Saving wolves, river otters and other imperiled wildlife and safeguarding our public lands. Urge President-elect Obama and your U.S. Representative and Senators to support smart investment in wildlife conservation to create green jobs to protect endangered wildlife, habitat and public lands. Investing in America’s conservation infrastructure could help… Keep local construction, electrical, landscape and other companies working throughout 2009; Provide the next generation of workers with the skills they need to lead a green revolution in our economy; and Support vital efforts to safeguard river otters, other imperiled wildlife, habitat and our national wildlife refuges, forests, monuments and other public lands. In fact, America could put nearly 60,000 people to work within 90 to 180 days… all while protecting the wildlife, habitat and public lands that help make our country so special. These projects are especially important in places like Louisiana’s Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, which was devastated by Hurricane Rita and is currently closed to the public. The Refuge once hosted more than 280,000 visitors each year and is home to wildlife like river otters, American alligators, pelicans and egrets. But now Sabine is in dire need of repair. Clean-up and restoration efforts could create good local jobs that help Sabine’s wildlife. And that’s just one example. Across the country, many national wildlife refuges and other public lands have been effectively shuttered as essential projects have been left unfunded and vital wildlife conservation staff positions left vacant. Transportation projects can also provide great benefits to wildlife and local economies. Done properly, they can create jobs and reconnect wildlife habitat across highways to allow safe passage and help animals migrate in response to climate change and other pressures.  For instance, building wildlife crossings like those proposed in Washington State's Snoqualmie Pass would help animals like wolves, grizzly bears, cougar, elk and bobcats move safely through their habitat without endangering their lives -- and those of motorists -- by crossing the highway. Take action to put Americans to work restoring essential wildlife habitat and our national wildlife refuges, forests, monuments and other public lands. Projects to restore wetlands, reconnect habitat across highways, combat harmful invasive species, repair damaged watersheds, rehabilitate native forests and prairies, make facilities and buildings more energy efficient, and install alternative energy systems would have tangible benefits for imperiled wildlife and local communities. Many of these projects also would help wildlife adapt to climate change and reduce global warming pollution by making America more energy efficient. Together, we can protect the natural legacy we’ll leave our children and grandchildren and put Americans to work. Please take action now to help put America on the right path forward. For the Wild Ones, Rodger Schlickeisen President Defenders of Wildlife