Running into Aldo Leopold

I'm taking a break from what seems already to be a late start in preparing for the holiday season in the hopes of helping endangered and threatened species. Please take a bit of time to join the effort; Madison Audubon (and all Wisconsin’s wildlife) would really appreciate it.

The Wildlife Society has a great article on the Recovering America's Wildlife Act (RAWA) and The article has easy to use links that explain the act, why Congress to pass it before the end of the year, and, most helpfully, several convenient ways to contact your federal legislators.

RAWA will provide dedicated and dependable funds for states, tribes, and non-profit organizations to save endangered and threatened species and to keep other species from reaching that precarious state. It will encourage cooperation among all those entities, incredibly useful since endangered species don't pay attention to political or jurisdictional boundaries. One of the funding sources for the act is the fines and penalties for environmental violations, which I think is extremely just.

Legislators and scores of conservationists have worked on this bill for over a year but, if Congress doesn't pass it before this session ends, all that work has to start over. This bipartisan bill is broadly (and fervently) supported by scores of local, regional, and national conservation organizations.

So please, contact your Senators and urge them to support the RECOVERING AMERICA'S WILDLIFE ACT.

And I’d like to introduce (or re-acquaint) you with the Wildlife Society, a world-wide conservation organization, whose membership is centered in wildlife scientists and professionals. One of its missions is to apply and publicize the best science in the cause of conserving our natural resources. The founder in 1948? That would be Aldo Leopold. We continue to be blessed by his good works.

Thanks for considering this request.

Topf Wells, Madison Audubon advocacy committee chair

Tundra Swans over Goose Pond (photo by Monica Hall).

Cover image: A Bald Eagle flies over a prairie near forest (photo via Pixabay).