Protect America's last mountain caribou

Take action for caribou

In a move that appears to turn its back on one of our country's most endangered large land animals, the US Fish and Wildlife Service is indulging a snowmobile-industry petition to drop the remaining US animals from Endangered Species Act protections.

Delisting the South Selkirk Mountains caribou population is unwarranted and scientifically indefensible. The future of the southernmost caribou on earth is dependent on these federal protections and connected high elevation old-growth forests on both sides of the US/Canada border.

The government is still accepting comments about the proposed caribou delisting. Visit our action center and we'll make sure they get your message. Tell them you support keeping the South Selkirk Mountains herd of mountain caribou listed endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and their vital habitat well protected. You can use the letter below or include some of its talking points below in your comments.

Or mail in your own comment.

Mountain caribou protections
Public Comments Processing
Attn: FWS–R1–ES–2012–0097
Division of Policy and Directives Management
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042–PDM
Arlington, VA 22203

Sample letter for your comments

To whom it may concern:

I strongly support continuing to protect woodland (mountain) caribou as a distinct population in the northern Rocky Mountains and southern British Columbia.

According to the Canadian government’s recent finding—using the same criteria as the Fish and Wildlife Service—mountain caribou qualify as a distinct population segment, and therefore need to remain protected under the Endangered Species Act as such.

“This group of caribou differs markedly from other caribou as they have persisted in an ecological setting unique to the species that has given rise to local adaptations. Continued loss of these most southerly populations of caribou would result in an extreme northward contraction of the species range, and the certain disappearance of caribou in adjacent Idaho.”  ~ Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).

Mountain caribou are declining across their range; every herd in every area is significant.

Mountain caribou have declined because their habitat has been fragmented and degraded by human activity. They are slow to reproduce and likely will take decades to reach more stable numbers. Yet, despite the herd’s small size (fewer than 50 animals), isolation, and the southern-most extent of their habitat, the South Selkirks herd has been one of the most stable of mountain caribou herds. Keeping protections in place will continue to support their slow recovery.

This herd, and the entire mountain caribou distinct population, depends on protection and habitat on both sides of the US/Canada border. Thank you for retaining Endangered Species Act protections for this vital animal.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME, CITY