EMERGENCY: Stop the slaughter of Idaho wolves & When Big Carnivores Go Down, Even Vegetarians Take The Hit 10JAN14

EARTHJUSTICE is one of the premier environmental groups, basically an organization of lawyers representing the Earth, because the Earth needs a good lawyer. They are a 4 star (highest) rated charity on Charity Navigator. They have issued this emergency appeal for funding their court challenge to Idaho's plans to kill off two wolf packs in the Idaho Rockies. Wolves are vital for the ecological health of the Rockies ecosystem, the Idaho policy on wolves is misguided and not based on scientific fact. If you can please make a donation of whatever you can to help, click the link, and then check out the very timely report from NPR......

Unless we fight back, Idaho will soon eradicate two packs of wolves from one of the largest remaining wild areas in the lower 48 states. We’re fighting back in court, but we need your help to see this fight through. Make an emergency gift today to stop the slaughter and protect one of the nation’s premier wilderness areas.

We’re fighting in court to stop the eradication of Idaho wolves—but we need your help! Stop the slaughter with an emergency gift today. Dear Craig, We've learned of a terrible new threat to the wolves of the northern Rockies. The state of Idaho recently hired a hunter to exterminate the Golden and Monumental wolf packs in central Idaho’s Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness. Earthjustice is fighting to get a restraining order that would halt this wolf eradication program in its tracks—but we can’t fight back and win without you! Make an emergency gift today to help us fight back in court and stop the slaughter of wolves. When tough legal battles like this need to be fought for the wolves, groups such as Defenders of Wildlife and others turn to Earthjustice for our expert skills. We provide our legal services to them free of charge—so we rely on your support to ensure victory. Will you make an urgent gift now to help us fight back? The state of Idaho, with the assistance of the U.S. Forest Service, is seeking to exterminate two packs of wolves in the Frank Church—River of No Return Wilderness, the second largest wilderness area in the lower 48 states, to boost elk populations for the benefit of hunting outfitters and some recreational hunters. This program not only violates the letter and spirit of our laws, but will have significant effects on the region’s ecosystem. Wolves are among our country’s most iconic wild species and play a critical role in this ecosystem, which harbors abundant wildlife populations, including wolverines, elk, and bighorn sheep. A designated wilderness area is supposed to be a wild place governed by natural conditions, not an elk farm. But Idaho officials have prioritized elk production on these wild public lands over the natural balance of predator and prey, and the Forest Service is helping them. This program of wolf extermination defies the entire concept of a wilderness. Will you help us stop the killings and defend one of the nation’s premier wilderness areas? This fight in Idaho is just the latest battle in our efforts to protect wolves across the country. It comes on top of our work to stop the brutal wolf killings in Wyoming, oppose the elimination of Endangered Species Act protections for wolves across nearly the entire United States, and secure laws governing wolf management that will ensure real wolf recovery. For more than two decades, Earthjustice has fought for wolf protections in court—and won. We will continue to do everything we can, but as a nonprofit, we can’t win without you. Make an emergency gift today to help us fight back using the most powerful tool available—the law! Thank you for being a hero to wolves and other wildlife. Sincerely, Tim Preso Managing Attorney Northern Rockies Office P.S. My team and I are fighting in court to stop the slaughter of wolves—but we need your help! Make an emergency gift today to help us see this and other critical fights through. When Big Carnivores Go Down, Even Vegetarians Take The Hit by January 10, 2014 3:01 AM Ask not for whom the wolf stalks ... Holly Kuchera/iStockphoto Big, fierce animals — lions and tigers and bears, for example — are relatively scarce in nature. That's normal, because if you have too many, they'll eat themselves out of prey. But top predators are now so rare that many are in danger of disappearing. That's creating ripple effects throughout the natural world that scientists are still trying to figure out. What they're exploring is ecology — the interplay of animals and plants in nature. It's not rocket science. It's harder. “ We have trashed the large carnivores for sure. They are becoming more and more scarce, and we don't even have the science to tell us what we're losing. - Rolf Peterson, biologist "We're dealing with the most complicated systems in the universe, and we hardly even know what the moving parts are," says , a research ecologist at Michigan Tech. Peterson studies large carnivores, and is among the world's top wolf experts. He and scientists like him are finding that as the number of big predators dwindles, everything around the animals changes. It's like a "cascade" down the food chain. Ecologists call it a — trophic being a term to define any particular level in nature's food chain. Take cougars and wolves for example. When there are fewer of them, their prey — deer and elk, mostly — multiply. More plant eaters means more plants get eaten. And everything that depends on those plants, from birds to butterflies, is affected. Carnivore biologist , from Oregon State University, says even streams are affected. Armies of deer, grown out of control because of a lack of predators that eat them, can devour all the vegetation along stream banks, and that causes erosion along those banks. "The stream actually changes course," says Ripple. "So we're finding that the predator can actually affect the shape of the stream." Decaying leftovers from this Alaskan brown bear's meal add helpful nutrients to the soil. SteveClever/iStockphoto These cascade effects take all sorts of paths. Bears, for example, grab salmon out of rivers and eat them on the banks; the leftovers decay and add nutrients to the soil that help plants grow. "It's just a type of connecting-the-dots in nature," says Ripple. "And it shows the interconnectedness." Ripple and other "carnivorists" published a study in this week's issue of the journal Science that lists the benefits that predators provide. They note that in places where predators are reintroduced (such as in Yellowstone National Park), deer and elk — and vegetation — return to a more natural state. That may seem obvious. But Peterson says the chain of so-called "carnivore benefits" is not well-known, even as big carnivores disappear. "You know, we have trashed the large carnivores for sure," he says. "They are becoming more and more scarce, and we don't even have the science to tell us what we're losing." What remain are scientific questions such as, "How many wolves or cougars or grizzlies do you need in, say, a national park to keep the other animals and plants under control?" Peterson says the wolf has been an especially difficult case. It has made a comeback in the U.S. and Canada, but wolves sometimes prey on livestock. They compete with hunters for deer and elk. Many people have a deep-seated fear of them. Several states now allow the hunting of wolves in places where their numbers seem adequate. That has created enmity — with hunters and ranchers on one side and some environmentalists on the other. Peterson says people have always had a love-hate relationship with wolves, having bred them into "man's best friend," the dog, while at the same time demonizing them in myth, and hunting them to near extinction. "How do we live with these creatures, and how will we accommodate them?" Peterson asks. "And what will stop their increase when we put them back? We are in the driver's seat." Scientists are now calling for a global to organize research on carnivore ecology and, as Peterson points out, to illustrate just how predators have shaped our world. "It was the large carnivores to a great extent that maintained that fabric of life that formed us," he says. The world wouldn't be what it is without them. http://www.npr.org/2014/01/10/261120968/when-big-carnivores-go-down-even-vegetarians-take-the-hit#comment-1195225782