Action Alert - Please Read

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: The Tortoise Trust - USA strongly supports the action requested below. : ACTION ALERT : We have just learned that US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) funding for protection of the Kemp's ridley nesting beach in Mexico has NOT been approved. It is vital that US funding continues. Kemp's ridley turtles are the most critically endangered sea turtle and one of the world's most endangered animals! : Below is a letter that you can copy or modify into a personal letter that you can mail or email to Secretary Babbitt and your Congress people. Please cc: your letter to us (seaturtles@earthisland.org). : Thank you. : For the turtles, : The staff of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project : 19 January 1999 : The Honorable Bruce Babbitt : Secretary of the Interior : 18th & C Streets, NW : Washington, D.C. 20240 : email bruce_babbitt@ios.doi.gov : Dear Secretary Babbitt: : We are alarmed to learn that US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has not released funding for the cooperative program to protect the Kemp's ridley Nesting Beach at Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas, Mexico for 1999, and does not plan to so. This program is the oldest and longest running cooperative program between the US and Mexican government to protect endangered species, and it is showing remarkable success with nesting population increases every year for the past five years. Nonetheless, the Kemp's ridley remains the most critically endangered of the sea turtle species, and funding of this program for this and future years is critical, if this species is to be recovered. Protection of this nesting site is listed as the first order of business in the Recovery Plan (USFWS & NMFS, 1992). : Furthermore, USFWS lack of funding for this program would be a reneging of a commitment made by the US government to the Mexican government less than one year ago, and could hurt the chances for other cooperative actions between Mexico and the US. : The camp needs to be in up and operating for the nesting season that will begin March of this year. I hope you will do everything in your power to ensure full funding for this important program as soon as possible. Please let me know what action will be taken to ensure funding for the Kemp's ridley program. : Sincerely yours, : (your name here) : -- : Darrell Senneke, Director - Tortoise Trust USA : mailto:rednine@earthlink.net

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