Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:58:17 GMT
From: "NRDC BioGems - Frances Beinecke" biogemsdefenders@savebiogems.org
Subject: Help protect endangered grizzlies



Dear --,

In the next few weeks, the U.S. Forest Service plans to reopen a road that runs through the heart of grizzly bear habitat in Wyoming's Sweetwater Valley.

Please go to
www.nrdconline.org/campaign/biogems_bears_0409?rk=G1N1aJ9qFGJaE
and urge the Forest Service to keep the road permanently closed.

With encroaching development on nearby lands, the Sweetwater Valley -- inside the Shoshone National Forest -- has become a secure oasis for threatened and imperiled wildlife.

In the eight years that the road has been closed, an abundance of wildlife has thrived here, including grizzly bears, wolves, lynx, cougars and moose.

In fact, grizzlies that have just come out of hibernation are grazing right now on grass and other plants found in the valley.

There is no rationale for the Forest Service's proposal to reopen the road, which leads nowhere and has languished for years. Reopening the road would only disturb and threaten the Sweetwater Valley's wilderness and wildlife.

Please go to
www.nrdconline.org/campaign/biogems_bears_0409?rk=G1N1aJ9qFGJaE
right away and urge the Forest Service to leave the road closed. Time is running out, as forest officials plan to reopen the road in the next few weeks.

Thank you for taking action to protect our remaining western wildlands.

Sincerely,

Frances Beinecke
President
Natural Resources Defense Council