Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:17:23 -0600 (CST)
From: NRDC - Frances Beinecke biogemsdefenders@savebiogems.org
Subject: Help protect beluga whales from extinction

 
Fewer than 400 still survive
 



Dear --,

Industry giants are pressuring the Obama Administration to abandon endangered beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska. We need your urgent action to help protect these rare whales from extinction.

Please tell the National Marine Fisheries Service to finalize its proposal to designate an area of more than 3,000 square miles as critical habitat for Cook Inlet beluga whales.

Cook Inlet belugas live in one of the most populated and industrialized regions in Alaska. Their health and habitat is continuously threatened by the devastating effects of development and pollution.

In fact, this genetically distinct population of beluga whales has plummeted in number from 1,300 in the 1980s to fewer than 400 today.

Following years of advocacy by NRDC and others, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed designated critical habitat for Cook Inlet beluga whales under the Endangered Species Act this past December.

Without these habitat protections, which are backed by decades of scientific research and data, Cook Inlet beluga whales could be wiped out forever.

Yet powerful industries are falsely claiming that designating critical habitat will hurt local development.

In truth, this designation simply helps ensure that new development projects will move forward with safeguards necessary to protect belugas and their habitat.

Please make your voice heard right now:
https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1757

Thank you for taking action to protect imperiled beluga whales.

Sincerely,
 
Frances Beinecke
President Natural Resources Defense Council

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