It's hard to understand how some in the new Congress think they were elected to sacrifice our wildest and most vulnerable creatures for political gain. In these early weeks of the congressional session, they've acted as if wolves, polar bears and salmon are barriers to progress. They tried, and failed, to transform a simple budget bill into a cudgel against the Endangered Species Act and the animals it protects.

But, this grim anti-environment faction isn't quitting. They've just begun. In the next few weeks, we expect a new wave of legislative attacks on the ESA and other cornerstone environmental laws. And we will be there in the courts and in the halls of Congress, as we have all along, to defend against it.

Will you stand with us? We stand for keeping:

• Salmon abundant and healthy in rivers threatened by political water deals
• The haunting voice of gray wolves echoing throughout the Northern Rockies where for decades it had been silenced
• The polar bear's Arctic Ocean homeland which already is feeling the impacts of climate change free from unsafe and risky drilling practices

Please, take time now to tell your Senate leader to support science-based wolf and salmon management and the full recovery of both species; and to oppose any legislation that would weaken protections for any American wild animal and the Endangered Species Act.

Photo Credit: flickr