From: [email protected] Subject: Take Two Minutes – Comment Deadline Monday, May 1st. Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association Battle Ground, Washington (360) 687-3087 and Communities For A Great Northwest, 5957 Champion Road, Libby, Montana 59923, [email protected] Take Two Minutes – Comment Deadline Monday, May 1st. *****Urgent Action Required***** You’re in danger if you live in Oregon, Washington, Maine, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Michigan. *****Comment Deadline, Monday May 1st. The legal notice says Sunday, April 30th but you have until 12 Midnight to file your comments on Monday, May 1st. Our Easy Comment Option (Takes Two Minutes...) http://www.lynxnothijinks.com. You can help prevent the Canada Lynx from being used as a huge land use control tool to lock up your land. The Lynx makes the Spotted Owl look small. It is the Endangered Species Act (ESA) out of control. The Lynx ESA set aside could include parts of Oregon, Washington, Maine, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Michigan. Even if you do not live in one of these states, your comments are critical. Your 2 minute comments at http://www.lynxnothijinks.com can prevent you and your community from suffering a lot of pain later. Don’t wait. Make your comments today. The Canada Lynx Critical Habitat proposal deadline for comment is April 30th. However, they cannot close a comment period on a Sunday. So you have until Monday night, May 1st. We can and should save species but we need to do it by making allies out of landowners who have species on their property, not enemies. Landowners should be rewarded for having endangered species, not penalized. Throughout history this has always gotten better results. Up to now, the ESA has largely failed because it has only recovered 10 species out of 1,300. That’s less than one percent. 18,000 square miles of mostly private ground in the states listed above is at risk - and hundreds of millions of acres are in the proponents’ long term plan for this effort. It’s so easy to comment. It takes literally a minute if you visit our website at http://www.lynxnothijinks.com. From the site you can quickly build a comment, send your comment to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and send your comment to your congressional delegation. We also encourage you to send your comment to your local media - and send the link to your e-mail list of family and friends. Defenders of Wildlife and the Predator Project have you in their sights. They want to add a land base the size of Europe to the Canada Lynx critical habitat proposal. Only your comments are going to pressure the US Fish and Wildlife Service to drop or minimize this unneeded, unnecessary and unfair land grab. Background: What is being proposed? In its current version, the proposal calls for some 18,000 square miles of mostly private territory in Oregon, Washington, Maine, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Michigan to be designated as Critical Habitat. Why is it being proposed? While the USFWS freely admits that designating this critical habitat has no real effective conservation benefit, the Agency is being forced to comply with a Ninth Circuit judicial opinion issued due to an environmental conflict industry lawsuit. What does this mean? The Agency is being forced into a process that provides no real conservation benefit and is being driven by litigation and the courts rather than by biology. The product of this process is crippling the ability to evaluate the science involved, is consuming enormous human and monetary resources, and imposes huge social and economic costs. How does this proposal affect me? The USFWS is downplaying the designation by claiming that it will have little impact on the designated areas. We've heard this before. The Agency is stressing that it will only affect properties that require federal permits or receive federal funding. Unfortunately, that's only half the story. Actually, this is the latest way to implement the Roadless Initiative under another name. It should be noted that the results of economic impact analysis of the proposal won't be available until after this comment period closes. It's rather tough to comment on an issue when the impact is unstudied - but contrary to the claims of the Agency, we know from history that the impact will be significant. In reality, we know this will affect you if you snowmobile or use ORVs, or if you might ever want to do any mining, logging, thinning, or development on your land. Furthermore, while the Agency attempts to downplay the impact of the Critical Habitat Designation, maps displaying lynx habitat present a different reality. While this 18,000-square mile designation is proposed today, the final proposal - when forced by the courts on behalf of the environmental groups - will include all lynx habitat and potential habitat (an area approaching the size of Europe....). What stage is the proposal currently in? USFWS is asking for public comment on the Critical Habitat Designation. It should also be noted that the boundaries identified by the USFWS are very muddy - there are maps, but the USFWS readily admits it's not certain where all the boundaries are. The agency is also asking for comments on areas for potential expansion of critical habitat not in the proposal, suggesting that it is ultimately confused in its own internal diagnosis of what is efficient species recovery. The USFWS Lynx Critical Habitat Website is at: http://mountain-prairie.fws.gov/species/mammals/lynx How to Comment: Submit a comment to the USFWS and to your congressional delegation via the Lynx Not Hijinks Website at http://www.lynxnothijinks.com. OR Write your comment and snail mail it to: Lynx US Fish and Wildlife Service Montana Field Office 585 Shepard Way Helena, MT 59601 OR E-mail your comments to: [email protected]. OR You can also fax your comments to: (406) 449-5339. Just print out the comment form and fax it in. Whatever you do, take a minute to let your voice be heard. The USFWS admits that the lynx will not be positively impacted by this designation, but from past experience, we know we will be negatively impacted. For more information contact: Communities For A Great Northwest 5957 Champion Road Libby, Montana 59923 [email protected] www.lynxnothijinks.com Please forward this message as widely as possible. -- To unsubscribe from this mailing list; please visit http://governance.net and enter your email address.