World Wildlife Day – Prairie chickens are on the chopping block

Dear Friend, Prairie chickens, ESA protections, and our planet are under attack: act now before it’s too late. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( As spring approaches, the rare dancing grouse -- the lesser prairie chicken -- prepares to perform its showy and elaborate mating dance. What it doesn’t know, is that it could have no one to perform this dance for -- not with recent historical lows of prairie chicken populations and members of Congress looking to attack its Endangered Species Act protections, which could spell disaster for its kin. [Protect prairie chickens, their public lands, and our planet this World Wildlife Day by making your $27 gift today and helping us reach our $30,000 goal.]( Just a couple of months ago, the prairie chicken was granted ESA protections. They have seen promising bounce-backs in population recently, but all that progress can be gone in a second if Kentucky representatives get their way. You see, these representatives are looking to reverse the prairie chicken’s ESA protections. ESA protections mean that there are more regulations on the public lands they roam, protecting their habitats, which already shrunk to 85% of their historical range. If these protections are removed, it will open up these public lands to Big Polluters and Big Agriculture, who only care about turning a profit, not ensuring critical species survive. Stop the attacks on ESA protections, endangered species, and our planet before it’s too late: Make your $27 contribution before the clock strikes midnight! If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( What these representatives call “overreaching” is actually one of the few ways we have to protect important species from disappearing off the face of the planet. The attacks on ESA protections are hardly motivated by tried-and-true tactics, but rather by the pursuit of profit. Drilling, mining, and exploitive agriculture industries stand to benefit when the public lands where prairie chickens roam are not deemed critical habitats and are opened up to leasing. But the truth is, these habitats ARE critical. And the very industries that stand to benefit from prairie chickens’ downfall are the ones that are threatening its survival the most. You see, once abundant in the United States, their population was in the millions, but habitat loss through agriculture, oil and gas extraction, and mining diminished their population by as much as 97%! At one point, prairie chickens only numbered 17,616, an utter tragedy for the birds and their habitats. Prairie chickens are indicators of the health of their grasslands and prairies. They need large areas in order to maintain a sustainable population. The drastic decline of these birds tells us that their ecosystems are also declining in vitality. Attacks on ESA protections are attacks on vulnerable species and public lands. Fight back and make your contribution of $27 or more in honor of World Wildlife Day. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( The GOP attacks on ESA protections show that they are an important tool -- not just to protect wildlife, but also to limit the exploitation of the lands they roam. If ESA protections are removed, we could not only lose critical species, but it will also make it easier for industries like Big Ag and Big Oil to take over these sensitive habitats and drill, frack, and mine on them, leading to pollution of nearby communities, driving climate chaos, and harming biodiversity. We can’t allow members of Congress -- or anyone for that matter -- put private profit over the protections of vulnerable species, public lands, and our planet. But if this attack on ESA is successful, it can open up other vulnerable species to these attacks, threatening their survival. We are working to ensure these protections are not overturned, public lands are not further leased to harmful and extractive corporations, and our planet does not suffer more attacks. But we need every person possible to join us with a membership gift to power our efforts forward in service of a just and sustainable future. With World Wildlife Day ending soon and prairie chickens on the chopping block, we don’t have much time to waste. Please make your contribution of $27 or more now, before the clock strikes midnight! World Wildlife Day is ending in a matter of hours, but we need you now more than ever. Will you make your $27 contribution today? If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $5/month immediately]( Standing with you, Raena Garcia Fossil fuel and lands campaigner, Friends of the Earth Action Contact Us: Friends of the Earth Action Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA 1-877-843-8687 [Contact us](foe.org/about-us/contact/) Email Preferences: [Click here to unsubscribe]( Learn more: www.foeaction.org Connect: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Flickr]( © 2017, Friends of the Earth Action. All Rights Reserved. [supporter]