<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Hey Missoula,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I hope this finds you well. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class="">I want to spread the word that the outgoing federal administration recently proposed weakening the Endangered Species Act. The proposed rules prioritize timber sales over the protection of threatened species, putting many of them back on the road towards extinction. </span></div><div class=""><span style="white-space: pre-wrap; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><font face="arial, sans-serif" class=""><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">The </span></font><a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-01-12/pdf/2021-00366.pdf" class="">proposed revisions</a> would <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">eliminate the only Endangered Species Act regulations that currently protect species like Canada lynx and others. </span> The sole reason Canada lynx were listed as a threatened species is because Forest Plans were not adequate to protect the species. Removing the requirement that the Forest Service continue to look at the adequacy of its Forest Plans would ignore the precise reason why lynx are threatened. </div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">At a more selfish level, the ESA ensures there is adequate habitat for non-endangered game species, like elk. As </span>an avid hunter, conservationist, and member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, I recognize that protecting threatened species and their habitat also protects my hunting opportunities. One of my fondest hunting memories is bugling in in a large bull elk in critical habitat for Canada lynx. Being full draw on a mature six pointer with your heart pounding in your head is a memorable experience. I was in the Bozeman Municipal Watershed project area where the Forest Service wanted to log. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The federal court in Missoula stopped the timber sale because of these specific regulations. If the rules now being proposed had been in place at the time Judge Christensen decided the case, the area would have been logged, the elk wouldn’t have been there, and I wouldn’t have had that experience. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Please submit comments on this important and urgent issue. </span><a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/12/2021-00366/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-regulations-for-interagency-cooperation" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Public comments</a><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> are due February 11, 2021. </span></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">To learn more about this issue, a great place to start is Wednesday’s <a href="https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/environment/fish-and-wildlife-service-proposes-esa-rule-changes-meant-to-speed-timber-projects/article_f77a4615-d789-5591-a34e-9071dba0ea7d.html" class="">Bozeman Daily Chronicle article</a>. </span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">You can email Kyle Kearney (she/her/hers) at <a href="mailto:Kyle@cottonwoodlaw.org" class="">Kyle@cottonwoodlaw.org</a> </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""> if you need any assistance submitting comments or want to become more involved. </span></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Thank you, Missoula.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">John Meyer</div><div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">
<span><img apple-inline="yes" id="051B4E4E-287B-4159-8283-58AE42B06B80" src="cid:3F70CC24-1DED-41F8-954A-235ACF2B2B29" class=""></span><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class=""></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">John Meyer</div><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">Executive Director & General Counsel <br class="">Cottonwood Environmental Law Center<br class="">P.O. Box 412 Bozeman, MT 59771<br class=""><a href="mailto:John@Cottonwoodlaw.org" class="">John@Cottonwoodlaw.org</a><br class="">(406) 546-0149<br class=""><br class="">The information contained herein is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you must delete this email and inform the sender of the error.<br class=""><br class="">Lawsuits get things done. <a href="http://www.cottonwoodlaw.org/#donate" class="">Click here</a> to support our legal work. </div></div>
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