Costco sells red listed fish every day

This is a copy of my letter to the company today.

As a consumer, I care about what’s at my Costco. Our oceans deserve better. Costco needs to be a leader in ocean conservation, not a contributor to ocean destruction. I want Costco to have a sustainable seafood policy and stop selling red list seafood, starting immediately with orange roughy and Chilean sea bass.

Your customers want to know the truth. Stop hiding and let your customers make informed decisions about their purchases. I want Costco to have sustainable seafood and transparent labeling for all of us to see.

Costco must also begin to stand up for the oceans and support positive environmental change.

In almost every Costco store you’ll find freezers and coolers full of unsustainable fish. In fact, Greenpeace surveys found that Costco continues to sell fifteen of the twenty-two red list seafood items.
This is illegal! I will publicize the heck out of this until you decide to do the right thing. This really pisses me off.

In such a competitive world I would think you would realize how this publicity will effect your business.

Stop Canned Hunting in Martin County, Florida

Posted Sep 28, 2009 by lauraallen

• Wildlife

J&R Outfitters offers canned hunts on property located in Martin County, Florida near Indiantown.

Recently, the county Land Planning Agency voted 4-1 to allow the operation to continue despite that it had been in business without proper zoning, a site plan, building permits, and a business license.

And, despite the cruelty of a business akin to shooting fish in a barrel. 

The animals are often captive bred and raised for the “hunt”.  They may also have been pets abandoned by owners or animals dumped by breeders and dealers, exhibitions or zoos. Regardless, they are likely used to living in captivity.

These animals are then released into a fenced area where there is no chance of escape. To make the killing easier for the trophy “hunter”, the animals may be gathered in an area ostensibly for feeding. Or they may be drawn to bait set out to bring them to a particular area. They are probably familiar with the humans herding them and also accustomed to walking through gates and into fenced areas.

The “hunters” then blast away at the trapped, frightened animals.  The shooters avoid the head and upper torso, of course, the vital organs, because that would mess up the look of the trophy.

That means the shooters aim for non-vital organs, causing a slow death. After the animals die what is many times an agonizing death, the shooters then leave with their “trophies”.

A sort of drive through, if not drive by, shooting. The shooters pay a fee based on how many animals they kill, a “no kill, no pay” operation.

J&R Outfitters offers “hunts” of native or exotic mammals.  For a $2000 hunting fee, for example, a shooter can kill and take home as a trophy an exotic black buck antelope. J&R offers 19 exotic species at varying prices.  Native whitetail deer, quail, dove, wild boar and turkeys can also be slaughtered at point blank range for a price. J&R says it will even arrange an “African game hunt” for the right price presumably with imported animals.

Many states do ban canned hunts or at least regulate them. Florida is not one of those states. The federal government has no problem with canned hunts. In fact, this past summer a federal judge had to order the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to stop allowing canned hunts of endangered species.

The Martin County Land Use Planning Agency has voted to amend the zoning restrictions to allow canned hunts in what has been an agricultural district. The canned hunting operations like J&R Outfitters can have overnight accommodations. J&R has also filed a site plan asking for a variance in order to continue to operate its canned hunt business.

Aside from the horrific cruelty that will be allowed in their own backyard, farmers and other residents wonder how safe they will be with a commercial canned hunt operation in their midst. They have asked about safety for children playing, the types of firearms and other weapons allowed, background checks on people allowed to have these weapons to kill animals in their county,  health concerns from imported animals, and also how such a seedy business will affect the operation of their farms.   

WHAT YOU CAN DO 

The Martin County, Florida Board of Commissioners must still approve the zoning changes and the site plan for J&R Outfitters. Write (faxes are best) or call and urge them to vote NO to canned hunting in Martin County. Don’t wait. Do it now!

Also, contact the Martin County Administrator and County Attorney’s office and tell them you oppose authorization of a canned hunt operation in the county.

There is a bill pending in Congress, the Sportsmanship in Hunting Act, H.R. 2308, that would put an end to this.  Go here for information and how you can help pass this bill!

 ————————————————————————————————

Write my Congressman Adam Putnam about this, his contact info is on this site just do a search for him. I had no idea this was common practice in Florida or I might not have moved here. O I am ticked off now!

The first movie I ever saw about animal cruelty I was 8 years old and saw “Bless The Beasts and the Children” about fenced in areas where they stand and shoot buffalo. In the end some kids released the buffalo but were shot and killed. This is what started me on this mission in the first place. I cried for months after seeing that and vowed that one day I would take part in stopping this for good.

District Office: 650 East Davidson Street Bartow, FL   33830 Phone: 863-534-3530 Toll Free: 866-534-3530 Fax: 863-534-3559

Washington Office: 442 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC  20515-0912 Phone: 202-225-1252 Fax: 202-226-0585

I just called and let them know how angry the thought of this has made me.

Bookmark & Share

Federal Government Sanctions Deer Cull

Posted Oct 7, 2009 by lauraallen

• Wildlife

On October 1, 2009 the National Park Service’s approved the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Final White-tailed Deer Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Final plan/EIS) at Valley Forge National Historical Park.

This means they plan to begin what is nothing more than a deer cull, a canned hunt of deer in the Park.

Park officials will begin an effort to kill off the herd by as much as 86%. The population is estimated to be 1,277 and officials want only 165-185 deer in the Park. They plan to shoot large numbers of deer each year for at least 3 years. Some deer will be trapped or captured using tranquilizer darts and then killed, probably with a captive bolt gun.  (Think horse slaughter or No Country for Old Men)

After these initial mass culls, park managers will use contraceptives and more shooting to maintain the herd population.  

This program will cost the government up to nearly $3 million.

Deer will be lured with food to certain areas where federal employees or contractors will be waiting with high-powered, silencer-equipped rifles, to kill them.  This hunting will be done generally at night.

It won’t take more than one massacre for the deer to understand the Park is no longer safe for them. The Park population has increased because of the dramatic loss of deer habitat from development around the Park.

Whether it’s wild horses and burros, feral cats or deer, humane measures seem beyond the federal government.

Indeed, a humane alternative was proposed by Dr. Patricia Cohn, a philosophy professor. She has studied this issue and though not convinced there are too many deer, she has offered $125,000 to pay for 1,000 doses of porcine zona pellucid, PZP, an immunocontraceptive, which is already used by the federal government on wild mares. PZP has also been used successfully to reduce deer herds at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland and at Fire Island National Seashore.  Dr. Cohn’s contribution would pay for training three people to fire dart guns with the PZP at female deer. The darts would also mark the deer as having been dosed with PZP.

Dr. Cohn would then provide through her organization, Pity Not Cruelty, money for fencing areas where deer eat, according to Park officials, too much of the ground level vegetation and saplings.

Park managers say more than 1,000 doses of PZP is needed and larger areas than Dr. Cohn has said suggested, must be fenced. Even so, isn’t this far more humane and cheaper than the Park’s cruel cull that will cost millions?

Park officials seem oblivious that culling the deer simply won’t work to reduce numbers. As in communities that kill feral cats instead of neutering them and returning them to their colonies, this canned hunt or deer cull will simply result in more deer. The herd will work to survive, and the result will be females breeding at younger ages and giving birth to more multiples.   

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Tell these officials you oppose the deer culls and urge them to use humane alternatives that do not involve killing deer!

Email the Valley Forge National Historical Park

Contact Valley Forge National Historical Park Superintendent Michael Caldwell by fax (610) 783-1038 or phone (610) 783-1037 or write him at 1400 North Outer Line Drive, King of Prussia, PA 19406

Contact Dennis Reidenbach, Regional Director
National Park Service
U.S. Custom House
200 Chestnut Street, Fifth Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 597-7013

Contact the new Director of the National Park Service Jon Jarvis

National Park Service
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
(202) 208-3818

  

Contact Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Dept. of the Interior

Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240

(202) 208-3100

——————————————————————————————–

I am writing Salazar today and you should too. A link to his email is on this site, just do a search for it. This is ridiculous. In the new times we live in sending a message that our wildlife can simply be killed and carted off is not the message that the public need to hear. This is taking a big step backward and it needs to be stopped.


Bookmark & Share

My Letter to INTERAGENCY OCEAN POLICY TASK FORCE

I’ll get straight to the point. We need to use less oil so we can stop drilling in the arctic as well as along our coasts. If we can reduce our need for oil we can solve this rising crisis now.

If not we must keep it here to the people that cause this need and put the oil rigs right on their front beaches as a reminder of what we are doing to our world. I believe this is why we dont face this issue head on is because we dont have to look at what we are doing.

We instead import oil and drill for it in areas where wildlife and marine life will be hurt. Out of sight out of mind approach. Not exactly sure who pulls all the strings but I believe it is they with the most money.

We need to reform this outdated and failing business model. It is mainstream now to realize the important role nature plays in our economy and our daily lives. When you harm any part of the environment you are hurting yourself. This needs to come to an end.

In my life time I will see no drilling at all anywhere on our coasts or any other for that matter. We will see new technologies that support solar, wind, and alternative US fuels. So you might as well get on the band wagon now, rather than looking like the fool later.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/oceans/result-Y/


Bookmark & Share

Judge: Idaho Wolf Hunts Will Continue

Court Rules to Continue Hunts A federal court has rejected our motion for a preliminary injunction to stop wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana, but ruled that we are likely to prevail in our challenge to the federal government’s elimination of federal protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana. > Read the judge’s ruling.  (PDF) Michael, I’ve got some bad news: At 7:53 PM last night, a federal court decided not to take immediate action to stop wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana. I’m sure you share my profound disappointment that the wolf hunts will — at least for the moment — continue, but today’s decision does have an important silver lining: The court also ruled that, based on the merits of our case, we have a strong chance of ultimately prevailing in our legal challenge of the Interior Department’s delisting of wolves in Idaho and Montana and restoring vital federal protections for these wolves. You can read the judge’s ruling here. (PDF) While we are disappointed that the court did not issue an injunction, we are encouraged that the court seems to agree with us that the Obama Department of the Interior’s delisting the wolf was illegal and appears — as we have repeatedly said — to have reflected a political, rather than a science-based, decision. Defenders of Wildlife will continue to move quickly in the days and weeks ahead to win our lawsuit and restore protections for these wolves. And, with your help, we’ll continue to vigorously pursue our five-point plan to save the lives of these wolves. Specifically, we’ll:  Continue the fight in court to restore protections for wolves. Counter anti-wolf lies in the media. Work on the ground to reduce conflicts between wolves and livestock producers. Mobilize wildlife activists to save wolves. Bring lawless wolf killers to justice. Thank you for all you’ve done to help save our wolves! Together, I know we can prevail. For the Wild Ones,   Rodger Schlickeisen President Defenders of Wildlife   P.S. The fight ahead is a tough one. Please consider becoming a Wildlife Guardian and help support this vital legal fight and our five-point plan to save wolves with a monthly contribution of whatever you can afford. We can’t win for wolves without your help!

Bookmark & Share

Labor Day Wildlife Alert!

		Make the Call for Polar Bears A warming climate could doom polar bears in the U.S. Please call your senators and urge them to support decisive action to reduce carbon emissions and help our wildlife survive the impacts of global warming:    Sen. Bill Nelson – (850) 942-8415 – http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm Sen. Mel Martinez – (407) 254-2573 – http://martinez.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailSenatorMartinez     Dear   … and deliver this message: My name is Michael Alexander and I’m calling from Gibsonton today to remind my senators that climate change poses an unprecedented threat to human communities, fish and wildlife habitat and the natural resources we depend on — resources like clean air and water — and recreational opportunities such as fishing, boating and hiking. As someone who cares about wildlife and the irreplaceable value of our natural world, I ask Senator [Your Senator’s Name] to pass climate change legislation that will: Significantly reduce greenhouse gas emmissions in the U.S., and Provide 5% dedicated funding from the funds generated under the bill to safeguard fish, wildlife and the natural resources that we need to survive. Please fill out this quick survey to let me know that you called your senators. Based on your feedback, I will be following up with high-priority senate offices to remind them that you called and that you care about global warming and wildlife.  A recent White House report predicts that climate change could cause Alaska’s polar bears to disappear from the wild within 75 years. [1] Recent polls indicate broad public support for legislation that would curb harmful greenhouse gas emissions. But that hasn’t stopped Big Oil and their allies from using scare tactics and misinformation to oppose common-sense efforts to address global warming — the single greatest threat that America’s wildlife faces today.   Please call your senators today — then let us know you called. With your help, we can ensure a brighter future for our wildlife — and our planet. With Gratitude,   Marcia Lesky Director of National Outreach  Defenders of Wildlife   Notes [1] http://www.globalchange.gov/images/cir/pdf/ecosystems.pdf   Sen. Bill Nelson – (850) 942-8415 – http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm Sen. Mel Martinez – (407) 254-2573 – http://martinez.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailSenatorMartinez   Michael, Labor Day is coming up and America’s wildlife needs your senators to get working on legislation to address climate change. Please urge your senators to stand up for polar bears and other wildlife struggling in a warming world with a quick phone call or email to their local offices: