Four more years of neglect and plunder-

While we don't endorse candidates because we are a tax deductible organization and can't, we can comment on the outcome.

Sadly, the election will give us 4 more years of the most anti-conservation Administration this country has ever seen, and with the pick-up of as many as 5 US Senate seats by anti-conservation Republicans, all the anti-pollution laws and wildlife laws are at great risk, not to mention an Administration that ignores them anyway.

Unfortunately, issues related to the protecting our environment were hardly discussed during the campaign despite accelerating evidence of global climate change and other problems, nor did the candidates speak of the great opportunities we have to turn things around.

Issues related to wildlife were hardly mentioned except for several measures about the prohibition of baiting for bears and some local issues to set aside open space. The sad condition of our national parks was ignored. It never came up-- the growing threat that our vast public lands will be effectively made private or destroyed by the oil companies.

This could have been an election when we made things better, but a small, but highly important shift of people who voted out of fear, rather than hope, made all the difference. Most people love the outdoors, but the campaigns focus on symbols that hardly touch the ground such as the bad guys who are to get us.  Were we so scared by 9-11 that we voted for this? No wonder some many people fear wildlife.

We will continue to publish this page hoping that people will see through the lies and manipulation.  In 2 years we will have a chance to begin to change things around.

Ralph Maughan
Wolf Recovery Foundation