Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced an amendment (SA2315) yesterday to the Farm Bill (S.3240) that would eliminate federal protections for endangered species that exist entirely within the borders of a single state. If passed, the amendment would eliminate federal protections for hundreds of imperiled species including the red wolf in North Carolina, the polar bear in Alaska, the Florida panther, the San Joaquin kit fox in California, and the Maryland darter.

If this passes, these and more endangered species will lose their protections for the next 5 years (the Farm Bill proposes legislation that expires in 2017).

 This could be voted on in the Senate as soon as Thursday (tomorrow).  Please follow this link to read the actual language of amendment SA2315: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r112%3A1%3A.%2Ftemp%2F~r112GKKEvI%3Ae163683

If your hackles are raised, you can call and email both of your senators today. You can find their contact info by using this link: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and on behalf of red wolves, polar bears and so many other species, you can ask your Senators to vote “no” on SA 2315 to the Farm Bill.