There
are many things that you can do to help, including making
a donation to PEER that will help to fund our efforts
to save these prairie dogs. To find out more about
how to do this click here.
It's also important that decisionmakers hear from
you.
If you live in Texas, please feel free to use either
letter as a template for your own. If you live outside
of Texas, please use only the letter to Mayor McDougal.
SAMPLE
LETTER TO MAYOR MARC MCDOUGAL - This letter can be
e-mailed to mmcdougal@mail.ci.lubbock.tx.us.
Dear
Mayor McDougal,
I
am concerned by remarks made to the Dallas Morning News
by your city's Environmental Scientist, Dan Dennison.
Reacting to widespread public opposition to your city's
plan to eradicate a large prairie dog town, he told a
reporter that he should have killed the dogs "quietly"
in the night.
I’ve
got to wonder why the city of Lubbock is so intent on
destroying this colony. It is obviously not about ground
water quality. State experts have dismissed the link between
prairie dogs and water contamination from the outset,
and now even the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
has reversed its decision to blame the critters. Yet Mr.
Dennison continues to advocate destroying this colony,
but refuses to explain his reasoning.
Prairie
dogs are vital to the health of the Great Plains ecosystem.
They are a major food source for birds of prey, and their
burrows provide shelter for a number of other animals.
The destruction of one of the largest black-tailed prairie
dogs in the Southwest will have a devastating impact on
the environment.
You
can be assured that conservationists around the country
will be watching your city's next move. I hope you will
decide to act in the interest of science over lawless
midnight killing.
Sincerely,
Name
City
Phone Number
SAMPLE
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
To the Editor:
Thank
you for covering the plight of the Lubbock prairie dogs.
I am heartened to know that the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality has is distancing itself from the inane plan to
exterminate a large and significant prairie dog colony.
I
only hope that the city of Lubbock will put an end to
this folly as well, but comments made by city officials
don’t ease my mind. Lubbock environmental officer Dan
Dennison has said that he wished he had destroyed the
prairie dog town quietly in the night before the public
found out about the plans.
I’ve
got to wonder why the city of Lubbock is so intent on
destroying this colony. It is obviously not about ground
water quality. Mr. Dennison made his statements long after
the link between the critters and the pollution has been
discounted by state experts.
Prairie
dogs are vital to the health of the Great Plains ecosystem.
They are a major food source for birds of prey, and their
burrows provide shelter for a number of other animals.
Destroying a colony puts much more than the prairie dogs
in danger.
If
Lubbock officials plan to go ahead with the extermination,
they have got a lot to explain to the rest of the state.
If they plan to destroy the colony secretly, they may
even have criminal consequences to face. Their best course
of action now is to apologize to the public, leave the
prairie dogs alone, and clean up their groundwater by
addressing the real problems.
Sincerely,
Name
City
Phone Number
