SAMPLE LETTERS

 

Good background reading before letter-writing:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/30/humanity-wiped-out-animals-since-1970-major-report-finds

https://medium.com/@tusktaskforce/seven-down-forty-three-to-go-975e8cc0dabe

 

Support H.99 Letter Template 

 

Dear Legislator,

 

Please pass H.99 with original wording as introduced. This critical bill prohibits the trade in animal parts from 14 of the most highly trafficked animals on the planet including cheetah, elephant, giraffe, hippopotamus, jaguar, leopard, lion, pangolin, ray, rhinoceros, sea turtle, shark, tiger, and whale (and mammoth and mastodon given the enormous amount of ivory that is poached and then fraudulently labeled mammoth and mastodon). 

 

The Endangered Species Act is the backbone of wildlife conservation and has saved 227 species from the brink of extinction since it was first introduced in 1973.  This critical legislation is in the process of being dismantled at the Federal level and Vermont wants to fight back and take a stand against the rampant decimation of this planet’s most highly trafficked and vulnerable species.  Please support this important legislation; vote for H.99 and save wildlife! Let us join the 10 other states across the nation—New Jersey, New York, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Minnesota— that have already taken action. Let us stand with them!  Why have these states acted and why does Vermont need to do the same? Because federal laws only regulate import, export, and interstate (across state lines) trade but not intrastate (within a state) trade. Trade within a state is governed solely by the state itself. This is why states must act!  In addition, federal laws have broad exemptions which result in loopholes that allow large amounts of imperiled wildlife products to enter state borders where it is sold at the retail level- and is why states, again, must act.

 

Wildlife trafficking, the fourth largest illegal trade in the world, after drugs, counterfeit goods, and human trafficking is an escalating US $19 billion a year global crisis and it feeds some of the world’s worst terrorist and militia groups around the world. As long as there are no laws on the books, trade in these animal species’ parts is happening and will continue to happen right here in Vermont. Vermonters say NO MORE. There is still time to save the remaining animals and help them rebound— but only if we act NOW.  Pass H.99! Our entire human civilization depends on how we treat this planet and its creatures.  

 

Thank you!

 

________________

 

Support H.99 Kid-Friendly Letter Template

 

Dear Legislator,

 

Please pass H.99 with original wording as introduced. This critical bill prohibits the trade in animal parts from 14 of the most highly trafficked animals on the planet including cheetah, elephant, giraffe, hippopotamus, jaguar, leopard, lion, pangolin, ray, rhinoceros, sea turtle, shark, tiger, and whale (and mammoth and mastodon given the huge amount of ivory that is poached and then called mammoth and mastodon). Our planet is currently in its 6th mass extinction. This one is different than all the others because this one is happening because of humans. The kids of Vermont want to be sure that we can see animals in the wild and that our children can, too!  No item that can be bought or sold in a Vermont store is worth an entire species becoming extinct!  Please pass H.99. We will not stop fighting and raising our voices until Vermont does the right thing to protect these amazing animals that we love so much! Let us join the 10 other states across the nation—New Jersey, New York, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, New Hampshire, and Minnesota— that have already taken action. Let us stand with them!  Why have these states acted and why does Vermont need to do the same? Because federal laws only regulate import, export, and interstate (across state lines) trade but not intrastate (within a state) trade. Trade within a state is governed solely by the state itself. This is why states must act!  In addition, federal laws have broad exemptions which result in loopholes that allow large amounts of imperiled wildlife products to enter state borders where it is sold at the retail level- and is why states, again, must act.

Sincerely,

 

___________________

 

Other facts kids can select to include as they wish:

 

-Rhinos are killed for their horns, which are made up of keratin, the exact same thing in our own hair and fingernails. There are only 25,000 rhinos left in the wild in the world. 

 

-On March 19, 2018, the world lost its last male Northern White Rhino, a 45 year old rhino named Sudan. 

 

-The giraffe is experiencing what is known as a “silent extinction” having lost 40% of its population in just 15 years. 

 

-96 elephants are poached every day to feed the current ivory trade. 

 

-Federal laws regulate import, export, and interstate (across the state lines) of ivory but not intrastate (within a state) sales. This is why states must act!  In addition, federal laws have broad exemptions which result in loopholes that allow large amounts of ivory to enter state borders where it is sold at the retail level.