Vermont for Wildlife
TAKE ACTION
Please take action and stop the sale of imperiled wildlife parts (ivory, rhino horn, giraffe parts, and others) in Vermont, a trade which currently is completely legal here! Vermonters say no more! 11 states have taken action-- plus DC--- let's make Vermont #12! Follow these simple steps to make your voice heard:
- Email Vermontforwildlife@gmail.com to add your name to our all-volunteer list to help pass the proposed legislation H.99 (which has reasonable exemptions for antiques and all musical instruments).
- Please copy/paste the sample letter below or create your own simply stating PASS H.99! STOP EXTINCTION! and email it to your specific legislators, both House members and Senate members, as well as the additional legislators listed. You can put all email addresses in one email or email each person separately. To find out who your House Representatives and Senators are, please visit the link below:
FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS (click here)
https://legislature.vermont.gov/people/
In addition to your specific Representatives and Senators, please also include the following emails:
Sample Message:
Dear Legislators,
Please pass H.99 to ban the sales in the state of Vermont of animal products from 14 of the world's most majestic and massively vulnerable species. We are going beyond just elephants and rhinos to also include cheetah, giraffe, hippopotamus, jaguar, leopard, lion, pangolin, ray, 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). These are not just the most noble creatures on the planet, they are among the most highly-trafficked. Indeed, this push is about stopping illegal wildlife trafficking, the fourth largest illegal trade in the world, and, when looking at these species, science has proven that the legal market serves as cover for the illegal one, perpetuating the slaughter. Federal law only governs import, export, and interstate trade. The trade that happens within a state is up to the state itself so unless there is a state law against it, trade of imperiled wildlife parts is legal and that very trade is leading to the extinction of the world's most imperiled species. We simply have no more time to lose. Thousands of Vermonters are looking to you to help us join the now 11 other states (plus DC!) that have already taken action with smart and strong laws on their books including our neighbors New York and New Hampshire. Truly, stopping extinction starts in Vermont and this is all in your hands. We are looking to you! Thank you!
Your Name, Town
3. Visit www.vermontforwildlife.org to read more about the bill, find information on why it’s needed, and how you can help.
4. Post this information on your local Front Porch Forum, social media, write a letter to your local paper, contact a teacher and invite them to learn more about this critical push or suggest they make it a class-wide effort! And forward this information to as many people as you can all around the state of Vermont. In order to pass this bill, we need folks from all 14 Vermont counties to express their support to their own legislators. Share with them this kid-powered video (https://youtu.be/owySfvSbVXo) and ask them to sign up for Action Alerts, too.
Sample Front Porch Forum paragraph: Vermont Friends! Pass H.99! Please take action and help stop the sale of imperiled wildlife! Stop extinction- it starts in Vermont! Join the 11 other states (plus DC!) that have already taken action! Contact your specific Vermont State Representatives and Senators and ask them to support H.99 to restrict the sale in Vermont of products and parts from the most at-risk species in the world including cheetah, elephant, giraffe, hippopotamus, jaguar, leopard, lion, pangolin, ray, rhinoceros, sea turtle, shark, tiger, and whale. Find your legislators here: https://legislature.vermont.gov/people/ and please also send your message to the following email addresses as well:
5. Learn more about the need to stop wildlife trafficking and why Vermont has a role to play. You can check out and share this article written by Ashley Prout McAvey, founder of VermontForWildlife, on the importance of state bans on ivory. https://medium.com/@tusktaskforce/seven-down-forty-three-to-go-975e8cc0dabe.
Thank you, Friends! United for wildlife!
LINKS to articles on local Vermonters advocating for elephants and other species:
Thirteen-Year-Old Voice for Elephants, Jane Goodall’s Good for All News, May 11, 2016
http://news.janegoodall.org/2016/05/11/thirteen-year-old-voice-elephants/
Local Heroes: Elephant Activist Taegen Yardley, MyChamplainValley.com, March 23, 2016
https://www.mychamplainvalley.com/news/local-heroes-elephant-activist-taegen-yardley/408292995
Citizens Spur States to Ban Trade in Ivory and Rhino Horn, National Geographic, April 6, 2015
Speaking up for Elephants: Reflections on Vermont’s Ivory Sales Ban Hearing, National Geographic, April 17, 2015
Ivory Free Vermont releases new youth-led film project, The Citizen, February 26, 2016
http://www.thecitizenvt.com/2016/02/26/ivory-free-vermont-releases-new-youth-led-film-project/
LINKS to articles on additional background information:
Humanity Has Wiped Out 60% of Animal Populations since 1970, Report Finds