Our Family Vacation

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Here is one thing you can do to prevent a slaughter on the river
author: Columbiana In a matter of days, officials plan to begin killing sea lions on the Columbia unless we stop them. They plan to close the area to witnesses during the killing, to prevent anyone from seeing what suffering and murder look like. (Anything that is so wrong that it cannot be witnessed by the public should be a warning sign to all concerned.) The time is now. We must all do something, and we must do it now.
I would like to be more helpful in coming up with ways that you can make a difference, but for the moment, all I can do is to beg you to PLEASE contact the people below, and PLEASE do what you can to educate the people around you about this issue. Tell them the truth about the sea lions. Let them know that it is simply not true that sea lions are "overpopulated." They are not new to the area, they are native to the region and to the river. Give people the facts. Sea lions have ALWAYS been on the Columbia river. They are not to blame for the salmon crisis. Humans are preying on far more fish than sea lions are. Killing sea lions is not a solution to this problem.

It is very, very important that you begin contacting NW state legislators to let them know that you do not support killing sea lions. It's urgent that lawmakers know that you care. Yes, it would be nice to have concrete plans for things we could do that are more flashy than just begging "authority figures" to spare the sea lions, but for now, this is one of the most important things you can do. Washington state is accepting public comments about this right now, until April 4th. PLEASE, it is URGENT that you write. You can contact them here: SEPAdesk2@dfw.wa.gov or you can send a letter to Teresa Eturaspe, SEPA coordinator, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA. They MUST hear from you. If you care, please do this one, little thing. It is not too much to ask, to save a life. For more information about this, you can go here: http://wdfw.wa.gov/do/newreal/release.php?id=mar1808a

Contact the governor's offices of both Washington and Oregon. Governor Kulongoski can be reached here:
MAIL
Governor Kulongoski
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047
PHONE
Governor's Citizens' Representative Message Line
503.378.4582
FAX
503.378.6827

Governor Gregoire can be reached here:
Governor Chris Gregoire
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
Call:
Governor's Office (360) 902-4111
For relay operators for the deaf or hearing impaired, please dial 7-1-1
Fax Governor Gregoire a Letter:
(360) 753-4110

If you would like to see some of the sea lions who are at risk from this, indeed if you would like to meet your neighbors the sea lions of the Columbia, you can see a short video of them here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQC-NHNK65c

These are the sea lions who are depending upon you. Get up right now, please, for them, and make some calls. Send some letters. Send some emails. Please. Contact this one first SEPAdesk2@dfw.wa.gov. Lives are depending on this. The sea lions are counting on you.