Turning Interest or Outrage into Action

Recently I have been wondering if I do enough to support the wildlife that I love so dearly. Clearly no matter how much one does financially or through advocacy it's never enough to satisfy that burning desire to make a difference. Of course there are moments of great satisfaction in knowing that you stepped up and put yourself out there in an effort to save an animal that you may never see or know for sure that your efforts were enough to help even a little.

For years I had an interest in the bison herd at Yellowstone and occasionally I would donate a little money but in all that time the situation for the herd actually got worse not better. Even though I had an interest I really left the hard work to others and was content to let it go at that and I would occasionally follow what others were doing in defense of these magnificent creatures.

The winter of 2007-2008 was a water shed year for the buffalo and even though my interest turned to outrage at the murder of 1616 bison at the hands of Montana cattle interests assisted by the National Park Service my outrage did not turn to action. Once again I thought of how I might make a difference at some time in the future. Then one day it hit me, my future might not contain any Yellowstone bison to help because the forces at work in Montana could drive them to extinction in my lifetime. Even though I am 60 at the rate the herd is being killed off they might be gone before I am. To date 3702 of the Yellowstone herd have perished at the hands of humans.

Now that I have the interest and it's turned to outrage it's time to turn to the next logical progression which is action. Not an easy transition. Where do I start? What can I do to really make a difference?

#1 Surely I can be more generous to the organizations that work in the field everyday so I will contribute more money to The Buffalo Field Campaign and the Natural Resources Defense Council as well as Defenders of Wildlife. Each of these organizations deserves our thanks and support for the work that they do and I encourage you to do as much as you can to support them too.

#2 I will dedicate a portion of my blog(www.sonoranconnection.blogspot.com/) to educating my visitors about the plight of the Yellowstone Bison by posting my own thoughts and linking to articles by others whose knowledge of this issue is far greater than mine.

#3 I will strive to become a voice with a clear mission to support and defend the Yellowstone wildlife through advocacy and education.

#4 I will refrain from eating beef until the cattle industry in Montana learns to be a good neighbor to the Yellowstone Bison and Wolves.

I only ask that all of you who have an interest or outrage move to the action phase before it's too late. To donate to the organizations mentioned above click on the following links:

www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/

www.defenders.org

www.nrdc.org

Thank you for your past and future support.

Ray Goodwin