Friend, 

After giving birth during the winter months, and staying close to their fragile cubs, mama bears emerge from their dens lethargic and underfed. They summon their last energy reserves to search for food for their cubs and start the slow process of rebuilding their own strength. But now while they’re at their weakest, mama bears in the Northern Rockies could be caught in the crosshairs of brutal trophy hunters.

That’s why we urgently need your help to save them before it’s too late. Please, make a membership gift now – before Earth Day ends – to help Friends of the Earth fight back to protect vulnerable species and the vital ecosystems they need to thrive. Every dollar will be DOUBLED up to our $180,000 Earth Day goal so your impact can go twice as far for our planet and its inhabitants. But hurry, this is only available until midnight tonight.

It’s bad enough that bloodthirsty trophy hunters want to MURDER struggling mama bears for fun, but their cruelty means extreme danger for the next generation of cubs. Bear cubs rely on their mothers for at least two full years. If these mama bears are killed, their babies will be ORPHANED, left to starve, freeze or be easy prey for other predators – and the future of this iconic species will be lost.

Grizzly bears and their vital habitats are in a dire situation. By 1975, reckless human activity, like hunting and trapping, and habitat loss already decimated bear populations to as little as 1,000 individuals in the lower 48 states. Now, they occupy just 2% of their original range! 

Despite these worryingly low numbers, the pro-hunting lobby and their anti-environment allies are working overtime to strip these endangered animals of essential legal protections. The Endangered Species Act provides critical protection for America’s iconic animal species. These protections are some of our most effective safeguards in the fight to protect our public lands and curb catastrophic climate change.

Without these protections in place, trophy hunters can brutally kill bears without consequence – and destructive industries like Big Oil, logging and factory farming can swoop in and wreak havoc on endangered species’ habitats in some of the last pristine wilderness we have left. 

The fact is that bears are intelligent creatures, friend, and they hold a critical place in our ecosystems. They enhance biodiversity, enrich soils, regulate prey populations and transport nutrients through vast swaths of wilderness. And now, by simply existing, they’re standing between us and massive corporate pollution that could imperil the future of our planet. We must protect our bears for all our sakes, but there’s not a minute to lose. 

Please, join the fight for our precious bears before they’re hunted down for sport and profit.  Make your membership gift of $27 or more – while your impact can go TWICE AS FAR – so we can hit our $180,000 goal in service of Earth Day to protect our planet and all of its inhabitants.

Standing with you,

Nicole Ghio
Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager
Friends of the Earth