On behalf of the League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts, the following
letter was mailed and faxed to the US Fish & Wildlife Service today. I would
encourage anyone who has an opinion to express on this subject to fax
something immediately to USFWS, because the release of the elderly
Black-Footed Ferrets is supposed to occur sometime late Monday evening
(6/5)--and because from contacts late last week we do know now that the
Washington office of USFWS is paying attention to the issue and increasingly
aware it is going to be politicized.
 
June 4, 1995
 
Ms. Mollie Beattie, Director
US Fish & Wildlife Service
1849 "C" St. NW
Washington, DC 20240
 
Dear Ms. Beattie:
 
The League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts (LIFE) urgently renews its
insistence that the US Fish and Wildlife Service postpone the release of
elderly Black-footed Ferrets into the National Park System scheduled for June
5, 1995, until the question of their survivability is reviewed.
 
We have in our possession, and would be happy to share with you, video
footage from the Pueblo preconditioning site that clearly demonstrates the
docile, human-habituated, un-predatorlike behavior of these senescent
animals, which though genetically feral have lived all their lives in cages
tended by human handlers.
 
If you take the time to view this footage you will understand why so many
people in the humane community have expressed their outrage at the "dump"
program being implemented by Region 6.  I am ready to meet at your
convenience with you or members of your staff to view this footage, and
earnestly encourage you to avail yourself of the opportunity.
 
The humane community and the domestic  ferret community have been strong
supporters of the embattled Black-Footed Ferret Captive Breeding Program,
despite the disturbing setbacks experienced in the BFF Reintroduction Program
in 1994.  But if USFWS goes ahead with this release, many will conclude that
USFWS cannot be trusted to implement the program in a responsible manner and
that Congress should transfer the program to other groups or agencies.
 
We and other concerned citizens will go to the media with the facts and video
footage and demand that USFWS give a satisfactory accounting of the fate of
the first group of Black-footed Ferrets, and that of previous release groups,
before proceeding with the scheduled June 19 release.  If the USFWS should
argue that it cannot provide such an accounting because its tracking
techniques are inadequate, that would constitute a prima facia admission that
the Service is incapable of carrying out its mandate and is instead
irresponsibly throwing away the last surviving members of the near-extinct
species it was supposed to try to save.  There are only a few hundred
Black-footed Ferrets still in existence in the world.  How many can we afford
to "waste"?
 
We sincerely hope that the USFWS will reconsider this ill-advised release of
tamed Black-footed Ferrets into the wild, and that the humane and domestic
ferret communities will be able to continue to support the BFF Captive
Breeding Program.
 
Yours very truly,
Howard Davis
National Coordinator for Humane Affairs
League of Independent Ferret Enthusiasts (L.I.F.E.)
 
cc:
Mr. Bruce Blanchard, USFWS
Hon. Bruce Babbit, Secretary of Interior
Vice President Gore
[Posted in FML issue 1216]