ADLA Volunteers Meet the AZGF Commission

Thanks to ADLA volunteers who attended the Arizona Game & Fish Commission "Meet the Commission" Banquet on January 19 in Phoenix. ADLA had a full table displaying the ADLA name and logo, paid for by an anonymous donor.

Our presence is a small statement, and part of ADLA's larger campaign to remind the Game & Fish Commission and Department that many of their constituents do not hunt and fish. Their interests and the interests of wildlife must be balanced in Game and Fish decision-making.

Stephanie Nichols-Young

Improbable Publicity for ferrets and prairie dogs

With apologies to Dave Barry...
I am not making this-up. In my usual pile of e-mails this morning I had one from one of ADLA's Prairie Dog Coalition partners, Jarid Manos of the Great Plains Restoration Council. It contained a cryptic message about a bodice ripping romance novel, plagiarism and black-footed ferrets. I admit it; I bit. I assume you will, too. http://www.newsweek.com/id/94543

This is as good as it gets for our issues. In addition to the juicy stuff (that I'll get to in a minute), writer Paul Tolme shows innovation, optimism and a sense of humor by using the fact that his work was plagiarized to write a Newsweek story in which he shares a bit about the plight of ferrets and prairie dogs.

He notes that black-footed ferrets have been listed as an endangered species. They are being reintroduced in states where they once lived, but there's a big problem. Their favorite food, black-tailed prairie dogs, is not as plentiful as it used to be and prairie dogs are still being poisoned- even on federal land.

As an aside, I should tell you that prairie dogs are incredibly cool animals in their own right. Arizona was once home to black-tailed prairie dogs, but we killed them off with poison decades ago. Arizona does have Gunnison's prairie dogs up north, and we hope some day black-tailed prairie dogs will be reintroduced in southeastern Arizona. Please visit the ADLA and Prairie Dog Coalition websites to learn why prairie dogs are so important. http://adlaz.org/
http://prairiedogcoalition.org/

Back to the juicy part. Mr. Tolme is a free-lance writer. In 2005, he went to the Conata Basin in South Dakota to write a story about ferrets for Defenders magazine. His story ran, and three years later much of it reappeared in Shadow Bear, the novel I mentioned earlier. The quotes that Mr. Tolme got from ferret expert Travis Livieri were now dialogue from the title character during some steamy moments in the novel. Instead of lawyering-up, Mr. Tolme wrote a story for Newsweek, and in the process took us all to school on how to get-out our messages.

I just heard from Jonathan Proctor of Defenders of Wildlife (another Prairie Dog Coalition partner) that the group that ferreted-out the Shadow Bear story is now putting information about these critters on their website http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/. Apparently, in the process, they are trying to raise awareness and money. If you had put this story in a novel, your editor would say "That's too far fetched. No one will believe it." But these are the opportunities for animal protection that we always have to be looking for. Who says we don't have a sense of humor? Who says being an animal advocate can't be fun?

Stephanie Nichols-Young

Hog Factory Proposal officially withdrawn; stay vigilant

It's official. Cullison Farms LLC says its done with its planned hog factory near Dateland, Arizona, according to an article in the Yuma Sun. This is great news, but the animal protection community and other concerned citizens shouldn't let their guard down.

In ADLA's last newsletter, we reported that Cullison had not submitted new applications to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. But we didn't want to assume Cullison had changed its plans, until we had some official word. This facility never made sense at its proposed location. Not only was it bad for hogs, but also the community and clean air and water. Morever, it was a threat to scarce quantities of water in southwestern Arizona.

People concerned about industrial hog factories need to stay vigilant. PFFJ, LLC, a Hormel subsidiary, had been looking for a local farmer to host this facility for over a year. It will undoutedly continue its search. While we remain vigilant, we should take a moment to appreciate the victory and the folks who made it happen. Our thanks and congratulations to local farmers, landowners and businesses who got involved. Some expressed outright opposition, others expressed concern about specific aspects. They worked hard and took a lot of criticism for speaking out against this flawed proposal. ADLA played a supporting role and is proud to have helped them. That's sometimes a tough role for a small, grassroots organziation. We want to get ADLA's name out to further its effectiveness. But sometimes other voices will be better heard and be more effective. ADLA has to put its mission "to protect and defend Arizona's animals" before promoting the organization.

Stephanie Nichols-Young