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On the outer cover of a mailing envelope is a picture of a wolf pup. Along side of it is a question: How long will this wolf pup survive....once its pack is gunned down? It comes from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

A friend of mine forwarded this piece of mail to me that his family recently received. The contents, to me, are nothing more than a money donation scam.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), like the Human Society of the United States (HSUS), appears to be in the business of raising money from the unsuspecting public and projecting themselves as a conservation organization working for the good of wildlife and the environment.

The NRDC FY 2008 Operating Income totaled $87,229,263 and reported Operating Expenses totaled $85,698,623. Their staffing includes 300+ lawyers, scientists and policy experts, with offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.

The stated mission of the NRDC is “to safeguard the Earth: its people and animals on which all life depends.

Thank goodness for that because it appears from their expanded information, no one else is covering that watch - or at least that’s what they’d like you to believe.

The mailing I first mentioned is soliciting money donations from $10 to $100 and more if you can do so. In return you will receive a genuine NRDC tote bag with the picture of a howling wolf and slogan “Save our last wild places!” embossed on the front. It implies you’ve done your part to save the world. It also includes a petition letter that if signed, will be added to a compiled list with others. Your signature will be used to support their claim that the government plans on eradicating all the wolves that currently exist in the Northern Rockies.

What is most dis-heartening, is that the NRDC has a war chest of money that spent over $71 million last year, without putting one cent worth of it on the ground in support of habitat or wildlife in any general form. An additional sum of more than $5 million was paid to upper management with more, $9.4 million on development.

They fail to report that the federal government, under the care and administration of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, have been monitoring the recovering wolf populations throughout the United States, including the Great Lakes Region, and determined that wolves within these management units have recovered to a point they should no longer be listed as endangered. What is needed now is the ability to control existing wolf populations to keep the recovery sustained.

As part of their case, the NRDC sites the death by starvation of wolves in Yellow Stone National park where there has been a 27% population drop. What they fail to admit is when wolves over breed and eat all the prey food supply, they die. The same holds true for the wolves of the Northern Rockies and the western Great Lakes.

According to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), the recovery plan biological goals for wolves in the Rocky Mountains were attained in 2002. Both population size and breeding pair estimates now exceed recovery goals by 500 percent and 333 percent respectively. The western Great Lakes population (where we live) has also exceeded its population goals for several years.

The RMEF like many other national conservation organizations, relies on the volunteers and donations within their respective organizations to work with professional natural resources managers to assure adequate populations of wildlife and habitat, in balance with nature.

I have not yet been able to find one piece of evidence that the Natural Resources Defense Council or any other conservation name dropping entity like them, has done anything for the good of the animal species. Yet they stay in business and go unchecked as a non-profit tax free entity.

I willingly pay for every hunting fishing and outdoors recreation privilege I enjoy by purchasing a license to do so. The money goes to constitutionally protected funds, administered by the State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources for the management of fish and game (which includes habitat). I also gladly paid federal excise taxes on my guns, ammo and outdoors gear, with the proceeds going towards support of national programs that also support wildlife management.

Many public conservation agencies are hurting financially. We’ve seen a wave in reduced services due to a poor economy and dwindling government revenue sharing. It’s to a point where we the hunting, fishing and trapping public will be paying for all natural resources management.

What is most frustrating now, is that part of what I have invested is going towards fighting these anti-conservation entities in the courts, slowing down management and damaging the ecosystem even further.

What’s even worse is that while I know what they’re doing to me. You, the general unknowing public, are being scammed for millions and don’t even know it.