Protect Our Native Salamanders!

An amphibian apocalypse. That's how scientists are describing what could happen to hundreds of species in the U.S. if a deadly disease makes it to North America.

Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans(orBsal) has a 96% mortality rate. It has already decimated salamanders in Europe, and its next stop could be here.

With no one checking for the disease in salamanders coming into the U.S., we will have no way of knowing if or when it has arrived until it is too late. And with 190 native species of salamanders, we have a lot to lose. We must make sure that only salamanders free of Bsal are allowed into the country.

Join us in demanding that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service take emergency action to suspend salamander trade into the U.S. until a quarantine and testing system is set up to protect our native wildlife!
Dear Secretary Jewell and/or Dan Ashe,

As a supporter of Defenders of Wildlife and someone who cares deeply about our native wildlife, I'm writing to ask you to take emergency action to protect our 190+ native species of salamanders.

The disease Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) has made its way into Europe through infected salamanders imported from Asia. Experts have determined that when introduced to new populations of salamanders, Bsal has a shocking 96% mortality rate.

With more than 190 native species of salamanders here in the U.S., from the tiny patch-nosed salamander to the giant eastern hellbender, we are lucky enough to have a wide variety of these fascinating creatures call our country home. Many of these species are already threatened or endangered, and all deserve our protection.

The best available science indicates that if Bsal makes it into the U.S., it could wipe out many of these species entirely and push others to the brink of extinction. Yet we currently allow shipments of salamanders to pass our borders without being checked for the disease and without any plan of action for it if it is found.

If Bsal makes it into this country, we are likely to lose the greatest diversity of salamanders on the planet. But this is a preventable crisis, if you take action now.

I ask you to:
- Immediately declare all foreign imported salamanders as "injurious" under the Lacey Act on an emergency interim basis.

- Immediately suspend imports of salamanders into the U.S. until a "clean" trade quarantine and screening program can be developed and implemented to ensure that only salamanders free of the Bsal fungus are allowed to be imported.

As white-nose syndrome devastates our bats and chytrid places incredible stress on our amphibians, we are losing animals by the millions, and many species are being pushed closer to the brink. These are outbreaks we are still struggling to control. But we do not have to repeat history. Take action today to suspend salamander trade on an interim basis until it can take place safely, and we can prevent yet another avoidable disease from claiming our native wildlife.

Sincerely, 
[your name]

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