Save Gulf Wildlife w/ 17,000 unused volunteers
56 days into the Gulf Spill, there are only 165 sanctioned people are out picking up only oiled birds in the entire Gulf. There are 17,000 volunteer bird retrieval experts who can pick up flighted birds and save them who have NOT been utilized since Day 1. None have been allowed to help. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency is REQUIRING that a person from their agency AND a person from the state agency be on each boat that goes out looking, and they are NOT retrieving un-oiled flighted birds who have the best chance of survival. Then they are RELEASING cleaned birds along the Florida Gulf coast - not safe and they will fly back to be re-oiled and die. UTILIZE THESE NOW! Can you imagine oil all over your pet's body in 95 degree heat? They would not last an hour.
We the undersigned petition you to utilize the 17,000 volunteers to save wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico NOW! CNN on June 14, 2010, 56 days into the Gulf spill, documented that 17,000 volunteers from the Audubon Society and other bird retrieval experts have NOT BEEN MOBILIZED by you to help scoop up the flighted birds and wildlife still alive in the Gulf of Mexico. Your agency is requiring staff from federal and state agencies both to be on board any boat and NOT using the resources you have to save the most likely wildlife to survive - those who can still fly or swim. MOBILIZE this force to help and slacken the rules to allow a maximum force of thousands out in that huge area. Oiled animals will not survive hours in that heat. You are allowing the wildlife to die with no help when there is help available. We petition you to mobilize all volunteers to help our wildlife, oiled and unoiled in the Gulf. Utilize every sanctuary space in the northern hemisphere to keep them safe until the Gulf is secure. Releasing them back to the Gulf is a death sentence.
