It's simple: Every time you purchase a Save Vanishing Species postage stamp, you do your part to save threatened wildlife. And it's happening every day all across the country. Since September, this stamp has raised more than $1.3 million for tigers, elephants, gorillas and other endangered species.
Shockingly, this incredibly popular and simple mechanism to help save wildlife will be the one to vanish if Congress fails to renew it by the end of the year.
Send a letter to Congress asking them to renew the Save Vanishing Species Act for four more years. (No postage required for this letter!)
Dear Congress Member,
As your constituent and a supporter of the Wildlife Conservation Society, I write to ask you to co-sponsor H.R. 3510/S. 3208, the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Reauthorization Act, which renews for four more years the wildlife stamp that benefits global priority species such as tigers, rhinos, elephants, great apes and marine turtles without any burden on the U.S. taxpayer.
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This wildlife stamp, which features the image of an Amur tiger cub, allows members of the public to voluntarily support conservation through the purchase of a postage stamp at a price slightly above the First Class Mail rate. The additional monies -- 10 cents per stamp -- go to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to implement congressionally authorized programs to conserve the world's most majestic wildlife. The cost of designing the stamps and administering sales at the U.S. Postal Service is deducted from the supplement.
As with the Breast Cancer Research Stamp, the wildlife stamp was created through an act of Congress signed by the president in 2010, after a decade-long push by conservation organizations including WCS. The U.S. Postal Service issued the stamp in September 2011 and has already sold more than 12 million, raising $1.3 million in revenue. This creative funding mechanism will help to combat illegal poaching, resolve human-animal conflicts, protect habitat and support conservation education programs.
The wildlife stamp has proven its ability to raise a significant amount of money for wildlife in a financially responsible way. For this reason, I urge you to support this important legislation and ensure the stamp is renewed for years to come.
