4.04.06

Good Morning.

An important Boulder prairie wildlife meeting will take place tonight. To explain, a message from Dave Crawford:

Friends –

In addition to the problem at Tom Watson Park (framed by the Boulder Daily Camera as Prairie Dogs v. Little Leaguers) and the ongoing development of a lethal urban wildlife management plan, we are suddenly faced with the Boulder Valley School District's development of a potentially lethal management plan.

City council has done virtually nothing in response to our presentation and presence on March 7. Councilman Shaun McGrath initially indicated an interest in meeting with us, but has not followed through. If we must proceed without the city's support, so shall we.

We are moving forward with the Thursday 6:30 pm meeting on Boulder's prairie dogs. The meeting agenda will cover the current state of affairs, the hotspots, and what we can and should do proactively for Boulder's prairie dogs. This meeting is for persons who want to be on a team that meets regularly and hammers out some creative solutions to Boulder's continuing prairie wildlife crisis. If you cannot make a commitment to serve on this team (volunteering at least an hour or two a week), please do not attend; however, if you do have comments that you'd like to share with others on this matter, please send them to me at davec@rmad.org and I will pass them on.

I understand that this meeting conflicts with a mountain lion talk by Wendy Keefover-Ring of Sinapu. I have apologized to Wendy for this overlap. If you want to find out more about RMAD's prairie wildlife team, but for whatever reason you cannot attend our Thursday meeting, please let me know (again, at davec@rmad.org).

What: RMAD's Boulder prairie wildlife team meeting
When: Thursday, April 6, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Foothills United Way, 2955 Baseline Rd, Boulder

-Dave C.

In response to the recent media attacks on prairie wildlife, Dave has written a column for the Daily Camera and it will likely be appearing this weekend, so please be on the watch for it. Dave was interviewed for another Daily Camera article on the Boulder Valley School District’s prairie dog plan and we expect that to be appearing soon. Our members, activists and allies have been helping out with passionate and well-written letters to the editors. I’ve included them below the calendar, as well as an article on the Markel Homes situation that arose in late 2005.

As you can see from the calendar below, things are getting extremely busy as the weather warms up. In addition to the full calendar for the next month, the phone and email wires have been buzzing with requests for help from well outside the Colorado borders. As always, we do our best to assist, even when the situation is hundreds of miles away.

We’re making significant headway on VegColorado.com but I still need to know where you eat! I know about the usual suspects so please tell me about the special places that have wide-ranging vegetarian menus or customize vegan dishes for patrons. Please email your favorites (and runner-ups) to vegcolorado@rmad.org. Thank you to everyone who has submitted so far. In addition to our Colorado-based vegetarian living guide and VegColorado.com, we’re designing a small but flashy guide to the basics of vegetarianism for Colorado’s youth. Its cover will very likely feature the excellent artwork of a well-known vegetarian artist.

Don’t forget about the Prairie Dog Coalition fundraiser tomorrow (Friday) night! Their second annual fundraiser will be held next week, April 7th, at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley. Please see the calendar for more information.

Support RMAD — become a monthly donor! It’s painless and we do the work for you. Please email me if you are interested. Another way to support RMAD is by using the EcoISP as your internet service provider. Check them out at www.ecoisp.com.

Thanks for reading. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
- Chris