A message from Leonardo DiCaprio

Dear Friend,

I am writing to ask for your help protecting the grizzly bears that live in and
around Yellowstone National Park. We need to stop the Bush administration from
implementing a disastrous plan to revoke the bears' protection under the
Endangered Species Act.

Yellowstone's grizzlies have only recently begun to recover from the brink of
extinction. It's too soon to remove the safety net that has prevented these
bears from disappearing. That's why it's so important for Americans all across
the country to tell the government that we oppose this risky plan.

To take action, go to the Natural Resources Defense Council's BioGems website at
http://www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction.asp

The grizzly is an icon of the American West and the great wilderness that once
covered most of this rugged land. Grizzlies are also a barometer of the
region's health. Healthy bear populations mean a healthy landscape.

But so many of these magnificent animals have been killed off and so much of
their habitat destroyed that today they live on less than one percent of their
former range. Now there are only between 500 and 600 grizzly bears in and
around Yellowstone. That's a tiny number when you consider that as many as
100,000 grizzlies roamed the West just a few hundred years ago.

Stripping endangered species protection from Yellowstone's bears would open
their habitat -- vast wild forests around the park -- to large-scale real
estate and energy development. It also would allow hunters to kill bears that
roam outside the park. The state of Wyoming has already announced plans to
allow grizzly bear hunting as soon as the bears are off the endangered species
list.

We all hope for a day when grizzly bears truly are recovered and can be removed
from the endangered species list. But first we need to make sure that their
habitat is protected.

I'm working with the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is leading the
campaign to protect and restore the grizzly bear in the lower 48 states. As the
bears sleep through the coldest and darkest months of the year, please join us
to ensure that grizzly bears have a healthy landscape to wake up to -- this
spring and for many years to come.

Go to NRDC's BioGems website to send a message telling the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to leave Yellowstone's grizzlies on the endangered species
list:
http://www.savebiogems.org/bears/takeaction.asp

Then I hope you will also forward my message to your friends and family.

Thank you!

Leonardo DiCaprio
Board of Trustees
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)