I am so buying a bunch of these

This decal will look great on the truck's rear window. And on the fridge at the cabin, and on my laptop, and in the classroom ... Purchasing info here.

Mountain lion in your driveway? Bear in the barn? Hippies in the hot springs? Who ya gonna call? Around here, it's usually senior wildlife biologist Kevin Brennan of the California Department of Fish and Game. Here's Kevin carrying a drowsy young mountain lion away from a local elementary school:


Fish and Game Wardens and wildlife biologists in California do incredibly important work, and these days the department they work for needs public support more than ever. Consider:

California's game wardens protect wildlife and public resources and enforce hunting and fishing regulations. But warden numbers have been depleted by attrition.

Today there are about 210 field-level game wardens to patrol the state, recognized as the lowest ratio of wardens to population of any North American state or province.

Money from the special stamps will pay for training and equipment for game wardens. The stamp comes in the form of a sticker that can be affixed to a car window. Anyone can purchase a stamp; it does not have to be purchased with a hunting or fishing license. [Source]

As if budget cuts weren't bad enough, the California Department of Fish and Game is reeling from the tragic loss of three biologists and a pilot who were killed in a helicopter crash last week. [A memorial fund has been established, and this article tells how to make a donation.]

Times are tough indeed for the good people who protect so much:
* more than 1,000 native fish and wildlife species, 6,300 native plant species and 360 threatened or endangered species
* California's 159,000 square miles of land (414 square miles per warden)
* 1,100 miles of coastline, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, 4,800 lakes and reservoirs and 80 major rivers

And with the lowest ratio of wardens to population in North America! Buying a bunch of stickers is the least I can do to show my thanks. That, and a new sidebar link: it should be just a few inches to the right.