A message from Leonardo DiCaprio about protecting bears

Of course I opened it. It is not every day that Leonardo DiCaprio sends you an email about bears. The following is his letter to me and my response. This really happened.


>===== Original Message From "Leonardo DiCaprio, NRDC Trustee" =====
>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)
>

And my reply:

Dear Leonardo DiCaprio,
I think it's great that you are protecting the bears. Someone should. Do you realize how insane it is to see in your inbox "A message from Leonardo DiCaprio about protecting bears?" I was like "Huh?" and then I laughed. Did you see Grizzly Man? He got eaten for protecting the bears.

You know what would be cool? I have this really great bear gun. It's one of those trumpet-ended numbers. (Don't worry. It only shoots blanks. I love bears too.) Anyway, you should take that gun out in the woods during bear hunting season and jump around firing it into the sky and screaming like a crazy person.

This is the best way to protect the bears for several reasons:

1. the bears would be scared by the noise and stay in. This would make hunters unable to kill them.

2. Other hunters would be like "What's up with that guy?" and this one old hunter would tilt his chair back in the corner of the bullet shop and go "Awww, he been that way since aught six." and then the other hunters would go "Mm." or "Hm" or maybe even "Yep." Actually, that would not help at all, but maybe all the noise you make would scare them off too.

Or maybe once they got close enough to see it was Leonardo DiCaprio, they'd be like "Oh he has this star quality that is making me want to not kill/develop around the habitats of bears anymore. I want to save them all." But I guess that's pretty much what you're dong with these emails. Sorry. Carry on.

Cara Francis
Temp Worker
Personal Nonsense Campaign