The Bush-Cheney campaign's most recent bizarre political commercial, "Wolves," misuses the imagery of wolves to try to instill fear in the voting public.

How ironic for George Bush, who has been the most anti-wildlife president ever, to turn to the very symbol of endangered wildlife in America - the wolf - for assistance in perpetuating his administration. Wolf recovery in parts of America, no thanks to this administration, represents one of the great success stories of wildlife conservation in this country. This is the last day of Wolf Awareness Week, and a chief purpose is to help educate the public that the myths about wolves being threats to humans, are just that, myths. But the Bush campaign is using that fictitious stereotype in a manner that instills false fear.

President Bush's Department of the Interior is proposing to remove endangered species protections that the wolf needs to continue to survive. In fact there are lawsuits pending against the Bush Interior Department that challenge their anti-wolf actions across the country. Also, even though petitioned to do so, the Bush Interior Department refuses to use the Federal Airborne Hunting Act to stop the outrageous and unethical shooting of wolves from airplanes in Alaska. Right now there is a proposal in Alaska to expand aerial wolf killing to include an additional 50,000 square miles of land.

Wolves have suffered from unjust persecution for centuries, but the real wolf at their door right now, is the Bush presidential campaign which threatens four more years of anti-wildlife policies.

Finally, it is worth pointing out that a wolf is a fierce defender of its homeland and it has learned that when it attacks, it needs to work with others to maximize its chance of success.

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Affiliated with Defenders of Wildlife, the Defenders Action Fund is 501(c)(4) organization created to provide the wildlife conservation community with a stronger voice in the political process. For more information, see www.defendersactionfund.org.