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Logging, damming and other developments in the Pacific Northwest and California have greatly reduced salmon stocks that once numbered in the millions. Some stocks have gone extinct, and 26 others are so close to extinction that they are protected as endangered species, a designation that includes habitat protection. Rather than work to protect these vanishing fish, however, the Bush administration recently announced a proposal to include hatchery-reared salmon in population counts for endangered Pacific salmon species, a move that will undercut protection and management under the federal Endangered Species Act. In formulating this plan, the administration ignored its own panel of experts, composed of six of the world’s leading ecologists. Help keep the “wild” in wildlife by writing the National Marine Fisheries Service opposing the plan to weaken protection and management of this American icon. The agency is accepting comments on the proposal through mid-August.