When the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) gathers next month in Thailand, more than 170 member nations will consider a number of important proposals to protect imperiled species.

This week, a bipartisan group of 44 members of Congress led by U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, D-Va., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the African lion under the Endangered Species Act.