Groups Ask For Strong Wolf Protections

Defenders of Wildlife
Wednesday, 1 May 2002

A coalition of more than 20 conservation and animal welfare organizations, including the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and the Humane Society of the United States, as well as numerous regional groups, today called on Interior Secretary Gale Norton not to weaken Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for wolves. In a letter to the Secretary, the groups opposed plans by the Bush Administration to make it more difficult to restore wolves to the nation's wildlands.

"Secretary Norton is packing up her tools before the job is finished," said Rodger Schlickeisen, President of Defenders of Wildlife. "Restored wolves in the Northern Rockies brought with them a burst of biological diversity that is resonating throughout the ecosystem, and a rush of tourist and economic activity that is echoing through local communities. It would be shortsighted in the extreme to slam the door on such a promising beginning."

The Administration is expected to soon release a final rule on the status of wolves throughout the lower 48 states, impacting ESA protections for wolves throughout the West and the Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. The Administration has also indicated it will back away from a Clinton Administration proposal to initiate wolf recovery efforts in Northeast states.

"The wolf is a symbol of wild America and thanks to the Endangered Species Act, the gray wolf is on its way to recovering healthy numbers in America's wildlands. Over the past 20 years a great deal of progress has been made on wolf recovery, but the job isn't over by a long shot," said Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club.

Scientists have determined that several regions contain suitable habitat for wolves, including northern New England, the southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and parts of northern California, Oregon and Washington State. The impending rule ignores the value of these regions to wolf recovery and conservation. Once the recovery objectives are met for the original, more limited recovery areas, ESA protections for wolves will be removed across the broader range of the newly established recovery zones. Because this approach to wolf recovery is legally suspect and scientifically unjustified, the state Fish and Wildlife agencies in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming also oppose the plan.

"Yellowstone and the Great Lakes states should not be the final chapter in the story of wolf recovery. Wolves must return to many more of our nation's wildlands before our responsibility to restore this important part of our wildlife heritage will be met. As experience has shown, the surest way to meet this responsibility is through the Endangered Species Act," continued Pope.

"Where wolves have returned, their continued success must be secured through increased numbers and distribution. In those wildlands where wolves remain displaced, such as the Olympic Peninsula and Maine woods, recovery efforts under the ESA are still waiting to be initiated," said Dr. Elizabeth Stallman, a wildlife scientist with the Humane Society of the United States.

"Unfortunately the Bush Administration is not taking the steps necessary to achieve these goals. Indeed, it seems they are trying to distance themselves as much as possible from wolf recovery."

Conservationists are also concerned that the Fish and Wildlife Service is easing recovery goals for the Northern Rockies wolf population. The original recovery plan called for 10 packs each in three different areas: the Yellowstone ecosystem, central Idaho and northwest Montana. However, FWS is currently stating that a total of 30 packs anywhere in the region will suffice. Because wolves in northwestern Montana aren't faring as well as those in the other two regions, the concern is that wolf recovery in that area will be stalled indefinitely if the recovery goals are changed now.

For more information, or to contact Defenders of Wildlife, see their website at: www.defenders.org