Wolves Stay Endangered

Source: Backpacker Magazine, New York Times

Wolves Stay Endangered
It's been a roller-coaster year for our lupine friends in the Northern Rockies. First, they get dropped from the Endangered Species list, which led to hunting casualties in Wyoming. Next, Idaho and Montana announced plans to introduce state-run wolf hunts in the fall. But then a federal judge issued an injunction, restoring protection for gray wolves in the U.S. But since the ruling was temporary, it's not like wolves had fully dodged the bullet.

Now it seems they've caught a major break: Wolves will now stay on the Endangered Species list for the foreseeable future, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coordinator Ed Bangs. They plan to withdraw their rule that declared wolves officially recovered in the Northern Rockies. Wolves will enjoy full protection under the Endangered Species Act until the USFWS can draw new plans that better provide for wolf protection after de-listing.
"This means you do away with the de-listing rule and give it back to the Fish and Wildlife Service to think about more," he said. "There's going to be a thorough, fine-toothed comb going through it to decide what we can do better."

Conservation groups like Earthjustice who sued the federal government after wolf de-listing are naturally stoked:

"Hopefully, they'll go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan that better protects wolves," said Earthjustice attorney Doug Honnold.

...snip...

Montana: Gray Wolves May Get Government Reprieve NY Times from AP

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 16, 2008
A federal wildlife official in Billings said the government planned to retreat for now from its attempt to take gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list. The official, Ed Bangs of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the government in the next week planned to withdraw a rule issued this spring. The rule was based on the assertion that the region’s approximately 1,500 wolves were recovered fully, opening the way for public hunting of wolves to begin this fall in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Those hunts had been in doubt since July, when Judge Donald Molloy of Federal District Court blocked them pending resolution of a lawsuit by environmentalists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/us/17brfs-GRAYWOLVESMA_BRF.html


Read more: http://www.backpacker.com/blogs/435

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The Bush administration Fish and Wildlife Service had removed Endangered Species Act protection from the wolves in the Yellowstone area. They allowed the Idaho and Wyoming governments to implement plans to allow hunters to shoot wolves. About one hundred wolves were killed, if I recall correctly.

I supported Defenders of Wildlife on this matter. They are leading the way on Alaskan wolf preservation.

Ah, well. She'll just have to make do with full bear couch throws and moose heads on plaques. Sorry, Sarah. You can't kill 'em all. :nuke:

for that matter while she was governer. bounties had been outlawed (in AK) since 89 but she is giving bounties to folks killing wolves today.

I could be wrong, but I think they're protected here in Wyo, MT, ID, but Alaska has a larger population so they can do whatever they want with them.

This policy has been a "developing problem" for several years. The bush administration has been using this issue for cheap political gains with the hunting outfitters. For that matter, the governors of Idaho and Wyoming have been using this for cheap political gains. In Montana, the public insisted on keeping endangered species protections for the wolves. Thank Governor Brian Schweitzer (who gave a great speech at the DNC this year).

but this is encouraging news. Thank you!

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977331493



The killing in the Greater Yellowstone region has already begun.
April 24, 2008 06:16 PM EDT (Updated: April 24, 2008 06:40 PM EDT)
views: 110 | rating: 10/10 (26 votes) | comments: 32

One of the first victims: Wolf 253M -- a celebrity wolf, affectionately known as "Limpy", the beloved member of Yellowstone's Druid Peak pack -- and one of the first wolves shot dead when federal protections were lifted on Northern Rockies wolves. Wolf 253M's celebrity didn't save him in the end. Limpy and two other wolves were shot dead in an elk feeding ground, part of Wyoming's brutal shoot-on-sight policy that covers virtually the entire state. The intentional extinction of a species?

Limpy

Limpy was many things to many people -- to wolf-watchers, he was the hobbling member of Yellowstone's famous Druid Peak Pack. To Utahans, he was the first wolf to be seen in the state for more than 70 years. "Nicknamed 'Limpy' because his back legs were crippled in a fight when he was young, 253M was just shy of 8 years old -- a wolf Methuselah -- when he died March 28, shot in Wyoming on the first day wolves lost their protected status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act."

The killing has already begun. Limpy's death was just the beginning. It's been 26 days since wolves were stripped of federal protections in the Greater Yellowstone area -- and at least 17 wolves have already been killed in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. And there are surely more to come.

Officials in Idaho changed their state law on the day wolves were delisted, making it far easier for anyone to kill wolves near livestock or domestic animals.

In Wyoming, state officials stripped all protection from wolves in 88% of the state. Locals have organized weekend eradication "wolf hunts" to kill any wolf that they find. One group tracked a wolf for 35 miles on snowmobiles before shooting it dead.

:cry:

The wolf is one of the misunderstood creatures.

They have more beauty and dignity in one claw than Caribou Barbie has in her whole body.

have already had on genetic diversity. This was one of the larger concerns for the entire grey wolf population in general, because a lot of diversity had been lost and the "start-up" pool was relatively small. 100 wolves is bound to have an impact on that, shrinking the pool yet again.

I used to do fundraising for Defenders of Wildlife back in my telefundraising days, specifically for the wolf programs.

The tide is turning!

Don't tell sarah palin, we wouldn't want to ruin her day.


I hope this protection will stick and those beautiful animals will once again thrive.

Atleast wolves will exist for awhile longer, and the barbarians who hunt wolves will have to soothe their bloodlust in other ways.