Gray Wolves Lose USA Federal Protection

Gray Wolves Lose USA Federal Protection





    
 
January 2007  - The U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service is removing the western Great Lakes 
population of gray wolves from the federal list of threatened 
and endangered species and is also proposing to remove the 
northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves from the 
list. 
"Wolves have recovered in the western Great Lakes because 
efforts to save them from extinction have been a model of 
cooperation, flexibility, and hard work," Deputy Secretary of 
the Interior Lynn Scarlett said today. 
Conservationists view these moves as a mixed blessing. 
“With this change we have the opportunity to open a new 
chapter in the relationship between wolves and humans,” said 
Walter Medwid, executive director of the International Wolf 
Center based in Minneapolis and Ely, Minnesota. 
“As a society we persecuted wolves, then we protected them. 
What’s next? As states relax some protections, will we 
tolerate wolves or kill as many as the new laws allow? What 
happens next is up to citizens living in states where 
delisting applies," Medwid said. 
Once abundant across the United States, wolves were reduced to 
near extinction by hunting, persecution and habitat 
destruction. (Photo courtesy FWS) 
"The wolf’s return in the Great Lakes region is one of the 
most remarkable turnarounds in the annals of wildlife 
conservation," the National Wildlife Federation said today. 
Just a few decades ago the 200 or so surviving wolves in the 
lower 48 states faced extinction. The Endangered Species Act 
protected the small remaining population of gray wolves in 
northern Minnesota in 1974, and from that population, wolves 
have recovered naturally throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and 
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan meeting the recovery goals 
under the Endangered Species Act. 
"The Fish and Wildlife Service deserves praise for its years 
of effort, often under great political pressure, to nurture 
wolves back to health in the Upper Midwest," the National 
Wildlife Federation said. 
But Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen said, 
"The Fish and Wildlife Service decision is cause for both 
celebration and alarm, as the Great Lakes and the northern 
Rocky Mountain states have very different outlooks on how to 
manage the wolves after the delisting." 
"The Great Lakes wolves are a classic Endangered Species Act 
success story. The remarkable recovery efforts to restore the 
wolf have paid off, and the states are ready to assume the 
responsibilities of managing their own wolf populations," 
Schlickeisen said. "The states have demonstrated their 
commitment to wolf recovery while under federal protection, 
and we look forward to a continued commitment from these 
states to wolf conservation." 
"However, the northern Rockies are another story," he said. 
Idaho and Wyoming have state management plans that are geared 
toward wolf eradication, not wolf conservation. Idaho's 
governor has said he wants to kill more than 80 percent of the 
state's wolves and the state has begun planning wolf 
eradication by hunting and aerial gunning. 
Grey wolf pup (Photo courtesy NPCA) 
Wyoming's plan would allow 16 out of the existing 23 packs of 
the wolves in the state to be killed on sight. The state would 
authorize poisoning, trapping and shooting on 90 percent of 
the wolf's current home range outside the national parks. 
While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved wolf 
management plans in Montana and Idaho, it has determined that 
Wyoming's state law and wolf management plan are not 
sufficient to conserve Wyoming's portion of a recovered 
northern Rocky Mountain wolf population. 
Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dale Hall said today that 
if Wyoming's plan is not approved before the Service decides a 
final action on this proposal, the agency would continue to 
protect wolves under the Endangered Species Act in the 
significant portion of their range in northwest Wyoming. This 
excludes the national parks, which he says have adequate 
regulatory mechanisms to conserve wolves. 
Hall said that the Service also could move forward to remove 
the remainder of the wolves in Montana and Idaho and portions 
of Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Utah from the list of 
threatened and endangered species. 
"The Service is committed to ensuring that wolves thrive in 
the northern Rocky Mountains after they are delisted and will 
continue to work with the states to ensure this successful 
recovery is maintained," said Hall. 
"I look forward, as do all the states that have been involved 
in wolf recovery, to returning management of the gray wolf in 
the northern Rocky Mountains to the states." 
Once a species is removed from Endangered Species Act 
protection, there are several safeguards to help ensure it 
continues to thrive, including a mandatory five year 
monitoring period. 
The Service also has the ability to immediately relist a 
species on an emergency basis, if monitoring or other data 
show that is necessary. 
Comments from the public are encouraged on this proposal to 
delist the northern Rocky Mountain population of wolves. They 
can be emailed to NRMGrayWolf@fws.gov; hand-delivered to 
USFWS, 585 Shepard Way, Helena, MT 59601; or mailed to U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Wolf Delisting, 585 Shepard Way, 
Helena, MT 59601. 
All comments must be received within 60 days of the proposed 
rule's publication date in the Federal Register. For more 
information on Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves, visit 
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/wolf/ 
The final rule removing gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes 
Distinct Population Segment from the list of threatened and 
endangered species will be published in the Federal Register. 
The rule becomes effective 30 days after publication; until 
that date, gray wolves remain under the protection of the 
Endangered Species Act in the western Great Lakes. The rule 
and other information about the gray wolf may be found at 
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf