Defenders Initiates Steps to Keep Gray Wolf Recovery On Track
Government "Backing away from wolf protection before the job's finished"
(04/01/2003) - WASHINGTON – Defenders of Wildlife today filed notice that it will pursue legal steps to keep wolf recovery in the Lower 48 states on track, in response to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rulemaking that it will change the status of wolves in the U.S., lessening protections in most regions, and sharply limiting the areas where wolves will be protected during recovery."It saddens us to have to take this step, when we've made such a tremendous start toward real, sustainable wolf recovery," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. "But by backing away from wolf protection before the job is finished, Secretary Norton is endangering everything her agency has achieved so far. It may be April Fools' Day, but we're not going to fall for it."
A March 18, 2003, FWS decision downlists the wolf from "endangered" to "threatened" throughout the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest, even though only three of nine states in the region with vast areas of suitable habitat have seen recovery efforts. The rule also downlists wolves to threatened throughout the Great Lakes and Northeast. The rule would sharply limit wolf recovery in the West to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, and preclude wolf recovery in northern California, Oregon, Washington, northern Colorado, Utah, and the Northeastern United States.
Commenting on Norton's history of favoring development over conservation, Schlickeisen added: "Secretary Norton's antagonism to the mission of her department and to saving America's wildlife is now well established. We intend to prove in court that in her ceaseless efforts to benefit the Bush administration's political supporters at the expense of America's wildlife and wild lands, she has once again broken the law. It's too bad that ‘three strikes and you're out' doesn't apply to Cabinet secretaries; if it did, she'd have been removed from office long ago."
Defenders filed a 60-day notice letter with the Department of the Interior, pointing to several legal deficiencies in the final gray wolf rule from the FWS. The organization's letter points out that the Service is declaring wolves "recovered" across vast stretches of the species' historic range, despite having made no progress whatever toward recovering the species in these areas. The letter also notes that the Service's designation of Distinct Population Segments (DPS) for the wolf "were not created based on science or to promote wolf recovery, but, rather, were developed simply to clear the way for the Service to move as quickly as possible to the elimination of all ESA protections for wolves in the coterminous United States."
"Recovery of a species has a very specific meaning under the Endangered Species Act, and we're not there yet," said William Snape, Vice President for Law and Litigation at Defenders of Wildlife. "Half done isn't the same as fully done."
In a related action, Defenders today petitioned the FWS for a Distinct Population Segment (DPS) designation for the wolf in the Northeast. In its current rule, the FWS combined the Northeast with the Great Lakes states into one large DPS for the wolf, even though there is no evidence of wolves currently in the Northeast and vast areas of urban development separate the two regions.
"The Northeast's forests have seen tremendous regeneration in the past century, but they're still missing the top predator that belongs there," said Nina Fascione, vice president for species conservation at Defenders of Wildlife. "Where ever they've returned in the U.S., wolves have brought not just ecological benefits, but also measurable economic benefits as well. The people of the Northeast and the North Woods itself deserve to have their top dog back."
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Defenders of Wildlife is one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and habitat, and was named as one of America's Top 100 Charities by Worth magazine. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, Defenders is an effective voice for wildlife and habitat. To learn more about Defenders of Wildlife, please visit www.defenders.org.
Contact(s):
Brad DeVries, (202) 772-0237
