Federal Proposal on Wolf Recovery Leaves Job Half Done, States Defenders of Wildlife

"The proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to reclassify gray wolves in the lower 48 states would reduce protections for wolves except in Yellowstone National Park, central Idaho and the southern Arizona-New Mexico borderlands. Wolves in these areas would retain their ‘experimental, nonessential’ designations under the Endangered Species Act. However, the proposal would remove all federal protections for wolves returning to California and Nevada," he said.

"Although FWS has made progress in recovering the wolf, there is still a huge gap between what should responsibly be done for the wolf and what FWS proposes," said Schlickeisen. "The proposal ignores the potential for wolves to recolonize remaining suitable habitat such as the southern Rockies and northern California and their need for protection while doing so."

"It is acceptable to reduce federal protections for wolves in areas where significant progress toward recovery has been made, such as Michigan and Wisconsin. However, we see little reason to reduce protections in promising areas such as the northeast and Colorado without measurable signs of progress," added Dr. Mark Shaffer, senior vice president of Defenders of Wildlife.

Currently, all gray wolves in the United States are listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA); some as "threatened" and others, in areas with few wolves, as "endangered." The Fish and Wildlife Service’s comprehensive proposal would downlist or delist them, on an area-by-area basis, from the ESA. A 120-day public comment period on the FWS proposal ends on November 10, 2000.

Comments can be mailed to:

Content Analysis Enterprise Team
Wolf Comments
200 East Broadway
P.O. Box 7669
Room 301
Missoula, MT 59807

E-mail: graywolfcomments@fws.gov

"What FWS is proposing to do is only a half measure of true wolf recovery," said Dr. Shaffer. In our report, Places for Wolves: A Blueprint for Restoration and Long-Term Recovery in the Lower 48 States, we thoroughly examined the possibility of practical wolf recovery in the US and found that there are realistic possibilities for doubling the number of wolves and wolf populations in remaining suitable habitat in the lower 48 states. The FWS proposal would leave the job half done," Shaffer said.

"Each and every new recovery area we identified has been subjected to an independent scientific study. Moreover, even if all of our sites are recolonized, the total wolf population in the lower 48 states will be less than 10 percent of what was there historically," he added.

"The public needs to weigh in on this proposal, to speak up forcefully in favor of scientifically defensible wolf recovery," said Shaffer.

Southern Rockies -- "Nowhere are the proposal’s flaws more apparent than in the southern Rockies where FWS financed studies reveal ideal habitat and sufficient prey for wolf restoration," said Craig Miller, southwest field representative of Defenders of Wildlife. "This region is easily capable of supporting 1,000 wolves, yet the Service’s own proposal may prevent wolves from ever reentering this habitat. By embracing this less-than-ambitious reclassification plan for this region, the Service is essentially accepting Colorado’s wolf prohibition law as an acceptable state wolf-management plan."

Southwest -- "Mexican wolf recovery in the Southwest is hampered by two conditions. First, the wolves are captive-bred and require more management to thrive. Second, the recovery area is too small to ever fully recover the subspecies," said Miller. "The first problem is being overcome by federal, state, tribal and private efforts, but the latter problem needs to be resolved by altering this proposed rule to expand the recovery possibilities to the appropriate wild areas of Texas and Mexico."

California -- "It defies common sense and scientific reason to delist wolves in California and Nevada where there currently are no wild wolves," said Bob Ferris, Defenders of Wildlife vice president for species conservation. "Recent studies indicate that as many as 400 wolves could live in northern California alone but that won’t happen if the absence of federal protections allows them to be shot at the state line."

Pacific Northwest -- "Washington has substantial wildlands and needs wolves to regain full ecological integrity," said Gerry Ring Ericson, Washington state field representative of Defenders of Wildlife. "Omitting Washington from wolf recovery seems based more on politics than on the spirit of the Endangered Species Act, which should not be tolerated."

"Oregon has already had several wolves visit in the last two years and will need years of protection to form a viable population," said Suzanne Laverty, Pacific Northwest field representative of Defenders of Wildlife.

Northeast -- "We applaud the Service for taking the first steps toward wolf recovery in the Northeast by developing a recovery team and plan for the future of this region," said Nina Fascione, director of carnivore conservation for Defenders of Wildlife. "However, we are concerned that the proposal to downlist wolves in the Northeast from ‘endangered’ to ‘threatened’ status is based purely on politics rather than science, considering there are currently no wolves in this region."

Northern Rockies -- "The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho has stood the test of time and has proved to be one of the most successful reintroduction programs ever under the Endangered Species Act," said Hank Fischer, northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife. "I think it is acceptable for the Service to downlist populations from ‘endangered’ to ‘threatened’ in this region once they meet the criteria established in the recovery plan."

Great Lakes -- "We praise the Service for its success with wolf recovery in the Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin," said Fascione. "The figures are truly impressive, wolves in this area have recovered from fewer than 1,000 to approximately 3,000. Downlisting in Michigan and Wisconsin is appropriate to allow those states more flexibility in managing their wolf populations. However, we are glad to see the Service is not delisting in Minnesota, as that state has not developed an acceptable state management plan."

"Defenders and our members are very committed to wolf recovery," said Ferris. "We purposely extended our wolf compensation program to cover the new recovery areas described in our Places for Wolves: A Blueprint for Restoration and Long-Term Recovery in the Lower 48 States. The report, published in December 1999, describes the necessary steps for science-based wolf recovery in the contiguous United States. Defenders of Wildlife created its Wolf Compensation Trust in 1987 to reimburse ranchers and farmers for wolf-caused livestock depradations.

Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 400,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues.

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