Feds Endanger "Crowning Achievement" by Reducing Protection for Gray Wolf, says Defenders of Wildlife

Interior Department Decision Leaves Future of Gray Wolf Uncertain

(03/18/2003) - WASHINGTON – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) "is turning its back on one of its crowning achievements" by moving to sharply limit areas for wolf recovery in the lower-48 states, according to Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.

Today’s announcement by the Department of the Interior that it will change the status of wolves in the lower-48 states, lessening protections in most regions, "threatens the long-term success of one of the 20th century’s most significant wildlife conservation achievements," Schlickeisen added. The rule issued today by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) would severely limit the places available to wolves and leave the species facing legalized killing by hostile state governments and illegal killing by anti-wolf fanatics.

"Returning the wolf to a portion of its former range has been a remarkable accomplishment for the Fish and Wildlife Service and conservationists across the country, but quitting before the job is finished threatens everything we’ve all worked for," added Schlickeisen, who helped spearhead the campaign to return wolves to Yellowstone, Idaho, and other parts of the species’ historic range. "The goal of the Endangered Species Act is species recovery, not perpetually holding off extinction. We’re so close to that goal with the gray wolf that it would be tragic for us to stop now."

Prior to this rule, the gray wolf is listed as "endangered" in all lower-48 states except Minnesota, where it is listed as "threatened." The species has been successfully reintroduced in the northern Rockies and reestablished in the Great Lakes region. The Mexican wolf has been reintroduced in the area of the U.S.-Mexico border. Still, with only 4,000 gray wolves in the Lower-48 states, the species has been returned to less than two percent of its historic range.

Today’s 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, Colorado, Utah, and the Northeastern United States.

Defenders’ Vice President for Species Conservation Nina Fascione noted that the FWS’ moves to shift management of wolf populations to the states comes at a time when several state legislatures are considering and adopting increasingly vitriolic anti-wolf bills. In 2002, Idaho’s legislature passed a resolution calling for the removal of wolves from the state "by any means necessary," while Montana and Wyoming are each considering legislation that would allow the killing of wolves "on sight."

"The ultimate goal of the Endangered Species Act is to restore species and give management back to the states, but these legislatures are showing their true colors, and true intentions, for how they plan to ‘manage’ wolves once they are delisted. There’s no doubt that wolf recovery will essentially cease, and probably reverse, if this moves forward," said Fascione.

"Cutting short the return of the wolf is just another sad page in Secretary Gale Norton’s worsening conservation record," said Schlickeisen. "She’s the only secretary since the law’s beginning not to list a single imperilled species under the ESA, a law that she opposed at every turn through her career. She vetoed a locally-led initiative to restore grizzly bears to Idaho. It’s now clear that she wants to wash her hands of wolf recovery, adding yet another black mark in the poor environmental record that led Defenders to call for her resignation."

Less than a decade after the wolf was returned to Yellowstone and other parts of the northern Rockies, biologists are noting tremendous, positive ecosystem effects, including the return of a number of fast-disappearing habitats, such as aspen groves and beaver ponds, in restored wolf habitat. Scientists believe that the resurgence of diversity in these ecosystems may be attributable to the restoration of more natural movement patterns by elk herds in response to wolves, allowing native vegetation to regenerate.

"The dire predictions that foreshadowed the return of the wolf have proven to be unfounded," Fascione added. "Instead of less wildlife, we’ve got more, and a clear rebound of biological diversity."

Conservationists point to the success of their cooperative efforts with ranchers and FWS personnel throughout the wolf recovery project to minimize livestock losses. Actual livestock losses to wolves have been minuscule; Montana livestock growers have lost an average of just six cattle and five sheep to wolves per year since 1987, while ranchers in the Yellowstone region lost nine cattle and 41 sheep on average, and Central Idaho lost eight cattle and 23 sheep per year since 1995. Defenders of Wildlife maintains two programs that help livestock owners with wolf issues in the region, including The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Wolf Compensation Trust, which compensates ranchers for the full value of livestock lost to wolves, and The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Proactive Carnivore Conservation Fund, which uses cost-share assistance for structures and practices that help prevent conflicts between wolves and livestock. For information on these innovative programs, please see Wolf Compensation Trust and Proactive Carnivore Conservation Fund.

"In poll after poll, the majority of people around the country say they want successful wolf restoration in the United States. We must not stop short of that goal, now that it’s within our grasp," Fascione said.

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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.

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Contact(s):

Brad DeVries, (202) 772-0237