Wolf Advocates Offer U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency a Proposal to Restore Wolves in the Northeast
The final rule on gray wolf reclassification under the Endangered Species Act downlists the wolf from endangered to threatened and keeps the Northeast region administratively lumped together with wolf recovery areas in the Great Lakes region. The agency also proposes to delist the wolf completely throughout the Northeast and the Great Lakes region within the next two years.
"Classifying wolves in the Northeast with distant wolf populations in the Great Lakes is ludicrous," said Lisa Osborn of Defenders of Wildlife. "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is turning its back on a vast region of potential wolf habitat in the Northeast."
The eastern wolf once lived throughout the Northeast but was eradicated from this region by the late 1800s due to bounty hunting and habitat destruction. Although wolves are making a comeback across a few areas of the U.S., they remain notably absent from the northeastern landscape. Scientific studies have shown that the North Woods of Maine, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont could support nearly 2,000 wolves. Restoring a healthy population of wolves in northern New England would help to balance burgeoning populations of beavers, which can damage commercial timberlands, and increase the health of the region's deer and moose herds. The return of the wolf would also promote new economic opportunities centered around wildlife based recreation.
"The bottom line is that wolves in the Great Lakes region do not prey on deer and moose in northern New England," said Paula MacKay of the Wildlands Project. "Wolf recovery requires a long-term commitment to restoring ecologically meaningful wolf populations across their native range—including the northeastern U.S. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is allowing politics to undermine its legal obligation to restore this species."
Because of their essential role as a top predator in healthy ecosystems, the long-term recovery of self-sustaining wolf populations in the Northeast has been an important goal of the region’s conservation community. "Without wolves, the Northeast is missing a critical link in the natural balance of life," said Kristin DeBoer of RESTORE: The North Woods.
During the public comment period on the proposed reclassification, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received thousands of comments – the vast majority of which strongly supported a plan to restore gray wolves to suitable habitat in the Northeast. "The public has made it very clear it wants wolf recovery efforts in the Northeast. The law requires that wolves be restored to the region. The Bush Administration should keep the promise of the Endangered Species Act and work to return the wolf to the northeastern states," said the Sierra Club's Bart Semcer.
Contact(s):
Lisa Osborn, Defenders of Wildlife, (802) 496-9549Kristin DeBoer, RESTORE: The North, (415) 253-6720
Paula MacKay, Wildlands Project, (802) 434-4077 x15
Bart Semcer, Siera Club, (202) 675-6696
