Northern Rocky Grey Wolf Settlement
2011-03-22
According to the Associated Press and Lewiston Morning Tribune, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has reached an agreement with ten conservation groups to de-list wolf populations in Idaho and Montana, while maintaining, for the time being, federal protection for wolves in Washington, Oregon, Wyoming and Utah. These ten organizations were some of the groups involved in a lawsuit that won protection for wolves Iast year. Under this agreement, a 2011 hunt would be permitted in Idaho and Montana, the USFWS would stay involved in monitoring wolf populations in both states, and an independent scientific panel would be established to review the outdated recovery goal of 300 wolves in the Northern Rockies. The settlement includes no requirements to protect any specific minimum number of wolves in Idaho and Montana.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Western Watersheds Project and Friends of the Clearwater are not part of this settlement even though we were involved in the conservation group lawsuit that won protection for wolves Iast year. In August 2010, Judge Molloy correctly placed Northern Rocky grey wolves back on the Endangered Species list because, under the Endangered Species Act, imperiled wildlife populations cannot be de-listed according to state boundaries. We will continue to work toward wolf recovery according to the law, not political threats. Instead, we have retained attorneys to ask U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy to stand by his decision and deny the settlement. In any case, this settlement can’t guarantee that Congress will not pass legislation that would permanently de-list grey wolves from the Endangered Species list.
We greatly appreciate the continued support from citizens around the country. Don’t hesitate to call our office (208) 882-9755 if you have questions or concerns. If you like to blog, consider visiting Howling For Justice: https://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/.
Other groups, like Defenders of Wildlife, who was a party to the settlement, are looking for feedback as well. Here is a link to comment:
http://action.defenders.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=23162&ACTION_REQUIRED=….
http://www.friendsoftheclearwater.org/node/1040
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Please Support Friends of the Clearwater. They are not part of this settlement and are working to keep wolves protected in the Northern Rockies!
http://www.friendsoftheclearwater.org/node/1040
Photo: Courtesy of kewlwallpapers.com
Posted in: Wolf Wars, Action Alerts
Tags: Friends of the Clearwater, gray wolf, Montana and Idaho wolves, settlement puts wolves in jeopardy
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Wolves in english ! Les loups en anglais !
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Howling For Justice 
According to this article, HSUS has signed on!!!
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/wolf_settlement_splits_conservation_groups/C41/L41/
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I do not bother with HSUS anyway.Like the president of Defenders of Wildlife,the CEO or president of HSUS gets alot of money also.Money would be better spent if one helps your local shelter or resue groups.
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Sorry rescue groups.
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Rita…HSUS has actually joined the dissenting groups. So now there are four that are against the settlement. This is a good thing because HSUS has huge name recognition. Glad to know they are willing to stand for wolves also.
N.
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Well,that is good to hear.The hearing is tomorrow.
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What Does “Recovery” Look Like?
What Does Recovery Look Like?
The Bergstrom paper (BioScience 2009) noted that before wolves were temporarily delisted in 2009, there were only nine species that have been delisted and no longer provided Endangered Species Act protections.
The recovered species had “achieved one or both of the following: (1) a minimum population of 1,000 breeding pairs, or (2) an increasing or stable population well distributed across the majority of the original range of the species. “At least six of these delisted species met both criteria,” according to Bergstrom.
The northern Rockies wolf isn’t anywhere close to that threshold – having been recovered over only about 6 percent of its original range.
Only the Arctic peregrine falcon and the grizzly bear were declared recovered with less than 1,000 members (190 and 500, respectively). Some, like the brown pelican, were declared recovered with a head count of 17,000.
In an earlier BioScience paper (January 2006) a team of biologists led by Carlos Carroll (Klamath Center for Conservation Research), looked at wolf recovery through the prism of how far the species should spread into suitable habitat, before it could be considered safely recovered.
Carroll noted that “49 percent of the area in the western United States …holds sufficient prey to support wolves.”
The researchers also noted that the “percentage of the range with recovery potential could drop to 23 percent over the next few decades owing to landscape change, or increase to 61 percent owing to habitat restoration efforts such as the removal of some roads on public lands.”
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Thank you Jerry. It’s great to read actual facts about wolf recovery instead of the opinion of a desperate politician declaring them recovered to get re-elected. In the wolves case, I think it must go even further then numbers. Wolves face smothering persecution which could stop any species from recovering due to the extreme prejudice they must live under. The Lookout Pack in Washington state is a prime example. Just a few short years ago wolves returned to Washington after a seventy year absence. The Lookout Pack was established and had pups. Now in 2011, now the pack has probably disbanded. The alpha female has been missing for months, four members of the pack were poached. A poacher actually tried to mail a Lookout Pack pup’s skin Fedex to a Canadian taxidermist and was caught by a Fedex clerk who saw blood seeping from the package. This is why the wolf needs the protection of the ESA, in fact, I doubt they can survive without it.
N.
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Well,I live in Indiana,I can’t be at Missoula,Montana by tommorrow,but my prayers,hopes and dreams go with you.Don’t let the bullies(wolf haters) intimidate you.
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I got in touch with a member of one of the groups that backed out and agreed to a settlement. He told me that this settlement doesn’t prevent those 2 bills from passing that would delist wolves nationwide, but he said without this settlement, congress delisting wolves is almost certain. Whether that be only for Idaho/Montana or nationwide, he didn’t say.
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Jon…whenever I hear their explanations about why they sold out Montana and Idaho wolves, all I hear is static. There is no justification for this, they haven’t won a victory and all the anti wolf bills in Congress are still being pushed through. They just made us look weak and discouraged many people.
N.
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