Wolf Advocates Travel to Washington D.C. for National Rally To Protect America’s Wolves

Immediate Release

Brett Haverstick, Friends of the Clearwater

Adrienne Cronebaugh, Kootenai Environmental Alliance\

Bill Howell, Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance

Merlyn Nelson, Adopt A Wolf Pack

Moscow, Idaho—Representatives from four advocacy groups in north-central Idaho are traveling to Washington D.C. for the Saturday September 7, 2013 National Rally to Protect America’s Wolves. Wolf activists from around the country are marching at the National Mall this weekend to let the Obama Administration know that current management practices in states where wolves have been stripped of federal protection is leading to the slaughter of hundreds of wolves, and that the potential delisting of all grey wolves from the Endangered Species Act has no scientific basis and is unacceptable. The Kootenai Environmental Alliance, Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance, Adopt A Wolf Pack and Friends of the Clearwater are co-sponsoring the nationwide rally.

On August 30, 2013, the 2013-2014 hunting/trapping season for wolves began in Idaho, marking the beginning of another 10-month long wolf killing spree.

“It’s time to take this message to the national stage and let all Americans know, including the Obama Administration, that states like Idaho are killing wolves by the hundreds and are currently incapable of managing the species for ecological benefits and the good of the American people”, said Brett Haverstick, Education & Outreach Director for Friends of the Clearwater. “We can either give wolves the federal protection they sorely need, or watch the states try to rid them from the landscape.”

Much to the surprise of many, wolves can be hunted year-round in the Panhandle region of Idaho, where wolves can be killed on private land when the public hunting/trapping season is closed.

“Americans would be outraged to hear that Idaho permits the year-round killing of grey wolves in certain parts of the state”, said Adrienne Cronebaugh, Executive Director for the Kootenai Environmental Alliance. “Demanding scientific management of predators, including grey wolves, has fallen on deaf ears in Idaho and therefore, we are taking this tragedy to the national stage.”

The National Rally to Protect America’s Wolves is a grassroots effort to demonstrate to our nation’s leaders that a respectful and humane majority of American citizens are demanding federal protection for America’s wolves, under the Endangered Species Act, in every state throughout their historic range.

“I have a dream that one day we will hold this truth to be self-evident, that all wildlife has the right to exist, regardless of it’s use to man,” said Bill Howell with the Northern Idaho Wolf Alliance. “One day wildlife will be judged by its role in sustaining the natural world, and not by the prejudice, mythology and ignorance of man-kind.”

Despite the great distance, all of the group representatives are excited for the opportunity to meet with other wolf activists and to continue to take steps towards building a large, effective grassroots movement.

“We are proud to be a sponsor of the National Rally to Protect America’s Wolves and travel to Washington D.C. to speak on behalf of our nation’s grey wolves,” said Merlyn Nelson, Executive Director for the group Adopt A Wolf Pack. “Our current management model is broken and wolves are in the cross-hairs. We need change.”

===

Top Photo: Nature: Cold Warriors – 3 Wolves

Bottom Photo: Nature: Cold-warriors – pack-traveling-through-snow

Posted in: Wolf Warriors, Wolf Wars, Activism

Tags: gray wolf, Washington DC Rally, activism