Biodiversity: Wildlife advocates howling mad about draft federal plan to take wolves off the Endangered Species List

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Wolves may not be in danger of extinction, but are they recovered?

wolfmap

The current legal status of wolves in the U.S.

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A gray wolf follows a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. Photo courtesy NPS/Doug Smith.

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO —An oft-discussed proposal to remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List has progressed to the point that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has developed a fairly detailed draft version of the plan. The draft rule proposes removing all protections for wolves in 29 eastern states but maintaining endangered status for the Mexican wolf by listing it as a subspecies.

“We propose these actions because the best available scientific and commercial information indicates that the currently listed entity is not a valid species under the Act and that the Mexican wolf (C. l. baileyi) is an endangered subspecies,” the agency wrote in the draft. (more…)

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Politics plagues wolf recovery in the Southwest

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

States not keen on sharing territory with top-tier predators

A Mexican wolf at a holding facility. PHOTO COURTESY USFWS.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — If there were ever any doubts that politics is a huge factor in the management of some endangered species, the continuing back-and-forth between state and federal officials over recovery of the endangered Mexican wolf in the Southwest should put them to rest.

The exchange of emails and letters going back several years shows clearly that some state officials are resisting the recovery effort by challenging population targets and habitat designations, and, that in some cases, federal officials may be giving in, even though they are charged with enforcing the Endangered Species Act and required to use the best available science to make their decisions. (more…)

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Wildlife: Republicans try to undermine Mexican wolf recovery

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

A Mexican wolf. PHOTO BY BRIAN GRATWICKE VIA THE CREATIVE COMMONS.

Will politics prevail over science?

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Even as federal conservation biologists work to develop recovery goals for Mexican wolves, once plentiful in the Southwest, a group of Republican lawmakers from the West and Midwest is conspiring to prematurely remove Endangered Species Act protections for the rare species.

The introduction of H.R. 1819 follows last month’s budget rider that arbitrarily removed wolves from the endangered species list in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Utah, the first-ever congressional removal of Endangered Species Act protections for a species.

“The feds are declaring victory, but gray wolves still only survive in 5 percent of their former range, and even in those places they continue to face a real threat of persecution. Taking protection away from them now is premature and will impede the long-term recovery of wolves in the United States,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Endangered Species Act, in stark contrast to congressional whimsy, requires meeting scientific benchmarks to delist a species. H.R. 1819 would circumvent the act’s clear mandate to recover spices by allowing wolves to remain listed, but turning management over to states on an indefinite basis once the population reaches 100 animals. (more…)

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