Demand an Immediate Status Review of Wolves in the Northern Rockies!
- by: Defenders of Wildlife
- recipient: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
More than five months have passed since Defenders formally requested FWS conduct an urgent review to reassess the status of wolves in the Northern Rockies, based on the aggressive management of wolves by the state of Idaho.
The call for this status review is an important step toward restoring Endangered Species Act protection to wolves in Idaho and other Northern Rockies states.
Less than five years after losing federal protection, it is clearer than ever that Idaho refuses to manage its wolf population responsibly.
Please tell FWS to reassess the status of wolves in the Northern Rockies TODAY!
The call for this status review is an important step toward restoring Endangered Species Act protection to wolves in Idaho and other Northern Rockies states.
Less than five years after losing federal protection, it is clearer than ever that Idaho refuses to manage its wolf population responsibly.
Please tell FWS to reassess the status of wolves in the Northern Rockies TODAY!
Dear Secretary Jewell,
SECOND REQUEST: Review the Status of Wolves in the Northern Rockies.
In May 2014, Defenders of Wildlife requested that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) complete a status review and analysis of threats to the Northern Rockies population of gray wolves. In the five months since that time, there has been no response regarding this request.
The delisting of wolves in the Northern Rockies was premised on FWS's determination that the states of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana would manage this species sustainably and responsibly as they do other game animals through adequate wolf management plans.
Unfortunately for the future of wolves in the Northern Rockies, it is clear that Idaho is not implementing the commitments it made with respect to its management of wolves and has no intention of doing so for the foreseeable future.
Since 2011, hunters, trappers and government officials have killed more than 1000 wolves in Idaho. State officials are working hard to accelerate a decline in the population. Most recently, the Idaho legislature passed and Governor Otter signed a bill to establish a Wolf Control Board, which, if fully funded for the next five years, will have at its disposal $2 million in taxpayer money to aggressively kill wolves in Idaho. Sponsors of this bill publicly touted that this legislation would enable the state to kill all but 100 - 150 wolves, the bare minimum number required by the federal wolf delisting plan. The board recently announced that $225,000 was being given to Wildlife Services for lethal control of wolves to control livestock depredations, so work to achieve this goal has already begun. Furthermore, the Bureau of Land Management is considering issuing a permit to Idaho for Wildlife for a predator derby, including wolves, for a 5-year period across millions of acres of public land.
Idaho is unraveling one of our nation's greatest conservation success stories and has returned to the days when wolves were considered vermin and nearly extirpated from the lower 48 states. Idaho's conduct is also anathema to the model of successful federal-state partnership in endangered species recovery in which species are brought back from the brink of extinction and recovered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and then states and other partners maintain and continue those successful recovery efforts. Idaho is turning this model on its head by undermining and reversing the recovery of the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies, one of our nation's flagship wildlife conservation achievements.
The FWS's 2009 delisting rule identified three scenarios that could trigger a status review and analysis of threats to determine if relisting of wolves in the Northern Rockies was warranted, including "a change in State law or management objectives that would significantly increase the threat to the wolf population."
I consider the combination of Idaho going back on its commitments to manage wolves pursuant to its 2008 management plan and to maintain at least 518 wolves - both of which commitments FWS relied upon in its 2009 delisting rule - and the aggressive predator control tactics the state is currently implementing to substantially reduce the number of wolves in the state to constitute a change in wolf "management objectives" which has "significantly increase[d] the threat to the wolf population."
Furthermore, the impact of these aggressive tactics is being seen in the population. At the end of 2013 there were 20 breeding pairs of wolves in Idaho, a decrease of over 50 percent from 2011, when wolves were delisted. If the aggressive management continues, the number of wolves may reach the 100 individual trigger for status review in the near future.
Accordingly, pursuant to FWS's 2009 delisting rule and the ESA, I once again request that FWS immediately initiate a status review of wolves in the Northern Rockies, including an assessment of Idaho's current wolf management tactics and objectives to determine whether, in light of these threats, relisting is warranted.
[Your comments here]
Thank you for your consideration.
[Your name here]
Sign PetitionSign PetitionSECOND REQUEST: Review the Status of Wolves in the Northern Rockies.
In May 2014, Defenders of Wildlife requested that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) complete a status review and analysis of threats to the Northern Rockies population of gray wolves. In the five months since that time, there has been no response regarding this request.
The delisting of wolves in the Northern Rockies was premised on FWS's determination that the states of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana would manage this species sustainably and responsibly as they do other game animals through adequate wolf management plans.
Unfortunately for the future of wolves in the Northern Rockies, it is clear that Idaho is not implementing the commitments it made with respect to its management of wolves and has no intention of doing so for the foreseeable future.
Since 2011, hunters, trappers and government officials have killed more than 1000 wolves in Idaho. State officials are working hard to accelerate a decline in the population. Most recently, the Idaho legislature passed and Governor Otter signed a bill to establish a Wolf Control Board, which, if fully funded for the next five years, will have at its disposal $2 million in taxpayer money to aggressively kill wolves in Idaho. Sponsors of this bill publicly touted that this legislation would enable the state to kill all but 100 - 150 wolves, the bare minimum number required by the federal wolf delisting plan. The board recently announced that $225,000 was being given to Wildlife Services for lethal control of wolves to control livestock depredations, so work to achieve this goal has already begun. Furthermore, the Bureau of Land Management is considering issuing a permit to Idaho for Wildlife for a predator derby, including wolves, for a 5-year period across millions of acres of public land.
Idaho is unraveling one of our nation's greatest conservation success stories and has returned to the days when wolves were considered vermin and nearly extirpated from the lower 48 states. Idaho's conduct is also anathema to the model of successful federal-state partnership in endangered species recovery in which species are brought back from the brink of extinction and recovered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and then states and other partners maintain and continue those successful recovery efforts. Idaho is turning this model on its head by undermining and reversing the recovery of the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies, one of our nation's flagship wildlife conservation achievements.
The FWS's 2009 delisting rule identified three scenarios that could trigger a status review and analysis of threats to determine if relisting of wolves in the Northern Rockies was warranted, including "a change in State law or management objectives that would significantly increase the threat to the wolf population."
I consider the combination of Idaho going back on its commitments to manage wolves pursuant to its 2008 management plan and to maintain at least 518 wolves - both of which commitments FWS relied upon in its 2009 delisting rule - and the aggressive predator control tactics the state is currently implementing to substantially reduce the number of wolves in the state to constitute a change in wolf "management objectives" which has "significantly increase[d] the threat to the wolf population."
Furthermore, the impact of these aggressive tactics is being seen in the population. At the end of 2013 there were 20 breeding pairs of wolves in Idaho, a decrease of over 50 percent from 2011, when wolves were delisted. If the aggressive management continues, the number of wolves may reach the 100 individual trigger for status review in the near future.
Accordingly, pursuant to FWS's 2009 delisting rule and the ESA, I once again request that FWS immediately initiate a status review of wolves in the Northern Rockies, including an assessment of Idaho's current wolf management tactics and objectives to determine whether, in light of these threats, relisting is warranted.
[Your comments here]
Thank you for your consideration.
[Your name here]
See more petitions:
You have JavaScript disabled. Without it, our site might not function properly.
By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.
Having problems signing this? Let us know.