Keep Gray Wolves Protected Under the Endangered Species Act

Hunting, trapping, and habitat loss drove gray wolves to near extinction in the twentieth century. Conservation efforts made possible by the Endangered Species Act has allowed them to come back and begin to re-establish their former habitats. But, the Trump Administration is in the process of preparing a rule that would strip every gray wolf in the lower 48 states of crucial Endangered Species Act protections.

Wolves have only begun to recover in many parts of the country – and they are completely absent in others. The successful recovery of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies was only possible because of the strong protections of the Endangered Species Act. The Trump Administration's plan would jeopardize any future recovery by allowing states to manage gray wolves as game species.

This would be a death sentence for many wolves. Wolves currently protected under the Endangered Species Act would likely face aggressive hunting and trapping immediately.

Add your name to comment against the Department of Interior Secretary's plan to take Endangered Species Act safeguards away from gray wolves and to support continued efforts to bring wolves back.

Wolves in the United States were the subject of brutal and reckless attempts to drive them from the landscape in the last century. When they were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1974, they were gone in all but one state in the continental US. The protections of the Endangered Species Act have allowed gray wolves to recover in some parts of the country.


I am terribly alarmed to learn that the Trump Administration is planning a rule that would remove these vital protections from still-recovering gray wolves in the lower 48 states.


Without these protections, states will have no limits on the management of this iconic and maligned species.


In Wyoming, where wolves once had Endangered Species Act protections, they are treated like nuisance animals and can be killed without limit any time of the year.


In Wisconsin, the state has reportedly made plans to eradicate more than fifty percent of the wolves in its borders if Endangered Species Act protections are lifted.


These same stories of killing instead of conservation could play out across the United States where wolves are trying desperately to re-establish their rightful habitats.


Please reconsider this unscientific plan and instead develop a wolf recovery plan to bring these majestic animals back.


 
Update #15 years ago
The Department of Interior has extended the comment period for the Trump Administration's proposal to remove Endangered Species Act protections from virtually all gray wolves in the lower-48 by 60 days, giving us more time to organize against it. This proposal is widely opposed by activists, wildlife advocates, and scientists who recently submitted a letter of opposition. Please continue to sign and share this petition to keep protections for gray wolves.
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