Protections still needed for wolves

By Patrick C. Valentino - July 27, 2013

In June, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list despite wolves occupying only about 5 percent of their historic range. The service reminds us that the Endangered Species Act was not intended to provide indefinite life support. This is certainly true, and there might have been a compelling case for delisting today had the science supported it and had wolves reached a fuller stage of recovery.

But that hasn’t happened. In fact, three states in our Northern Rockies, already charged with wolf management, have unleashed an intense and partisan desire to reduce wolf numbers to the barest minimum allowable. Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming now have recreational hunting and trapping seasons, and in the past two years nearly 1,200 wolves have been killed. Well-known and well-loved wolves from Yellowstone National Park were killed, including the cherished Lamar Canyon pack’s alpha female. This degree of backlash questions whether our society has advanced past treating predators as a disposable commodity, a mindset that nearly wiped out wolves by the early 1900s. 

There is an alternative path: one that recognizes that the majority of Americans support wolves as part of our wilderness and heritage, looks beyond managing wolves on the basis of population numbers along, recognizes the inherent value of wolves to exist in the wild as nature intended, and focuses on solutions to conflicts with livestock, such as nonlethal predator deterrents.

California is currently developing a wolf management plan and reviewing whether to protect wolves under state law in preparation for a future wolf population. Californians have a chance to lead the way and demonstrate how to afford the wolf the value it deserves, work together to reduce conflicts, and hopefully one day celebrate the recovery of wolves in our state.

The mission is far from accomplished. Delisting now is a political decision defying the majority’s desire for a more complete, science-based recovery of gray wolves. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to protect gray wolves and maintain their rightful place on our wild landscape.

Valentino is director of California Wolf Recovery.

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