January 4, 2014
Wetzler reports: "If the Fish and Wildlife Service gets its way, not only will
established wolf populations in states like Idaho and Minnesota continue
to be unprotected, but any wolves who make it to other states ... will
also be completely at the mercy of local governments."
Wolves Must Not Lose Their Endangered Status
By Andrew Wetzler, Natural Resources Defense Council
03 January 13
Tuesday marked the official end of the public comment period on the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's proposed nation-wide regulation
removing the gray wolf from the federal list of endangered species.
The proposed regulation is the culmination of the administration's push
to finally strip every gray wolf in the country (outside of a small
population in Arizona and New Mexico) of federal Endangered Species Act
protections. If the Fish and Wildlife Service gets its way, not only
will established wolf populations in states like Idaho and Minnesota
continue to be unprotected, but any wolves who make it to other states -
California, Maine, Utah or Colorado, for example - will also be
completely at the mercy of local governments.
Some of those states may manage wolves wisely, but far more have shown a
pattern of disturbing hostility to wolves and a complete aversion to
wolf recovery.
Just last week, news broke of a wolf killing "tournament"
in Idaho. The Utah state legislature regularly appropriates hundreds of
thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to private groups to lobby
against any wolf protections. Wyoming has designated over 80 percent of
the state a wolf "free fire zone," where wolves may be shot at any time
of the year and in unlimited quantities. In Michigan, the state
legislature has passed laws to bypass a popular referendum, which was
almost certain to prohibit a public wolf hunt. And gray wolves that have
made it to Maine have been shot by hunters, who claim they mistook the
wolves for coyotes.
For all the success that the wolf has enjoyed in some parts of the
country, there remain huge areas of suitable habitat for wolf
populations to establish themselves in the lower-48 states. From the
vast forests of northern New England, to the rich elk and deer habitat
in Colorado, to northern California's forests and rugged mountains, true
wolf recovery means restoring healthy wolf populations not to a tiny
fraction of its suitable habitat, but as the Endangered Species Act
right demands, to a "significant portion" of that range.
These wild areas cry out for a return of their wolves. As ecologists now
recognize, the presence of wolves and other top-predators are a crucial
part of restoring the health of our wild places. From vegetation near
streams, to trout and beaver populations, to song birds, owls and foxes,
we now know that the entire fabric of ecosystems are transformed and
made more healthy, diverse and resilient when wolves are present.
Yet, despite this, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Obama
administration have continued their inexorable march to strip wolves of
the few federal protections they now enjoy. And I can't help but wonder,
why? It's not a popular decision. Close to 1,000,000 comments have been
filed with the administration opposing the delisting proposal.
It's not the science. As NRDC makes clear in our comment letter, the
scientific evidence justifying the delisting of wolves, particularly in
the Northeast is shaky at best.
It's not the law. There are numerous
legal problems with the delisting. And it's probably not politics.
Unlike a few years ago, there are no vulnerable Democrats in the U.S.
Senate demanding a wolf delisting. My money rests on bureaucratic
inertia and a lack of vision.
Regardless, I hope the administration sees
the error of its ways. If not, NRDC and our conservation allies will be
there to fight, every step of the way.
© 2014 Reader Supported News
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always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and
nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and
everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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