CA Fish & Wildlife Recommends No Protection for Wolves Under State Endangered Species Act

Despite Recent Visits From Wolf OR-7, Agency Cites Lack of Wolves in State, Commission Will Make Final Decision
Published on Feb 5, 2014
By: Center for Biological Diversity

Photo of wolf pups courtesy Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

SAN FRANCISCO February 5, 2014 - In response to a 2012 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity and allies, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has recommended denying protection for gray wolves under California's Endangered Species Act for the sole reason that there are no wolves in the state at the moment. The report was handed to the California Fish and Game Commission and made available to the public today, and it is now up to the commission to decide whether or not wolves will be protected.

"Wolves deserve a chance to recover in California so it's disappointing to see the Department of Fish and Wildlife's recommendation against protections," said Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf organizer at the Center for Biological Diversity. "Despite acknowledging the state has plenty of wolf habitat, that more wolves will migrate to the state, and that wolves that do get here are likely to face persecution, the Department is saying no to protection only because wolves are not here yet. It makes no sense and is not the kind of forward thinking we expect in the Golden State."

Wolves were once widely distributed throughout California, but were driven extinct by a government-sponsored eradication effort on behalf of livestock operators and others opposed to the animals. In late 2011 a young male wolf from Oregon known as OR-7 crossed the border into California, becoming the first confirmed wild wolf in the state since the 1920s. OR-7 stayed in California for 15 months before returning to Oregon, but has crossed back into California on several occasions, most recently in December. Oregon has a small but growing wolf population, and it is widely anticipated that more wolves from Oregon will make their way into California.

"The state wildlife agency's recommendation against listing defies logic," said Weiss. "California was once wolf country, and these beautiful animals, now beginning to return to the state, deserve the highest level of protection to ensure they can survive here without persecution."

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