Freshman Congressman Dan Newhouse has
introduced a bill to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species
List in Washington, Oregon and Utah.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — the agency
charged with deciding what species are put on or removed from the
endangered list — proposed to take wolves off the list nationally in
2013. But, that recommendation was controversial with conservation
groups because while wolves have recovered well in some places, in other
areas including the Cascades, populations are still quite low.
Decades after being nearly wiped out, Washington’s
population is growing as wolves move in from Idaho and Canada. The
population is estimated at about 68 animals in 16 known packs, mostly in
the northeast part of the state, according to a recent report from the
state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Wolves remain on the state’s endangered species list.
But on the federal level, the state is split into
two separate wolf populations. In the eastern part of the state, wolves
are considered part of the Northern Rocky Mountain population, which was
taken off the endangered list in 2011.
In the western two-thirds of the state, including
Yakima County, wolves are considered part of the Pacific Northwest
population, which is much smaller and still listed as endangered.
In a news release announcing the bill, Newhouse called removing the species from the list “long overdue.”
“States are fully qualified to manage gray wolf
populations responsibly and are better equipped to meet the needs of
local communities, ranchers, livestock and wildlife populations,”
Newhouse said in a statement. “Delisting the gray wolf under ESA would
allow state wildlife officials to manage wolf populations more
effectively.”
In addition to leaving management to the states, the
bill would prevent states from providing protections to wolves that are
stronger than those found in the federal Endangered Species Act.
A spokesman for Conservation Northwest, which works on wolf recovery issues, called the bill disappointing. “We’re talking about 12 wolves in Washington and
another six or so in Oregon. Until those Cascade wolves are on stronger
footing, we think it’s important to protect them,” said Chase Gunnell.
He added that delisting decisions are not usually
made by lawmakers, but that it’s happened before for controversial
species like wolves.
Washington’s management plan sets a target of 15
known breeding pairs — with at least three located in each region of the
state — as the point when the species can be considered recovered.
Currently, the state has five known breeding pairs.
Rep. Greg Walden, D-Ore., and Rep. Chris Steward, R-Utah, co-sponsored the bill.
Last week, Oregon officials announced that the state
was considering taking wolves off its endangered list as well. The
state’s biologists say that a population of 77 animals and four
documented breeding pairs counted in recent years meet its recovery
criteria.
No comments:
Post a Comment