Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Idaho's wolves are in the crosshairs. You can help save them. Please take action now!

Will your tax dollars pay for an ill-conceived aerial wolf cull in Northeastern Idaho – an unscientific plan to boost game populations that could kill as many as two thirds of the wolves in the Lolo District of the Clearwater National Forest?

Tell President Obama to stop aerial wolf killing in Idaho before it starts. Send your message right now.

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has asked federal officials at Wildlife Services to use helicopters, sharpshooters and your tax dollars to find, target and kill most of the wolves in this wild area of Idaho.

President Obama can save these wolves. He need only direct Wildlife Services to deny Idaho’s request.

Ask President Obama to stop Wildlife Services from spending federal tax dollars on this ill-conceived aerial wolf killing plan designed to artificially boost game populations.

The wolf killing could begin within days – on our National Forests and paid for with your tax dollars – so please send your message now.

When President Obama took office in 2009, he promised to put science first in the management of America’s wildlife and natural resources. Now he has a chance to do just that by rejecting Idaho’s request for federal resources to kill wolves.

The President need only recognize the importance of ensuring sustainable populations of these ecologically important and iconic animals and reject Idaho’s attempts to artificially boost game numbers.

If we’re going to stop this wasteful wolf cull, President Obama needs to hear from as many caring people as possible. Please send your message today and help us send at least 75,000 messages to the White House by the end of the week.

Speak out for wolves and against using federal tax dollars to kill wolves in Idaho. Send your message now.

As many as 75 wolves in Northern Idaho could be targeted for death by federal aerial gunners.

It’s outrageous: federal sharpshooters are preparing to take to the skies of Northern Idaho in an ill-conceived attempt to kill as many as 75 wolves to artificially boost game populations.

Idaho’s wolf-killing plan is unscientific and misplaced, but the Obama Administration appears to be going along with it. To stop the killing, Defenders of Wildlife has launched a flash mobilization campaign.

Please join the fight. Urge United States Department of Agriculture head Tom Vilsack to stop the killing before it begins.

The proposed plan – requested by state officials in Idaho – is for Wildlife Services, a program under Secretary Vilsack’s supervision, to use federal staff, helicopters and other aircraft to gun down wolves in the Lolo region and the Clearwater National Forest – public lands also under Secretary Vilsack’s supervision that belong to you and me.

Already, more than 56,000 Defenders activists have called on Secretary Vilsack to prevent the wolf cull. Will you add your voice to the call to save these wolves from unnecessary slaughter?

Help save the Lolo wolves. Take action now.

The stated reason for the wolf-killing plan is that some believe that wolves are reducing elk numbers. But elk numbers began decreasing in the area long before wolves returned, as suitable elk habitat in the area declined due to natural changes.

A lack of sound science isn’t stopping anti-wolf extremists from declaring war on the Lolo wolves.

On December 14th, Ron Gillett of the Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition told The Los Angeles Times bluntly that: “We want these wolves dead.”

Help save as many as 75 wolves in Idaho and support sound, science-based decision-making in wolf management. Please take action now.

Have you heard about what’s happening in Wyoming?

The state is gunning to shoot wolves on sight across nearly 90% of the state — even on national forests and other publicly owned lands. Worse, state officials are now pushing the policy with the blessing of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service!

This is the greatest threat to the recovery of wolves in the Rockies today!

Defenders of Wildlife has set an ambitious goal of sending 100,000 messages to save our wolves. Already, nearly 60,000 people have taken action, but we need your help to meet our goal.

Here are two ways you can help right now:

1. Take action. Tell U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe that you OPPOSE the premature delisting of wolves in Wyoming.
2. Spread the word: Post this action on Facebook and Twitter.

The Obama Administration’s proposal allows indiscriminate wolf killing across the vast majority of Wyoming… even on national forests and other lands owned by the American taxpayer.

Congressional action has already eliminated important federal wolf protections in Idaho and Montana. Now the Obama Administration is walking away from its responsibility to ensure a healthy wolf population in the region by backing Wyoming’s flawed wolf plan.

Under these plans, wolf numbers in Wyoming and throughout the Northern Rockies may be driven below sustainable levels.

Vital dispersal of wolves to other states where wolves have historically made their homes – particularly Colorado and Utah, which have no established wolf packs yet – may also become next to impossible.

And states like Idaho and Montana may even be tempted to follow Wyoming’s lead, ushering in new policies that would allow wolves in those states to be killed on sight as well.

We only have until January 13th to make our voices heard. Please speak out for the future of wolves in the West. Take action now.

Timber wolf pups play-fighting in Minnesota. Washington State was once home to many more wolves like these.

Decades ago, wolves roamed across Washington. But that was before they were eliminated from the Evergreen State.

Now these magnificent animals have begun to return to Washington, and we need your help to ensure a lasting future for them.

Earlier this month, the state began to review a progressive wolf management plan that would allow these amazing animals to roam throughout much of their traditional range. But the plan falls short of what will ultimately be needed to fully recover wolves in Washington.

Tell Governor Christine Gregoire to support allowing more wolves in the state and to expand the range where they will be allowed to roam.

This is a key moment for wolf restoration in Washington. We know from reintroduction efforts in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies that wolves help balance natural ecosystems and that they can bring tourism dollars to states that support their recovery (as much as $35 million a year near Yellowstone, according to one study!)

But we also know that anti-wolf extremists can be a serious roadblock to recovery efforts. Some are pushing hard for a low cap on the number of wolves that would be allowed to inhabit Washington – a bad precedent for wolves or any other wildlife.

And just last week, indictments were handed down for the killing of five of Washington’s wolves. Defenders has offered money to help reward information leading to the prosecution of these lawless wolf killers, but we’re also working to build broader acceptance of wolves in Washington, collaborating with ranchers and local tribal members to pave the way for smart, sustainable wolf recovery.

We’re at the start of something great here, and you can be a part of it. Please send your message to Governor Gregoire today.

House Majority Leader John Boehner and others are insisting that vital protections for wolves be eliminated as part of must-pass legislation to keep the federal government operating.

Ridiculous. That’s the only way to describe what’s happening in Washington, DC right now.

The House leadership is holding the federal government hostage, insisting that their extremist anti-wildlife agenda be part of a must-pass bill to keep the federal government running.

Our wolves, polar bears, clean water and clean air are at stake. Please urge your U.S. senators to oppose anti-wildlife riders in the must-pass continuing resolution.

House Speaker John Boehner and his extremist allies have tucked the worst anti-environment agenda in the last 15 years in the pages of a must-pass spending bill to keep the federal government functioning.

The Senate has already rejected it once — but that’s not stopping Rep. Boehner.

Boehner and his allies in the House are insisting that Congress…

• Strip vital protections from wolves;
• Render the federal government powerless to save polar bears and other wildlife from the effects of climate change; and
• Gut the programs that protect the air we breathe and the water we drink.

Sound serious? It is.

The House leadership is playing politics with our wildlife and our environment. It’s a reckless, scorched earth agenda against our natural heritage — if they win, the consequences will be severe.

Please take action today and urge the Senate to stand firm against this anti-wildlife agenda.

Our national forests can provide vital habitat for endangered animals like lynx. Unfortunately, a new decision by the Obama administration would roll back forest protections that have been in place since the 1980s.

For lynx and other wildlife, it could be a forest foreclosure—one that denies these mysterious forest creatures and other wildlife the habitat protections they need to survive.

In an outrageous move, the Obama administration has proposed a new plan for our national forests, setting aside vital measures that have protected the homes of lynx and other imperiled wildlife since the days when Ronald Reagan was president.

Don’t let President Obama turn back the clock for our wildlife. Urge federal officials to stand up for wildlife protections in our national forests.

Plenty is at stake. The U.S. Forest Service manages 175 national forests and grasslands spread across 190 million acres in 42 states and Puerto Rico.

These magnificent landscapes support diverse ecosystems and an incredible array of fish, wildlife and plants including iconic animals such as lynx, antelope, bison, bighorn sheep, elk and cutthroat trout. In all, our national forests provide habitat for more than 5,000 species of fish and wildlife and more than 10,000 plant species.

Our national forests are worth protecting. The deadline for submitting public comments on the Obama forest plan is May 16th.

Take action now to speak out for these special places and save something wild.

The proposed plan would:

• Roll back existing safeguards for wildlife conservation and no longer require the Forest Service to maintain healthy and sustainable fish and wildlife populations for every species in our national forests;
• Leave the decision of whether or not to maintain healthy, viable populations of many imperiled wildlife species at the discretion of individual forest managers, leaving the fate of hundreds of species uncertain; and
• Allow individual forest managers the discretion to “give up” on protecting many needy species without facing accountability to the public.

Our national forests are the inheritance of our children and grandchildren. Please take action now to protect these special places… and the wildlife that calls them home.