By Jamie Rappaport Clark

Just as we feared, it appears that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is ready to give up on wolf recovery before the job is done.

The LA Times reports today that the Service is expected to release its proposal soon to strip federal protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for most gray wolves in the United States. Under the proposed delisting, only Mexican gray wolves in the Southwest would still be protected by the federal law. The opportunity for expanding wolf recovery to areas with superb, unoccupied habitat in areas such as Colorado, Utah and California would be abandoned entirely, and the future of smaller developing wolf populations in the Pacific Northwest could be serious jeopardy. (See map of current vs. historical range of gray wolves.)

The gray wolf delisting proposal represents a major retreat from the optimism and values which have been the hallmark of endangered species recovery in this country for the past 40 years. Instead, the proposal reflects a short-sighted, shrunken and much weaker vision of what our conservation goals should be. The Service has clearly decided to prematurely get out of the wolf conservation business rather than working to achieve full recovery of the species.  Their decision is the equivalent of getting up and leaving in the middle of a wildlife conservation movie, mumbling “game over – we’re done – let’s get some pizza!”

In its proposal, the Service has made a number of dubious determinations that are worth examining in greater detail.

Federal biologists have decided that Canis lupus, the species of gray wolf that once spanned much of the western and central United States, will no longer be considered endangered. Part of the agency’s rationale is that wolves in both the Northern Rockies and western Great Lakes have recovered and were already delisted. Of course, this ignores the fact that there are still significant areas in states like Colorado, Utah and California with excellent unoccupied wolf habitat but no wolves. Without federal protection and support for wolf recovery, wolves will be at the mercy of rabid, anti-wolf state politics that, unfortunately, is still far too prevalent across the West. Too often extreme rhetoric from ultra-conservative state politicians wins out over sound wildlife management principles.

More troublingly, the Service concludes that protection is no longer warranted since gray wolf populations worldwide are stable. This is a tragic reversal of long-standing FWS policy to protect imperiled species in this country regardless of their status north or south of our borders. By this same logic, grizzly bears, wolverines, lynx, bald eagles and numerous other iconic species would never have been listed and restored in the lower 48 because they exist in greater numbers in another country. The intent of the ESA was to restore these ecologically important animals in the United States. It doesn’t matter that they exist elsewhere. As Aldo Leopold, the grandfather of modern wildlife management once wrote, “Relegating grizzlies to Alaska is about like relegating happiness to heaven; one may never get there.”

The only bright spot in this otherwise significantly flawed delisting proposal is the Service’s decision to retain protection for Mexican gray wolves in the Southwest as a unique subspecies. With the current population hovering at 75 wolves, the agency at least recognized the need to continue protection for this struggling subspecies.

The bottom line, however, is that wolves are still not recovered in key parts of their range, and the conservation work is not done. Apparently the Service thinks it’s good enough to have gray wolves just in the Northern Rockies and western Great Lakes, and they’re ready to call it quits on restoring wolves anywhere else.

But we’re not giving up that easily. There is still time to convince the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to do the right thing and continue the fight for America’s gray wolves. We’re asking all our members and supporters to contact new Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and demand that she maintain protection for wolves so they may continue to expand into their historic range and fully recover. This includes Colorado, Utah, California and western Oregon and Washington – all of which could benefit ecologically and economically from the return of gray wolves.

Please contact Secretary Jewell today and tell her NOT to throw in the towel on gray wolf recovery. These magnificent animals once roamed from Canada down to Mexico. They can do so once again if we give them a chance!

You can also join a live chat this morning about the proposed delisting and the future of wolf recovery in the U.S. with LA Times reporter Julie Cart at 9 a.m. Pacific/12 p.m. Eastern. Click here for more details.

Read Defenders full press release here.

Fifty years ago today, a small book was published that awakened us all to the plight of our planet and arguably changed the course of history. I know it changed mine.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964), author of Silent Spring, pictured here in 1940 as a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Silent Spring was the book, and its author Rachel Carson was one of the early pioneer women scientists to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the 1930s. Decades later, I would follow in her footsteps, both literally and figuratively. As a biologist working for the same agency during the ‘90s, I had the great fortune to occupy her old office in the Department of the Interior building for part of my tenure. Then, when I was appointed director of the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1997, I stood on her shoulders as I led the federal government’s efforts to protect America’s natural heritage.

I remember reading Silent Spring for the first time when I was in high school. By then, DDT had already been banned nationwide, but America’s wildlife was still reeling from its devastating effects. Carson’s prescient writings compelled me to recognize the damage being done to the planet, especially the majestic birds that I had grown to love as a child. Through her eyes, I also began to see that it was within our power to stop the poisoning of our environment and save the growing number of species teetering on the brink of extinction.

During college I became more hopeful as I oversaw the release of captive-bred endangered peregrine falcons back into the wild. Falcon populations had plummeted after decades of using DDT, which made eggshells too thin and caused them to break. But thanks to dedicated conservation efforts and tougher pesticide restrictions, falcons, bald eagles and many other birds of prey were finally starting to recover. I felt very fortunate to play a direct role in righting a wrong, undoing decades of uncontrolled pesticide use and poor management of our most vulnerable species.

Peregrine falcons are one of many species that suffered greatly from decades of DDT poisoning. They have made a strong recovery as a result of conservation efforts and tougher pesticide restrictions brought on–at least in part–by the publication of Silent Spring.

I’ve often reflected back on Rachel Carson’s incredible courage and leadership as she challenged agricultural scientists and the government to change how the natural word was viewed and protected.  I’ve done my best throughout my career to highlight the importance of science, stewardship, and ethical responsibility and to emulate her courageous leadership as well.

Now, as president of Defenders of Wildlife (of which Carson was briefly a board member), I’m privileged to carry on that legacy. Each day presents a new opportunity to raise awareness of the threats facing our wildlife and the habitats they need to survive. Fueled by the passion of our members and supporters and grounded in sound science, we aim to make positive changes that ultimately benefit all Americans. In that respect, the message of Silent Spring is as relevant today as it was in 1962.

After 50 years, I wish I could say that all our problems have been solved. Instead, we’ve replaced DDT with other dangerous pesticides, we continue to lose more wildlife habitat each year at an alarming rate, the number of species on the brink of extinction continues to climb, and global warming threatens to throw many ecosystems out of balance. Yet, I’m still hopeful. And I firmly believe we can achieve lasting solutions to the environmental challenges we face today.

People everywhere are waking up to the reality of pollution and climate change and the loss of biodiversity, and they’re realizing it’s up to all of us to make a difference. Thankfully, like those of us who grew up reading Silent Spring decades ago, a new generation has recognized that nothing is more important than protecting the planet that sustains us all. With our collective efforts to create a cleaner, greener future, Rachel Carson’s spirit and call to action lives on.

Defenders’ President & CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark

Kalon Baughan is a man on a mission. In partnership with Defenders and the research and education organization Wild Things Unlimited, he’s been working hard as a citizen scientist to document wildlife activity in Montana, and the work has really paid off. Using 10 motion-activated cameras, he has helped us document 500 photos of 53 separate wolverine events in just one year!

While we cannot tell for sure, we are darn certain we have documented up to nine different wolverines based on the unique color patterns of fur on their face, throat, and chest. Best of all, three of those wolverines were young wolverines, called kits! We’ve had our first documentation of a wolverine traveling with two kits; earlier this summer we had images of a different adult traveling with one kit.

On the prowl

Cyclops mugging for the camera

Cyclops plus two

What are you lookin at?

One wolverine that I endearingly call Cyclops is a fascinating individual (see pictures). Cyclops appears to have heavily damaged or lost his/her eye (boy, what I’d give to know how!)…yet s/he seems to be doing well and has two kits in tow.  While wolverines have a reputation for being hostile loners, they can actually be quite the social characters. Father wolverines don’t abandon their families – they visit the dens of their kits, and for up to two years juvenile wolverines may remain in their parents’ territories sometimes traveling with their mother, sometimes with their father, and sometimes alone.  Thus we cannot know whether Cyclops is a male or female for certain without visual or genetic evidence.  Either way, we’ll keep an eye out (sorry!) for further evidence of Cyclops’ adventures.

Beyond the cool pictures, we’re gaining valuable insights into wolverine activities with this work. Interestingly, the wolverine activity we’ve captured on camera occurs at low-elevation, non-alpine habitat where wolverines are not typically known to spend a lot of time in Montana, especially during summer. Additionally, this high density of wolverines in one small region is quite uncommon. Our guess is that this may be related to the fact that wolverines are no longer trapped in this part of Montana, which is likely to have subsequently reduced human-related mortality in the area.

Wolverines elsewhere in the state aren’t so lucky. Up to five wolverines may be trapped statewide in Montana within designated trapping districts, according to current regulations.  While five may seem like a small number, it may still be too many when you consider there are only an estimated 250-300 individual wolverines in the entire lower-48!  Additionally, with wolf trapping now recently legalized in Montana and Idaho (despite efforts from Defenders, our members and other wolf supporters), concern has risen for increased potential of incidental trapping of wolverines, lynx, and other wildlife.

That’s why the efforts of Kalon and Wild Things Unlimited to document wildlife in Montana are so important. We need to learn as much as we can about wolverines and other rare carnivores to add to the understanding of how and where they are vulnerable, and what we can do to protect them. We’re thrilled to be able to support citizen science that ultimately helps conserve imperiled species. Keep up the great work, Kalon and Wild Things!

Read more about what Defenders is doing to protect wolverines

Learn more about wolverine characteristics and behavior

Like most good fairytales, the story of the gray wolf is truly captivating. Only this fairytale may turn out to have a tragic ending.

When President Clinton appointed me as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1997, there were about 200 wolves in the Northern Rockies. It was an extraordinary time to be involved in wildlife conservation. An iconic native species that had been carelessly eradicated in the early 1900s was being given a chance to come back. The decision to restore wolves to the West was not without controversy, but most of us at the Fish and Wildlife Service were proud to lead such a historic endeavor. We had the support of our President and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, and poll after poll showed that the vast majority of the American people were excited to see wolves returned to the wild.

When I left my post at the beginning of 2001, the population was approaching 500 wolves, and for the next ten years recovery continued apace. At the end of 2011, there were more than 1,700 wolves in the region, including a handful of breeding pairs in Oregon and Washington and a lone male wolf on a journey through parts of northern California. By almost any measure, the return of gray wolves to the Northern Rockies has been an incredible success… until now.

Over the past year, we’ve seen an about-face in the treatment and management of wolves in the Northern Rockies. They’ve gone from being federally protected under the Endangered Species Act to being public enemy number one across much of the region. And it’s about to get even worse.

In May 2011, wolves in Idaho and Montana were booted off the endangered species list by Congress — the first time ever that a species was delisted by lawmakers instead of scientists. Since then, both states have conducted aggressive wolf hunts that have killed more than 500 wolves.

If that wasn’t bad enough, both states are ramping up their wolf-killing efforts this coming fall. Idaho has doubled their already excessive bag limit, allowing hunters to kill up to 10 wolves each through a combination of shooting and trapping. Montana has eliminated quotas across most of the state, tripled their bag limit, and will allow widespread trapping.

Photo courtesy of National Park Service.

Both these states claimed they could manage wolves properly if given the chance. Both said they would manage them like other wildlife in the state. But while these states are willing to accommodate thousands of bears and mountain lions, they don’t seem willing to share the land with a healthy number of wolves.

And now, in a matter of days, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will announce that it is stripping federal protections for wolves in Wyoming as well. Wyoming’s goal is to reduce the population to just 100 wolves outside of Yellowstone National Park, allowing the rest to be killed anytime by almost any means, including shooting them from airplanes, trapping and even gassing pups in their dens. That means nearly half of the current population could be eliminated through a combination of hunting and shoot-on-sight predator control within just a few months of delisting.

No other native species is managed to a biological minimum. Reducing the population to such low levels defeats the purpose of restoring wolves in the first place–allowing them to fulfill their important ecological role in maintaining nature’s balance. The goal should be to help the wolf population continue to recover, not put it right back on life support.

Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are seemingly in a race to the bottom after decades spent trying to put wolves back in their rightful place in an ecologically healthy landscape. Across the region, we’re seeing wolves being persecuted once again as unwanted vermin rather than being treated as other valuable wildlife. This harmful attitude is what led to the eradication of wolves nearly a century ago and it is still a persistent threat to wolves today.

Sadly, unless the delisting decision is halted and the states involved begin to treat wolves as they do other wildlife within their borders, the hopeful tale of wolf recovery will have a tragic final chapter. This is the Obama administration’s last chance to write a better ending for what has otherwise been a remarkable national conservation success story.

Sign Defenders’ petition today to help save Wyoming’s wolves! Tell the Obama administration to maintain federal protection for Wyoming’s wolves until the state comes up with better management plan.

But in recent years, summer has meant the exact opposite here in D.C. It’s time for wildlife opponents in Congress to make their sneak attacks on some of America’s most imperiled plants and animals by cutting holes in our nation’s safety net—the Endangered Species Act.

Polar bears would lose federal protection under a Farm Bill amendment introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

The latest onslaught started last week with an insidious rider proposed to the Senate Farm Bill that would eliminate protections for polar bears, Florida panthers and hundreds of other species that exist in only one state.  That was followed quickly by another proposed farm bill amendment that would make it virtually impossible to protect species on private lands by mandating onerous economic analyses and discounting valuable scientific information. We should be doing everything we can to rescue America’s imperiled wildlife, not throwing up additional roadblocks that will push them closer to extinction.

This week, we’re anticipating several more anti-wildlife provisions to be introduced that would eliminate vital protections for endangered species and the habitats they depend on for survival.

First up is a bill that includes an array of nightmarish attacks on our public lands and wildlife.   One of these could spell disaster for jaguars, caribou, lynx, grizzly bears and dozens of other species along our borders. This provision, which was introduced by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), would waive about three dozen essential environmental laws on Federal public and tribal lands within 100 miles of our borders with Canada and Mexico.  In addition, the bill would give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unilateral authority to engage in numerous destructive activities on Federal public and tribal lands anywhere in the U.S., regardless of protective status or proximity to the border.  If passed, the law would allow DHS to build roads through wilderness areas, erect fences around key wildlife habitat and restrict access to national parks without any public involvement whatsoever.

But as two thoughtful ranchers point out in an op-ed for the LA Times, the disastrous border provisions are completely unwarranted. Many landowners already work very closely with border patrol agents to make sure our border regions remain safe without discarding America’s most important environmental safeguards. In another fantastic op-ed for U-T San Diego, a returning Iraq veteran makes the case that our public lands are a source of inspiration and healing for our troops, both when they’re abroad and when they return home.  Rep. Bishop may offer an amendment to this provision on the House floor, but it will do little to address the most significant problems with the legislation.

Last year, this loggerhead was crushed by an off-road vehicle while nesting on Cape Hatteras shores.

Another provision in the same bill would undo critical protections for piping plovers and sea turtles at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The National Park Service finally announced new rules earlier this year to restrict access to the beach and put a stop to the destruction caused by excessive off-road-vehicle use. Nesting populations of shorebirds and sea turtles have started to recover since 2008 when interim regulations were put in place. Let’s not turn back the clock by allowing Congress to override necessary protections for continued recovery of these rare birds and sea turtles.

A key subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives will also begin work on the Interior Appropriations bill this week. This is the same legislation that included more than a dozen attacks on wildlife last year, and it’s likely to have a similar fate this year. We’re particularly concerned about a rider that’s been floated by Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) that would prevent anyone from challenging the delisting of wolves in Wyoming. Such a rider would make it virtually impossible for Defenders, our conservation partners, or any citizens to undo a deadly wolf plan in Wyoming that would allow unrestricted wolf killing across the vast majority of the state.

We’ll be keeping a close watch on Congress this week and urging our champs to take a strong stance to make sure vital wildlife protections remain in place. Please take a moment today to contact your members of Congress and tell them to uphold America’s commitment to preserving our natural heritage for future generations.

Click here to see what you can do to help!

In what has become a troubling tradition in recent years, several members offered amendments to an appropriations bill that undermine critical wildlife protections. This time, the insidious riders were added to the Commerce, Justice and Science funding bill for the next fiscal year.

The first provision, introduced by Rep. Jeff Landry (R-Louisiana.), would prevent the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) from moving forward with a proposal to expand protections for sea turtles. Each year, some 28,000 threatened and endangered sea turtles are caught in shrimp fishing nets that are currently exempted from requirements to use turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, which allow turtles escape from the nets.

Existing regulations have required most shrimp boats to use TEDs since the 1990s, but a loophole in current law exempts some types of trawl fishing from the requirement. In 2010 and 2011, unprecedented numbers of dead sea turtles washed ashore, prompting Defenders and other conservation groups to call for this loophole to be closed.  NMFS agreed and issued a proposed rule to do just that following settlement of litigation (see Defenders press release).  Now, Rep. Landry’s amendment could short-circuit the public’s ability to weigh in on expansion of these protections.

The other appropriations rider, introduced by Rep. Jeff Denham (R-California), would effectively block the recovery of salmon populations in California’s San Joaquin River. Friant Dam, completed in the 1940s, diverted nearly 95 percent of the San Joaquin’s water away from the river for agriculture, wreaking havoc on salmon and putting many commercial fisherman out of business. After years of litigation and negotiations, farmers and fisherman finally reached a settlement agreement to restore salmon to the San Joaquin. However, Denham’s amendment would scuttle restoration efforts by denying much-needed funding. Notably, all parties to the settlement agreement continue to support salmon restoration and oppose legislation that modifies its requirements. Clearly, Rep Denham is catering to outside parties and playing politics with our endangered species.

Defenders will be watching the appropriations process very closely over the coming weeks and months and doing everything we can to make sure these provisions are dropped from the final bill. We’ll need your help to hold members of Congress accountable for maintaining vital funding for protecting all our imperiled wildlife.

Stay tuned…