Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Feds to abandon wolf recovery nationwide – We’ve been very busy at Defenders since last Friday when the LA Times first reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is ready to give up on gray wolves across the country except in the Southwest. Our Executive Vice President Don Barry was interviewed by several reporters, including the Associated Press for a story that was picked up by more than 200 outlets from coast to coast (e.g., USA Today). He emphasized that the Service is throwing in the towel too soon, long before wolves are fully recovered.

“There’s a race to the bottom to see who can be more anti-wolf… They’re basically giving up on wolf recovery before the job is done.”

Don also talked to Aaron Kunz with Northwest Public Radio to discuss the potential impacts for wolves in the region, as well as the impacts beyond their current range in states where there are no wolves.

“Wolves are still not recovered in key parts of their range. Delisting at this point could preclude the return of wolves in Utah or California or Colorado.”

Places like the Olympic peninsula in Washington, much of western Colorado and northern California, and parts of Utah have large swaths of wilderness that could benefit from the return of wolves. But without federal guidance and resources, wolves may never make it there on their own. Our greatest concern is that by moving forward with this nationwide delisting proposal, the Service is leaving wolves entirely at the mercy of anti-wolf politicians in the states.

Giving up on wolf recovery with just a few thousand wolves in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes sets a very low bar for endangered species conservation in America. It also undermines decades of hard work and billions of dollars of public investment in restoring these majestic creatures to the landscape.

If you haven’t already, please contact Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and tell her not to abandon wolf recovery!

Montana gets tougher, Wyoming eases up on wolf hunting next season – Wyoming Game and Fish deserves credit for trying to avoid driving wolf numbers too low. Their proposed hunting regulations would cut in half the number of wolves that can be killed in state’s trophy game management area. In the 2013-2014 season, the proposal would allow 26 wolves to be killed by hunters in this area, down from a quota of 52 this past year. However, part of the reason they’re giving wolves a break is that there are far fewer of them in the state to begin with, compared to Idaho and Montana. Also, the completely unrestricted killing of wolves in the predator zone that encompasses most of the state has contributed to the decline of Wyoming’s wolf population. We’d much rather see Wyoming start managing and maintaining wolves outside of the regulated hunting zone and protect wolves that move outside of Yellowstone National Park. But we also need to support the state’s willingness to carefully monitor the population and revise its hunting season accordingly. You can weigh in on the proposed regulations over the next month at a series of public hearings or by submitting comments online.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, on the other hand, continues the push to reduce its wolf population. Their proposed hunting and trapping regulations for the upcoming season would expand the hunting season to March 31^st when females may be pregnant, and allow each hunter or trapper to kill up to five wolves, instead of just three. Though only two hunters and about a dozen trappers reported killing more than one wolf last year, we can expect those numbers to keep increasing as hunters and especially trappers gain more experience. The state also wants to make it easier for hunters  by allowing them to shoot wolves standing near a baited site set for trapping. Montana’s wildlife commission will be meeting next week to discuss the proposed regulations. Click here for more details. Please ask Montana’s commissioners to stop ratcheting up their wolf-killing efforts unnecessarily and focus instead on maintaining nature’s healthy balance among all species.

Washington state wolf powwow this weekend –Live in the Seattle area? Not busy this weekend? Want to learn more about wolves and Native American culture? Perfect! Then come out to the 28^th Annual Edmonds Community College Powwow, “Teachings of the Wolves,” starting this evening. Defenders is proud to help sponsor the event, which includes dance and drum ceremonies, singing, storytelling, arts and crafts.  The focus of this year’s celebration will be on understanding the deep connection that Native Americans in the region have always shared with the spirit of the wolves. We look forward to working with native communities across the state to help restore wolves, which have been a vital part of their history and way of life for millennia. If you attend the event, please stop by the Defenders’ booth and meet our local representatives.

(A special breaking edition of Wolf Weekly Wrap-up)

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.

Matt Clark, Southwest Representative 

Patagonia Mountains – rich habitat for wildlife in the southwest ©Matt Clark

If you are anything like me, you might get to feeling pessimistic sometimes because of all of the alarming news we hear about the growing extinction crisis, climate change and a plethora of other wildlife woes. The renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote, “One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise.” Since Leopold’s day, science has deepened our understanding of these ecological wounds and their consequences for wildlife – and has also revealed promising solutions.

Though most understand the damage done when a species’ habitat is destroyed, we often overlook the damage that comes from breaking the habitat into smaller pieces or crisscrossing it with roads and other barriers. When native habitats become too small, isolated and fragmented, they can’t support healthy wildlife populations.

Here in Defenders’ Southwest office, we’ve partnered with the Wildlands Network and a dozen or more of North America’s most respected conservation organizations to protect, connect and restore a contiguous network of lands along the spine of the Rocky Mountains and associated ranges, basins, plateaus, and deserts – all the way from Alaska’s Brooks Range to the Mexican Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. These habitats need to be stitched back together so that wildlife can survive in a crowded world, and can shift their ranges as climate change rapidly alters the environment.

A family of javelina trapped at the border fence that cuts across their habitat (©Matt Clark)

To bring attention to wildlife corridor conservation, outdoor adventurer John Davis is biking, hiking and paddling along a 5,000-mile journey from Mexico to Canada, highlighting the need for wildlife habitat and corridor protection on a local and international scale – a journey dubbed TrekWest. Along the way, John is pointing out projects by organizations, private landowners and decision-makers that have helped to protect or restore vital habitats and corridors. I joined John Davis and our local conservation partners on the trail for the second regional leg of his continental journey. We guided John to important places in the Sky Islands Ecoregion – one of Defenders’ focal landscapes – to highlight promising projects that aim to maintain and restore habitat connectivity.

While TrekWest is mostly about highlighting solutions and successes, we were also compelled to show John some of the obstacles to wildlife in the Sky Islands. We brought John to see the antithesis of habitat connectivity: the 20-foot-tall border wall that Customs and Border Protection has constructed along vast swaths of the border with Mexico, straight through prime wildlife habitat. Defenders led the charge against this massive project at the time, but sadly the construction continued without public input and via the waiving of important laws. On previous trips to the border, I have witnessed the wall’s effects on wildlife. I photographed a family of javelina (wild pigs) cut off from the Mexican part of their range, and have seen deer and mountain lions similarly stymied. Some of the more rugged, north/south wildlife corridors that span the border do not yet have walls constructed across them, and we hope they will never be built.

Jaguars like these are just beginning to make their way back into Arizona – but disconnected habitats make it a challenge.

Another threat we could not sugar-coat for John is a number of mining proposals in the region. We visited the site of the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, just south of Tucson. If this open pit mine proceeds despite strong local opposition and legal challenges, it would destroy and fragment habitat for a wide range of species, including the jaguar. We also brought John to the Patagonia Mountains (a crucial, cross-border mountain range) and showed him the site of the proposed “Wildcat” silver mine. If constructed, this would be the second largest silver mine in the world – and like Rosemont, it would destroy thousands of acres of habitat and sever its connections for many wildlife species including the endangered jaguar, ocelot, and lesser long-nosed bat and the threatened Mexican spotted owl. Defenders is working with partner organizations such as Sky Island Alliance and the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance to prevent this mine from becoming the newest ecological wound to the region.

On the positive side, I helped to guide John on a hike to tour a local wildlife linkage that connects the Santa Catalina Mountains to the Tortolita Mountains. The connection between these two habitats was severed by urban development and a heavily traveled state highway (SR 77). The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, of which Defenders is an active member, has worked tirelessly with stakeholders to protect the threads of habitat that remain intact. The Coalition also helped convince the Regional Transportation Authority to build wildlife underpasses, and an ambitious overpass, to enable wildlife to pass safely across SR 77. Once built, these wildlife-dedicated structures will give deer, fox, coyote, bobcat, mountain lion and other wildlife a way to cross from one habitat to the next without putting themselves or drivers at risk.

The bridge over Davidson Canyon allows wildlife to cross under Interstate 10 (©Matt Clark)

Later, I met up with John and staff from Sky Island Alliance on a hike through Davidson Canyon, a crucial wildlife corridor that links the Rincon Mountains and Pima County’s Cienega Creek Natural Preserve with the Santa Rita Mountains. The canyon is particularly important because the highway’s bridge gives wildlife a place to safely cross beneath Interstate 10. We documented many tracks near the bridge left behind by roadrunner, opossum, fox, coyote, bobcat and cougar. Black bear have also been documented utilizing this corridor. Sky Island Alliance is working with the transportation department and the county to ensure that this corridor remains functional for the free-flow of wildlife movement. These are but a couple of shining examples of how we are collectively working together to ensure wildlife has room to roam.

I believe that the most important factor that has changed since Aldo Leopold’s time is that we are no longer alone as we face these ecological challenges. We are a part of a strong and growing network of well-informed, passionate people working together toward a common and noble cause: the conservation and restoration of our natural heritage. For me, connectivity conservation fuels the flame of hope. It is a way we can give wildlife a fighting chance to survive in an increasingly fragmented and warming world.

Defenders of Wildlife has set itself the goal of moving more than 100 endangered species up the federal recovery ladder over the next decade. Our “Road to Recovery” series will highlight several of these plants and animals and outline the challenges that lay ahead for improving their status.

Restoring a Desert Eagle

by John Motsinger, Communications Specialist

Aplomado falcons cover a lot of ground. Three different subspecies span the Americas from the southwestern United States to the tip of Argentina. They live in tropical swamps as well as Andean mountaintops. Yet these aggressive hunters disappeared from the northern part of their range sixty years ago and have only recently started to make a comeback.

The Northern Aplomado falcon is a midsize, slate-gray bird of prey, similar to a peregrine falcon with long tail and wings. In the southwestern United States the species mostly inhabits desert grasslands and open savannahs, where falcons like to hunt small birds among yucca plants and mesquite trees. They use large stick nests built by other birds, and breed in pairs with the female typically laying two or three eggs.

Historically, the northern subspecies’ range extended into large parts of west Texas and southern New Mexico, as well as much of northern Mexico. But the U.S. population declined sharply in the early 1900s as a result of fire suppression, overgrazing and agriculture that altered native desert prairies. By the late 1950s, habitat loss and poisoning from harmful pesticides like DDT had completely wiped out Aplomado falcons in the Southwest.

Fortunately, the northern Aplomado falcon was given protection under the ESA in 1986, and recovery efforts were set in motion soon thereafter. More than 1,000 captive-bred falcons have since been released in the wild, and hundreds of chicks have been successfully reared. The key to success has been lasting partnerships with west Texas ranchers and the U.S. military in New Mexico, conserving the species on both public and private lands. These partners have entered into flexible agreements to secure habitat for falcons while allowing activities such as running cattle or testing missiles to continue without additional restrictions.

Aplomado falcon in Chihuahua, Mexico. Photo courtesy of NASA.gov

Through these partnerships, Aplomado falcons have started to gain a talon-hold on recovery. Biologists have observed dozens of nesting pairs, and many are now breeding successfully. But with additional resources, new or improved conservation strategies, and continued collaboration with local partners, Aplomado falcons can take another big step toward recovery. The federal recovery objective to down-list the species from “endangered” to “threatened” requires a minimum self-sustaining population of 60 pairs in the U.S. That modest goal seems very attainable over the next ten years.

In its 2012 biennial review of imperiled species, the New Mexico Department of Fish and Game suggested that updating the Aplomado falcon recovery plan could result in new conservation strategies that would enhance the species’ chances of recovery. Defenders supports continued efforts by the Peregrine Fund to breed falcons in captivity and cooperate with agencies and landowners to release them into the wild.  We also support additional work to control invasive shrubs and mesquite that have taken over much of the falcon’s habitat in the U.S.  Landowner partnerships like the Malpai Borderlands Group have made exemplary progress in restoring such grasslands.  More work is now needed to protect falcon habitat in Mexico, where many areas have been lost as arid grassland is converted into irrigated agricultural fields.

With more money available, better monitoring, and a few new partnerships, legions of Aplomado falcons could someday be soaring over the New Mexico and west Texas desert once again. Defenders will be working hard to ensure resources are available to make that happen sooner rather than later.

Learn more what you can do to help accelerate the recovery of America’s imperiled wildlife by joining our Conservation Crossroads campaign.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, President and CEO

Defenders’ president and CEO, Jamie Rappaport Clark

Anniversaries are often a time for balloons and confetti. Sometimes, though, it takes an anniversary to remind us of a bigger picture and more important message. On March 29, we mark the 15th anniversary of the initial release of Mexican gray wolves from captivity into the wilds of the American southwest. Before you cheer this victory and marvel at how fast time goes by, realize that celebration may be a bit premature. Mexican gray wolves will be in a lot of trouble soon if things don’t change.

In 1998, while serving as the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I was privileged to help release the first group of Mexican gray wolves back into the wild in Arizona. These wolves (lobos, as they are affectionately known) were on the brink of extinction in the mid-1970s. But thanks largely to the work of scientists overseeing captive breeding programs, we were able to release 11 lobos into the Apache National Forest of Arizona.

It was the first time in three decades that wolves roamed wild again in that state. Being there to see the wolves take their first steps into the wild was an unforgettable and moving experience, one that I will carry with me forever. Since then, Defenders of Wildlife and other organizations have worked closely with federal and state wildlife agencies, tribes and local communities to help people coexist with wolves and protect this most endangered creature.

Jamie (left) and former Arizona governor Bruce Babbit (right) carry a mexican wolf to the release site. (©Hans Stuart)

Thanks to these efforts, 75 Mexican gray wolves were recorded in the wild last year. A climb from 11 to 75 is clearly nothing to sneer at, but an underlying crisis warrants placing a big, bold asterisk next to that tally.

All of the Mexican gray wolves in the world today are descended from just seven wolves that began the captive breeding program. Such a limited genetic heritage leaves the lobos with smaller litters of pups, increased susceptibility to disease, and less adaptability to changing conditions. And only three breeding pairs remained in the wild in 2012, further hampering the likelihood of producing offspring. Over the long term, these wolves’ very survival is at risk.

All of this points to a perfect storm of trouble for the beleaguered Mexican gray wolves that will only get worse in the next few years. These wolves have remarkable resiliency, but they can’t do it all alone. They need our help, and this 15th anniversary marks the perfect time to help give them the ultimate anniversary present: a better chance of survival in the wild.

Defenders of Wildlife is calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to implement a three-point emergency rescue plan for Mexican gray wolves in order to assure their long-term survival:

• Release more wolves from captivity as the first step in a science-based genetic rescue plan.
• Complete the Mexican gray wolf recovery plan, and implement it.
• Move ahead as quickly as possible to establish at least two additional populations of Mexican gray wolves in the wild.

Captive Mexican gray wolf and pup (©Joel Sartore)

There’s a silver lining here. There are about 300 Mexican gray wolves in captivity at zoos and breeding centers, many of which have yet to breed. If we want to be able to celebrate many more anniversaries of the date of their original release, the Service needs to repeat its actions from 15 years ago by releasing more of these wolves from captivity into the wild.

Mexican gray wolves are an icon of the American southwest. They are near and dear to my heart as well as the heart of many who have invested time and energy into their recovery. The 15th anniversary is an important time to reflect on how far these wolves have come, to be sure. But let’s not just stand by and watch the inevitable decline start to happen. Now is the time to act.

This post also appeared on the Huffington Post.

Click here to take action and urge the USFWS to make Mexican gray wolf recovery a priority!

Eva Sargent, Southwest Program Director

A member of the first pack of wolves released into the Apache National Forest. (c) ADFG

This Friday will be the 15th anniversary of the day U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staffers braved a blizzard to release the first group of captive bred Mexican gray wolves – also called “lobos” – into the wild. The wolves had been waiting in pens in the Apache National Forest in Arizona, the first of their kind in the wilds of the Southwest in decades. Now, 15 years later, there are 75 wild Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico, and a handful in Mexico. That’s something to celebrate – part miracle, part Endangered Species Act triumph. An animal that was completely extinct in the wild, with only seven “founder” wolves as breeding stock to save it, is back and howling and having pups and strengthening the natural systems that sustain everything, humans included.

If you live in the Southwest, we have opportunities to celebrate in Flagstaff and Pinetop, Arizona, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Of course, some people will prefer to sob: there are not enough lobos in the wild; they need to overcome genetic problems; and they are confined to one population in one area of the Southwest. The slow turn of the Mexican gray wolf as it tries to step back from edge of extinction is agonizing to watch. Will the rarest wolf in the world teeter and fall? As someone who lives lobo recovery and politics every day, I can’t just sit around and sob. I need to act, and I need you with me.

Captive Mexican gray wolf (c) Don Burkett

Saving the Mexican gray wolf is all about dedication and political will. There’s not much mystery left about what needs to be done. It has been spelled out in various published scientific papers, in the Service’s own program reviews and their Mexican Wolf Conservation Assessment, and during previous attempts to update the recovery plan. The current recovery team’s scientists have worked it out again, and more rigorously than ever.

In honor of this 15th anniversary of lobos returning to the Southwest, Defenders is calling on the Fish and Wildlife Service to do what needs to be done. In order to back the wolves away from the precipice of extinction and get them headed toward recovery, the Service must:

1. Release more wolves from captivity as the first step in a science-based genetic rescue plan;
2. Complete the recovery plan, and implement it; and
3. Move ahead as quickly as possible to establish at least two additional populations of Mexican gray wolves.

Some of these steps are long and complex, and some are relatively easy. The Service has been promising and trying for years to release more wolves. They are stymied by their own out-of-date rule that prohibits wolves straight from captivity from being released in New Mexico, and by their continued deference to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, which has appointed itself gatekeeper over wolf releases while supporting removing all wolves, including our 75 Mexican gray wolves, from the Endangered Species List.

(c) Jim Clark, USFWS

The Service needs to wait for no one to finish the recovery plan; not only is it entirely under their direction, it is also required by the Endangered Species Act. They are currently engaged in their third attempt to update the 1982 plan; the last two attempts were abandoned at about the point when it became clear that the best science said that Mexican wolves will not survive without many more wolves in several populations. The current recovery team has not met in over a year, although the scientists keep compiling ever stronger evidence that Mexican wolves need many more wolves in several populations in order to survive.

These new populations will take years to establish. Once the recovery plan is completed, the Service will need to consult with the state agencies (which are already represented on the recovery team), and the public, and there will be plenty of discussion about where exactly to reintroduce wolves, and where they might wander from there. There will be ample time for public input and fine tuning, but the time to start all of this is now. The Service must realize that those who are afraid of wolves are already mounting an opposition to the expansion of Mexican wolves anywhere, despite strong public support for wolf recovery in the region.

Mexican gray wolves have no time to waste. They need their stewards to overcome obstacles, ignore those whose entrenched opposition they will never overcome and do what needs to be done to assure their recovery. What the Service does or doesn’t do now will determine whether it is possible for the Mexican gray wolf to recover. That’s what makes this anniversary a cause for both celebration and action.

Help us tell the USFWS that now, as we come up on 15 years of lobos back in the wild, is the time to take action to ensure their future.  If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, sign up for our Thunderclap and you’ll be able to help us spread the word in a big way! Through the Thunderclap, we’ll all be able to send the exact same message at the exact same time: at noon on March 29th. Together, we’ll cut through all the noise and take a stand for Mexican gray wolves – before it’s too late.