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.

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.

Michael Tucker, International Conservation Intern

Whenever someone says the word “shark,” the great white from Jaws usually swims to mind. Unfortunately many shark species, the majority of which are harmless to humans, have paid the ultimate price for their more famous movie brethren. The porbeagle shark, an inhabitant of the colder waters of the Atlantic Ocean and a cousin of the great white, is one of those species in desperate need of assistance before it disappears from our planet’s oceans forever.

Porbeagle shark (c)NMFS

What is a Porbeagle?
Lamna nasus, also known as the porbeagle, is a relatively common shark found in the waters between Great Britain and Canada, ranging from shorelines to depths of up to 4,462 feet. The porbeagle is a stout-bodied shark with a pointed nose and a unique white spot on the rear of the dorsal fin. Like its larger cousin the great white, the porbeagle has a dual-shaded body to help it hunt fish from below and above. These sharks are also one of the only species of shark in the world that like to play — they have been found off of the Cornish coast rolling in kelp and pushing buoys around for no reason other than entertainment.

What’s the Problem?
Porbeagle sharks breed slowly and only give birth to one or two pups a year, so any significant damage done to the population takes a long time to fix. It has been estimated that it takes close to 14 years for a population to recover from excessive fishing. Porbeagles were a favorite target for fishing vessels from the 1950s to the 1990s for shark steaks until strict fishing laws were implemented during the late 1990s in order to save the species from overfishing. Although fishing for porbeagles still occurs in the northwestern Atlantic, studies have shown that the number of porbeagles landed in Europe has declined in the past 20 years.

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the porbeagle is listed as globally vulnerable, critically endangered in the northwest Atlantic, endangered in the northeast, and near threatened in the southern Atlantic. In both 2007 and 2010, proposals to regulate the trade of  the species were presented by the European Union at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), but fishing interests successfully blocked the proposals each time.

You Can Help!
For the past couple CITES meetings, Defenders has been helping garner support for a new chance at getting additional international regulations for porbeagles and other shark species to better protect them against overharvesting. Brazil, Comoros, Croatia, the European Union and Egypt will all be sponsoring the porbeagle proposal, and we’ll be at the upcoming CITES conference meeting with the delegates and advocating for the proposal. We are hoping that this time the Parties to the Convention will recognize the dire need for international cooperation to protect porbeagle sharks.  Last time, at the 2010 meeting, the porbeagle proposal lost by just a single vote! We are turning now to Panama, who could cast the decisive vote on this proposal and others like it designed to gain new protections for hammerhead and oceanic whitetip sharks. Click here to send a letter asking the President of Panama to support shark conservation at this year’s CITES conference!

Mary Beth Beetham, Director of Legislative Affairs

A spotted owl finds refuge in the Apache National Forest in Arizona.

It isn’t only wildlife refuges that our many native species rely on for protection. It’s important to remember that national forests and grasslands also play an essential role in the conservation of our nation’s wildlife and habitat. More than 420 animals and plants listed under the Endangered Species Act — and an additional 3,250 at-risk plants and animals — are found on Forest Service lands. These lands encompass an amazing array of habitats, from alpine tundra to tropical rainforest, deciduous and evergreen forests, native grasslands, wetlands and various size streams, lakes and marshes.

Despite the broad array of fish and wildlife and habitat on Forest Service lands, the budget for this program in charge of their stewardship efforts and restoration has substantially eroded. In fact, today it is about 15 percent lower than the amount it received in 2001, and with that cut has come the inevitable decline in the botanists and fisheries and wildlife biologists needed to get the job done. If the program loses any more funding under the fiscal cliff or an overall budget agreement, fish and wildlife conservation work on these lands would be severely impacted.

National Forests and Wildlife
Of the many species on Forest Service lands listed under the Endangered Species Act, more than 100 wildlife species and more than 150 plant species are currently considered priorities for recovery efforts. These would be some of the first efforts to fall to the wayside if the program’s budget is cut any further. Cuts of just ten percent could also prevent the Forest Service from moving forward with its plans to improve wildlife habitat on 25,000 acres of national forests, including habitat for imperiled wildlife such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, salmon and Pacific fisher.

Many of the larger animals in the U.S. that persist because of the havens provided on national forest lands would also be affected, including grizzly bear, wolverine, elk, Canada lynx and bighorn sheep. Since national forests often represent intact, connected habitat, they are often the only suitable remaining habitat for recovery and reintroduction of rare creatures, and they form the backbone of many large-scale conservation plans.

Cuts would also severely diminish the Forest Service’s ability to foster conservation partnerships. Partnerships enable the agency to leverage habitat improvements on an additional 200,000 acres of national forest lands. The agency also partners in innovative efforts that help both communities and wildlife. In just one example, the agency is using the local Job Corps in Montana to install bear-safe garbage containers, keeping bears in forests and out of communities. Other examples of the program’s important wildlife work include:

• Working to cure a disease that is currently decimating prairie dog populations — these rangeland species are important because of their role as prey for the severely endangered black-footed ferret.
• Installing escape ramps in livestock water troughs to help lizards, snakes, birds and bats avoid drowning. This also helps to maintain quality water for livestock operations.
• Working on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska to help harvested areas reach their original, old growth condition at a faster pace. Old growth areas are key for rare and unique species like the Alexander Archipelago wolf and the Queen Charlotte Goshawk.
• Restoring 1,000 acres of sage brush habitat to keep the imperiled Greater sage-grouse off the endangered species list.

National Forests and Freshwater Animals
Significant decreases in funding would be felt underwater as well as on land, and could devastate fish and other freshwater species. Cuts of just ten percent would put an end to the Forest Service’s plans to restore 100 miles of streams and 1,200 acres of lakes, and jeopardize the recovery of 92 threatened and endangered fish species; 64 listed mussel, crustacean and aquatic species; and 440 sensitive aquatic species on national forests and grasslands. It would decimate programs that protect and enhance fishing opportunities and local economies, including these:

• On the Inyo National Forest in California, the Kern River Headwaters Restoration project is restoring a degraded habitat to provide California golden trout with a continued supply of cool, clean water and overall healthy ecosystem.
• The South Fork Skokomish River on the Olympic National Forest in Washington is in a watershed that has been extensively logged. The Forest Service’s restoration efforts in 2010 alone were able to decommission almost 30 miles of road and restore 132 acres of the watershed. These efforts created approximately 60 jobs and resulted in better habitat for species like salmon and steelhead, bull trout, Hood Canal chum and the listed Puget Sound Chinook.
• In Colorado, one of the Forest Service’s priorities is to restore the Upper Swan River watershed to bring back genetically pure native Colorado River cutthroat trout. To accomplish this, old roads will need to be decommissioned and abandoned mines impacting water quality will need to be documented and the habitat restored.
• On the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, Prince of Whales Island was heavily impacted by logging, but recently, more than 360 acres of habitat have been restored in one watershed alone — a great benefit to local fish populations including coho, pink and chum salmon.

Tongass National Forest, Alaska

Interpretation and Education
Another vital part of the Forest Service’s program work is their nature education and recreation services to the public, such as providing hunting, fishing and viewing opportunities, and working to increase awareness of the importance of America’s wildlife heritage. Every year, for instance, one of the most popular programs is participation in International Migratory Bird Day, hosted annually by more than 38 national forests. Last year, national forests hosted more than 520 presentations on this day, experienced by more than 20,000 people. The agency is currently helping to fund English to Spanish translations for materials used in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Our national forests and grasslands are home to a rich array of wildlife and fish, and it is vital that Congress preserve important funding for Forest Service wildlife and fish conservation work. Click here to tell your members of Congress that you support a balanced approach to the budget — not one that makes wildlife the next victims of politics.

Gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park (Credit: Sandy Sisti)

Jamie Rappaport Clark, President and CEO

I am an incredibly lucky biologist.  Every year I am privileged to join dozens of Defenders of Wildlife friends and their families in Yellowstone National Park. Our mission: to watch wolves! My husband Jim, my son Carson and I look forward to this trip every year as we monitor wolf recovery and see firsthand the amazing rebound of a species on the brink of extinction in the lower 48.

One of the highlights of the trip is to get some time with some of the wolf biologists that are on the ground studying wolves all year long. Doug Smith, Dan Stahler, Erin Albers, and others do a fantastic job tracking about a dozen packs throughout the park.  The research they have been doing for the past 17 years has been invaluable to wolf conservation and behavior studies worldwide.

That’s why it is so disturbing to see some of these very same wolves gunned down during the current hunting season. Unfortunately, wolves don’t understand borders and many of the park wolves are used to seeing people.  They don’t know that it’s another world outside of the park boundaries, or that people could mean danger outside the park.  Already, ten Yellowstone wolves have been killed; seven of them with radio research collars, possibly putting decades of wolf research in jeopardy.

We learn so much from Yellowstone research that helps us better understand and manage wolves, not only in Yellowstone but throughout the Northern Rockies and everywhere wolves now find a home. One of the most important research efforts is on predator-prey relationships.  We now better understand what types of species wolves prey on, how much they eat, how they work as a pack and what animals rely on the remains of those kills for their own survival. The research also shows us how other animals behave in the presence of wolves.  Further research indicates that wolves impact numerous species, a term some biologists refer to as “trophic cascades.” One theory is that wolves may influence elk behavior and cause them to spend less time browsing the valley and streams of Yellowstone. This has allowed willows and other trees and brush to flourish, providing richer habitat for beaver, fish, birds and amphibians. We might never have known all of the impressive and important roles that wolves play if we had not had data from the years of extensive research on Yellowstone wolves.

A collared gray wolf in Yellowstone. Photo courtesy of William C. Campbell/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Other research provides data on disease, genetics, breeding, kill rates, pup survival and mortality. Yellowstone is considered by scientists world-wide to be the premier landscape for wolf research because of how visible the wolves are in Yellowstone’s northern range.  In addition to the tragedy of these iconic wolves being killed, we are losing a plethora of research with the loss of each collared Yellowstone wolf.

Yellowstone wolves are valuable for the data they generate that help us understand more about wolves and the important role they play in the ecosystem.  But they are also important to people.  During the first years of wolf reintroduction, biologists had no idea that the newly-released wolves in the northern range of Yellowstone would be so visible to researchers and to the many visitors who visit the park every year.  Tens of thousands of people are lucky enough to come to Yellowstone every year to watch the wolves that make this great park their home.  I know many photographers and filmmakers that have made their living following the wolf packs and capturing their personalities and behaviors; tour guides also benefit from the desire of tourists to see wolves. And all of these people spend money in the park and in the local communities — on the order of $35 million annually, and leveraging a total economic impact of about $70 million per year.

Photo by Michael Quinton/National Geograhic Stock.

The killing of these Yellowstone wolves certainly brings the management policies of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana into clear focus. The loss of these wolves — the most protected in the region, until they set foot outside Yellowstone National Park — provides a window into what is happening to wolves throughout the Northern Rockies, where wolves have few and in some cases no protections.  Already, 257 wolves have been killed so far this hunting season, and more than 800 have died since Congress removed federal protections for wolves in the core of the Rockies.  It’s hard to believe that this is an animal that only last year was protected as an endangered species.

The states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming need to step up and work with the park officials to reduce these serious impacts on wolf research efforts. America has a lot invested in this research and in these wolves. We should be proud that we are leaders in wolf conservation research and take steps now to avoid the losses that occurred this year. We cannot let one of the most spectacular conservation accomplishments of the last century be undermined by wrong-headed management practices.  It’s time we all take a stand and let the states surrounding Yellowstone know that their actions are unacceptable, and we need to work together to ensure a brighter future not only for the wolves in Yellowstone but for those throughout the region.