Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Help us run more ads like this one that ran in the Washington Post Express today.

Service delays national delisting…for now – We were all surprised and greatly relieved on Monday when the Associated Press reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was delaying indefinitely its premature national gray wolf delisting proposal (see our press statement). Hopefully, the delay means that the Obama administration is rethinking its position. Perhaps the 112,295 (and counting) email messages our wolf supporters have sent to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell haven’t fallen on deaf ears. Or maybe it was convincing letters from independent biologists, the American Society of Mammalogists and Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) sent to agency officials in the past week that made the difference. Whatever it was, we need to keep the pressure up to ensure that this isn’t just a temporary reprieve. Wolves still need federal protection to recover in vast areas with excellent habitat, such as the Pacific Northwest, northern California and the southern Rockies. You can help us secure a brighter future for wolves by supporting our latest outreach efforts, including an advertising campaign that launched today in the Washington Post Express!

Meanwhile, our colleagues at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility filed a lawsuit demanding information from 2010 meetings between state and federal agencies regarding wolf biology and management. Their efforts may help reveal the motivation behind the premature delisting of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and shed light on current plans to abandon wolf recovery nationwide. As PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch said, “By law, Endangered Species Act decisions are supposed to be governed by the best available science, not the best available deal.” We couldn’t agree more, and Defenders Executive Vice President Don Barry emphasized that point on the air recently when he had the chance to discuss the importance of maintaining the integrity of the ESA and protections for gray wolves. Listen to his interview with KTVA near Los Angeles:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Bill sponsors and supporters join Gov. Inslee for the signing of critical wolf funding legislation in Washington.

Gov. Inslee signs wolf funding bill — Washington ranchers will soon have more resources at their disposal to help wolves and livestock coexist, thanks to the state legislature. Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill this week that is expected to raise more than one million dollars for nonlethal wolf conservation management efforts and compensation for livestock producers.  Champions of the bill included Representatives Hans Dunshee and Kristine Lytton and Senators Kevin Ranker and Christine Rolfes.  Defenders regional wolf conservationist Suzanne Stone was present at signing and added, “This is a great example of the benefit of working collaboratively to tackle conflicts instead of just fighting over them.  This legislation is a win for wolves and for ranchers.” Thanks to all our colleagues and supporters in Washington and across the country who helped get this key piece of legislation passed and signed!

Oregon livestock losses highlight need for nonlethal deterrents – According to the latest update from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the state’s wolves have been getting into more trouble with livestock. Last week, OR-4 of the Imnaha pack was implicated in the death of a yearling cow, and at least one Umatilla wolf was involved with the death of four sheep. Overall livestock losses to wolves are still extremely low in Oregon, as well as across the rest of the West. But these incidents provide an important wake-up call for ranchers in the region who are turning their animals out on pasture this spring and summer. Using proactive strategies and nonlethal deterrents is essential to minimizing livestock losses in wolf country. Often all it takes is a few guard dogs, a range rider or portable fencing to ensure that livestock and wildlife can safely coexist. Such measures will be vitally important as wolves continue to expand into areas where they have been absent for nearly 80 years.

Discover wolves in North America – A new series called “North America” premiered on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, and of course wolves were featured prominently. Watch these incredible clips of wild wolves chasing bison and caribou, engaged in the perennial showdown between predator and prey:

Another rocky start for Idaho ranch – You can bring a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.  Witness this old adage in practice in central Idaho where the Flat Top Ranch continues to practice antiquated lambing practices that have cost them far too many sheep, even though they have been offered assistance to avoid these losses.  Now wolves are being targeted by Wildlife Services with your taxpayer dollars in response.

According to the Idaho Mountain Express, ranch owner John Peavey has lost at least 31 sheep to wolves in the past week, offering a perfect example of what NOT to do in wolf country. Instead of providing extra protection for his ewes while they give birth to their lambs, he has sent them out on the range where they attract numerous wildlife species. Scavenging birds such as vultures and ravens pick over the afterbirth, and wolves, coyotes and other scavenging mammals follow soon thereafter. Once hungry predators are in the area, there’s nothing to stop them from going after defenseless lambs or their mothers. As our wolf expert Suzanne Stone says, it’s like setting the table and ringing the dinner bell for any carnivores in the area to enjoy the feast.

Defenders has repeatedly offered to help the Flat Top Ranch implement proactive strategies and nonlethal deterrents to prevent conflict, but each time our advice has been ignored. However, this does offer an important counterexample that proves the effectiveness of our work – none of our project partners have suffered similar losses. In fact, most ranchers we work with seldom lose sheep at all to wolves when properly guarded. In 2012, we protected 27,000 sheep and lost only four to wolves during the summer grazing season over a more than 1,000-square-mile project area. We stand ready and willing to help the Flat Top Ranch once they make the decision to stop range lambing methods that result in preventable losses of sheep, wolves and other native wildlife.

Atka goes to Washington.

A wolf in Washington? – That’s right. An arctic wolf was spotted in Washington, D.C. this week on Capitol Hill. Atka, an ambassador wolf from the Wolf Conservation Center in New York, was in town for a reception co-hosted by Defenders of Wildlife to celebrate the launch of our Conservation Crossroads campaign, as well as the 40^th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. What’s more — today is not only Atka’s 11^th birthday, it’s also Endangered Species Day! So pop the champagne, we all have something to celebrate this week.

Washington wolves move west – Speaking of wolves in Washington… Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is working with ranchers outside Wenatchee to provide safe passage for wolves traveling west through the state. For example, rancher Doug Hurd is keeping his cattle on a pasture with an electrified fence a little longer instead of turning his cattle out onto open rangelands while wolves chase elk and deer herds through the area. The precautionary measure should help prevent wolves from preying on the cattle and keep the wolves focused on hunting wild prey. Ensuring these natural movements across the landscape is vital to further wolf recovery in the state, as wolves start returning to central Washington. See the full report from King5’s Gary Chittim:

Montana proposes wolf hunting expansions – The public can now weigh in on a proposal that would extend Montana’s hunting season another month through the end of March and allow hunters to kill up to 10 wolves each. The proposed revisions would also permit hunters to shoot wolves standing near baited traps (read the full story from Reuters). Though the state’s wolf population dropped seven percent this past year, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is still attempting to reduce wolf numbers even further. Please tell the state wildlife commissioners to reject the proposed changes and focus on promoting tolerance and coexistence instead of more wolf killing. Click here for details on how to submit public comments.

Yellowstone area rancher forfeits second kill permit – KPAX reports that a rancher embroiled in a controversy over the killing of a Yellowstone wolf has forfeited his shoot-on-sight permit to kill a second wolf. The man has apparently removed his cattle from the area to their summer pasture and has moved his remaining sheep as well. He had killed a female wolf (831F) from Yellowstone’s Canyon Pack while she was on his property, after allegedly losing 13 sheep to a pair of wolves in a prior incident. The wolf he shot was not the one responsible for attacking the sheep but was likely lured to the site by a sheep carcass that was left behind. Hopefully the rancher will take additional steps to protect his livestock in the future, avoiding the need to kill more wolves.

CEOs urge Sally Jewell to maintain wolf protections – Top environmental leaders sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell yesterday, asking her NOT to strip Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves nationwide. The pending national delisting proposal is expected to be released any day now and would remove federal  protections for gray wolves everywhere except for in the Southwest. The letter, signed by the chief executives of Defenders and five other prominent conservation groups, says the premature delisting would be disastrous for gray wolf recovery in America.

“Maintaining federal protections for wolves is essential for continued species recovery, and the unwarranted assault on wolves that commenced in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho after wolves in those states lost federal protections highlights the increasingly hostile anti-wolf policies of states now charged with ensuring the survival of gray wolf populations.”

The fate of America’s wolves is now in the hands of Secretary Jewell. Please contact her today and urge her to cancel plans to delist gray wolves across much of the lower 48 states. Help us reach our goal of sending 250,000 messages in support of continued wolf recovery!

Sheep rancher kills Yellowstone wolf – Hunting season is over in Wyoming, Montana and nearly all of Idaho, but that doesn’t mean wolves are no longer in danger. On Monday a rancher just near Gardiner, Montana killed a collared female wolf that he suspected of attacking his flock of sheep. The wolf, known as 831F, came from the Canyon Pack that spends much of its time in the Hayden Valley of Yellowstone National Park.

Federal investigators had determined that two wolves were responsible for killing 18 sheep, and the rancher was given two kill-on-sight permits as a result. However, lead Yellowstone wolf biologist Doug Smith told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that 831F was not the wolf responsible for the livestock losses. Instead, she was likely drawn into the area after the rancher left the carcasses on a bone pile on his property.

While some environmental groups suspect foul play, we see this as yet another important reminder of the importance of finding ways for people and wildlife to coexist on the landscape.

See the full news report from KPAX below:

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.

Regional wolf population drops 7%  – The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service released its Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery 2012 Interagency Annual Report last Friday afternoon with little fanfare (see coverage from the Missoulian). As previously reported, state wolf populations were down in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming but up in Oregon and Washington. The overall population and number of breeding pairs across the entire six-state region declined about seven percent, with the steepest drop in Wyoming that lost 16 percent of its wolves and 22 percent of its breeding pairs. Fortunately, at least 1,674 wolves and 103 breeding pairs were counted at the end of the year, demonstrating the species resilience so far in the face of aggressive wolf-killing efforts by the states.

Once again, confirmed livestock losses to wolves were extremely low. A total of just 194 cattle and 470 sheep were killed by wolves in 2012 in a region where more than eight million cattle and about a million sheep blanket the landscape, including vast tracts of public lands that are leased to ranchers.

Montana wolf council offers mixed advice – Offering bounties to kill more wolves was one of the suggestions entertained by Montana’s Wolf Advisory Council last week, according to a news report from the Helena Independent Record.  While there was general consensus that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks was doing a decent job of balancing competing interests, that didn’t stop some council members from pushing for antiquated management practices similar to the eradication campaigns of the 1930s and ‘40s. Others argued that Yellowstone’s wolves do not deserve special treatment even though they are vital to the region’s economy. We’ll have to wait and see if the council has any influence on rules for the upcoming hunting season to be determined next month.

Oregon online townhall recap – In case you missed it, you can read through Wednesday’s live chat about wolf management in Oregon, hosted by Oregonian reporter Harry Esteve.  There were a lot of insightful comments from wolf supporters who want the state to prioritize nonlethal tools that prevent conflict between livestock and wolves instead of allowing ranchers to simply kill wolves that they think are a threat. Here are a few examples:

Comment From Steve and Joy Mamoyac

HB 3452 would declare open season on wolves. The proposed legislation addresses a false problem and simply caters to those entities that will never accept the fact that wolves are here to stay. It is time to say “enough”. If this bill is enacted expect additional legal measures to be initiated that will provide endangered wolves with the protections they require and deserve. Better this bad bill be dismissed and constructive efforts increased to prevent conflict and promote acceptance.

* * *

Comment From Guest

I support only NONLETHAL methods to control wolves. The proposed legislation relies too heavily on the good faith of livestock producers in reporting whether wolves were in the act of killing or feeding on livestock. There is already a prevalent culture among many producers of “shoot, shovel, and shut up,” and this legislation encourages that mentality.

* * *

Comment From Catchalot

No wolves have been killed for 16 months. Wolf numbers are up in Wallowa County, but loss compensation claims decreased from 2011 to 2012 by around 70%, fatal wolf attacks by 60% (from 15 to 6) and total number of attacks by 20% (from 15 to 12). One major difference in 2012 was the use of $25,000 worth of nonlethal tools and practices. So it looks like nonlethal is working. Why then should ranchers to have the right to kill wolves on their own discretion? Don’t you think this would open the door to widespread abuse by those who want nothing more than to exterminate wolves once again? Wolves are still endangered here, there are certainly less than 100 in Oregon. They need protection.

Wolves help bears survive climate change – Bears and wolves in Yellowstone tend to keep to themselves. While wolves may occasionally chase a grizzly bear off an elk carcass, or vice versa, the species are seldom in direct competition. But that doesn’t mean they don’t help each other out indirectly, from time to time. A paper published this year in The Journal of Wildlife Management suggests that wolves may be inadvertently helping bears adjust to new food sources. As cutthroat trout and whitebark pine nuts become more scarce because of climate change, bears are relying more on alternatives like false truffles and elk, including those killed by wolves. This gives at least anecdotal evidence that diverse ecosystems are better equipped to adapt to a changing climate.