[MCN] BREAKING: Judge restores gray wolf protections, reviving federal recovery efforts

[Matthew Koehler]

*For Release*:  Thursday, February 10, 2022





*Judge restores gray wolf protections, reviving federal recovery
efforts**Wolves
in Northern Rockies still face brutal slaughter*



OAKLAND, CA—Today, a federal court restored
<https://westernlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022.02.10-Wolf-Victory-Court-Decision.pdf>
Endangered
Species Act protections for the gray wolf after they were eliminated by the
Trump administration in 2020. The ruling orders the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to resume recovery efforts for the imperiled species. Today’s
decision redesignates the gray wolf as a species threatened with extinction
in the lower 48 states with the exception of the Northern Rockies
population (map <http://www.pinedaleonline.com/wolf/maps/NRWolfPacks.pdf>),
for which wolf protections were removed by Congress in 2011.



The most recent data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its state
partners show only an estimated 132 wolves in Washington state, 173 in
Oregon (with only 19 outside of northeastern Oregon), and fewer than about
20 in California. Nevada, Utah, and Colorado have had a few wolf sightings
over the past three years, but wolves remain functionally absent from their
historical habitat in these states. In 2020, Colorado voters directed the
state to reintroduce wolves by 2023.



“The science is clear that gray wolves have not yet recovered in the
western U.S. By design, the Endangered Species Act does not provide the
federal government the discretion to forsake western wolf recovery in some
regions due to progress in other parts of the country,” said *Kelly Nokes,
Western Environmental Law Center attorney*. “Today’s decision will bolster
recovery of western wolves – a keystone species wherever they exist – and
improve ecosystem health more broadly.”



>From the decision: "...the Service did not adequately consider threats to
wolves outside of these core populations. Instead, the Service avoids
analyzing these wolves by concluding, with little explanation or analysis,
that wolves outside of the core populations are not necessary to the
recovery of the species... In so concluding, the Service avoided assessing
the impact of delisting on these wolves." *Opinion*
<https://westernlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022.02.10-Wolf-Victory-Court-Decision.pdf>*
at
11.*



In delisting wolves, the Service ignored the science showing they are not
recovered in the West. The Service concluded that because in its belief
there are sufficient wolves in the Great Lakes states, it did not matter
that wolves in the western U.S. are not yet recovered. The Endangered
Species Act demands more, including restoring the species in the ample
suitable habitats afforded by the wild public lands throughout the western
U.S. Wolves are listed as endangered under state laws in Washington and
California, and only occupy a small portion of available, suitable habitat
in Oregon.



"This ruling is a huge win for wolves in states like California, Oregon,
and Utah where they have yet to achieve stable, robust populations,” said *Erik
Molvar,* *a wildlife biologist and executive director with Western
Watersheds Project*. “We are relieved to have staved off premature
delisting with this case, but there is still a huge amount of work ahead to
protect wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming where they face some of their
biggest threats."



“The nation has witnessed the brutality that happens when 'management' of
wolves is returned to anti-wolf states like Montana and Idaho, which have
implemented an aggressive eradication agenda, including surrounding
Yellowstone National Park,” said *Lindsay Larris, Wildlife Program director
at WildEarth Guardians*. “Restoring federal Endangered Species Act
protections for wolves is essential to their recovery throughout their
historic range, so while we are thankful for this ruling we also call on
Secretary Deb Haaland to issue emergency relisting protections for the
Northern Rockies wolf population to halt the senseless slaughter taking
place.”


The conservation groups have long been active on wolf recovery issues in
the western U.S., including working with western states to develop
science-based wolf management plans, mounting cases to rein in rogue
federal government wolf-killing programs, promoting recovery efforts in the
Southwest for critically imperiled Mexican gray wolves, and working with
local governments and landowners to deploy non-lethal tools that prevent
wolf-livestock conflicts.



“Over the past two winters, we lost icons of wolf recovery when OR-7 and
his mate OR-94 passed away in southern Oregon’s Cascades. These two wolves
represent the first generation of wolves in western Oregon in nearly a
century,” said *Michael Dotson with the conservation group Klamath Siskiyou
Wildlands Center based in southwest Oregon*. “Delisting is premature and
obviously politically driven.”



“Wolves are an integral part in the health and resilience of western
ecosystems,” said *Adam Gebauer, Public Lands Program director at The Lands
Council*. “Local land managers, state wildlife offices and the federal
government must work together and rely on science and not politics to
ensure their recovery. Wolves are our allies in the conservation of
wildlands.”



“Today’s victory injects hope and resources into ongoing efforts to restore
wolves across their historic range,” said *Bethany Cotton, conservation
director for Cascadia Wildlands*. “We look forward to engaging with the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure wolf management is guided by sound
science, not prejudice.”



“The politically driven delisting of wolves in the Northern Rockies by
Congress incorrectly included all of eastern Washington, east of US Highway
97. It was an arbitrary decision then and it still is today,” said *Timothy
Coleman, director of Kettle Range Conservation Group and former member of
the Washington state Wolf Advisory Group*.  “Eighty-five percent of wolves
killed in Washington were from the Kettle River Range, where unfortunately
the gray wolf is still at risk despite the court’s excellent decision. And
though Washington has kept state endangered species protections for wolves,
that clearly provides little protection. Had wolves retained federal
Endangered Species Act protection, entire wolf families would not have been
slaughtered and could have dispersed into unoccupied areas of the state
with excellent habitat such as southwest Washington, Mount Rainier and
Olympic National Park.”



“California’s wolves are just starting to return home,” said *Tom Wheeler,
executive director at the Environmental Protection Information Center*.
“Today’s decision means these animals will have the help of federal
wildlife managers to establish a true foothold in their historic habitat in
the state.”



“We must learn to coexist with gray wolves. These highly intelligent and
social animals play a key role in balancing entire ecosystems,” said *Kimberly
Baker of the Klamath Forest Alliance*. “Federal protection is paramount to
safeguarding this nation’s rightful heritage.”

Unfortunately, today’s decision will do nothing to stop the ongoing
slaughter of wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming—including surrounding
Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park. These states removed
wolves’ endangered species protections via federal legislation. The current
war on wolves in the northern Rockies shows the stark reality of what
happens when “management” is turned over to states hostile to wolves.

In just the past few months, at least 23 Yellowstone wolves—more than 20%
of the park’s entire wolf population—have been killed outside the park,
causing widespread outrage and condemnation from Yellowstone National
Park’s supervisor, wolf researchers, and wildlife professionals. Hunters in
Montana and Idaho can lure wolves out of Yellowstone with bait, strangle
them with snares, and shoot them at night on private land.



Both states have established wolf bounties and in Idaho it's legal to run
down a wolf with ATVs and snowmobiles. While celebrating today’s positive
ruling for wolves, the groups also call on the Biden administration to
immediately issue emergency relisting protections for the Northern Rockies
population of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act.


The coalition of western wildlife advocates involved in this legal
challenge includes WildEarth Guardians, Western Watersheds Project,
Cascadia Wildlands, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Environmental
Protection Information Center (EPIC), The Lands Council, Wildlands Network,
Klamath Forest Alliance, and Kettle Range Conservation Group, represented
by the Western Environmental Law Center.

*Contacts:*

Kelly Nokes, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-613-8051,
nokes at westernlaw.org

Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, 307-399-7910,
emolvar at westernwatersheds.org

Bethany Cotton, Cascadia Wildlands, 503-327-4923, bethany at cascwild.org

Lindsay Larris, WildEarth Guardians, 310-923-1465,
llarris at wildearthguardians.org



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