Via the Center for Biological Diversity:

Keep Northern Wolves Protected

“Delisting” wolves means taking them off the endangered species list, ostensibly because they are recovered and no longer need its protection. The Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to designate all of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, plus the eastern third of both Oregon and Washington and a sliver of northern Utah, as a “distinct population segment” region where “recovered” gray wolves would lose their federal protections — even though only about 15 percent of this vast area actually has wolves in it. The rest of the area would be kept wolf-free.

Killing of wolves where they do exist would be increased tremendously. Federal predator control agents using poison, traps and aerial gunning — plus private hunters — would reduce wolves from around 1,300 to 600 or fewer. Any wolves traveling past the wolfless zone surrounding the small surviving population and miraculously wandering to an area outside the “recovered” zone would be subject to additional lethal persecution under proposed “take” permits the federal government would issue neighboring states, such as Colorado.

Will the wolves now living in the Yellowstone National Park region, central Idaho and northwestern Montana survive this plan? Geneticists point out that wolves in each of these three popoulations are largely cut off from each other. Such fragmentation bodes ill for long-term survival.

The gray wolf is not yet recovered in the northern Rocky Mountains, and the designation proposed by Fish and Wildlife Service will imperil the wolves further.

Please send comments by the end of the day on May 9, 2007.

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Tagged: animals animal rights animal welfare environment environmental environmentalism environmentalist action alerts center for biological diversity wolves delist esa endangered species act endangered species wildlife conservation fws Fish and Wildlife Service gray wolves Wyoming Idaho Montana trapping hunting aerial gunning predator control

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 8th, 2007 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Action Alerts, Animals as..., Conservation (Wildlife), from Center for Biological Diversity, pests. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.