Wolf Advocates Resist Downlisting

By J.R. Pegg

WASHINGTON, DC, March 21, 2003 (ENS) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believes that gray wolves across most of the lower 48 states have recovered to the extent that they should no longer be considered endangered, a decision that conservationists contend threatens one of the nation's greatest conservation success stories.

Gray wolf populations throughout the lower 48, except for those in the Southeast, will now be considered "threatened" instead of "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Government officials announced Tuesday that they will now move toward delisting these populations under the Endangered Species Act.

It is this intent that has conservationists outraged at the agency's decision, which they fear will undermine wolf recovery efforts across the nation.

"Returning the wolf to a portion of its former range has been a remarkable accomplishment for the Fish and Wildlife Service and conservationists across the country, but quitting before the job is finished threatens everything we've all worked for," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.

The gray wolf is second only to humans in their adaption to climate extremes throughout the world. (Photo by Tracy Blood courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

The gray wolf once roamed from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico, but only a few hundred remained when the Endangered Species Act became law in 1973. One of the first species listed as endangered under the law, conservation efforts have helped build the numbers to some 4,000 wolves spread across two percent of the gray wolf's historic range.

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Steve Williams said the announcement is good news and highlights the department's progress toward recovering gray wolves across their range.

"Wolves are coming back," Williams said. "Our action gives us greater management flexibility for most gray wolf populations as we work toward the next step - removing gray wolf populations from the list of endangered and threatened species."

Prior to the announcement, all gray wolves in the lower 48 states, except for those in Minnesota, had been listed as "endangered" under ESA. The Minnesota population had been listed as threatened and will remain so.

Recovery efforts have helped make the gray wolf a symbol for successful partnerships between the government and conservationists. (Photo by George Gentry courtesy FWS)

Williams explained that the service's action is based on the establishment of three Distinct Population Segments (DPS) for gray wolves.

The Eastern DPS includes all Midwestern and Northeastern states, the Western DPS includes Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, along with Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, northern Colorado, and northern Utah, and the Southwestern DPS includes all of Arizona and New Mexico, southern Colorado and southern Utah, portions of western Texas and western Oklahoma, and Mexico.

Williams said the shift from endangered to threatened for the Eastern DPS is justified by the recovery efforts within the Great Lakes states. The successful recovery efforts in the northern Rocky Mountains allow for the change in status for the Western DPS, he explained.

"Only a few decades ago, wolves were well on their way to extinction in the lower 48 states," Williams said. "Today, Americans can hear wolves howl in Yellowstone National Park or see their tracks in the snow in Michigan and Wisconsin."

The change in status does facilitate taking of wolves that threaten livestock, but will have little effect on the protection afforded under the Endangered Species Act. Still, conservationists contend that these recovery efforts in no way warrant such a broad change in protection for the species across such wide expanses of the country. They fear the implications could be devastating to continued efforts to reintroduce gray wolves into the wild.

The gist of the plan, Clark said, is that the FWS, "wants to declare victory in the northern Rockies and Great Lakes where wolves are thriving and then run as fast as possible away from any new wolf recovery efforts elsewhere."

Gray wolf reintroduction programs continue in several areas of the United States. (Photo by LuRay Parker courtesy FWS)

Conservationists maintain that the action undermines progress in states where wolf recovery is underway and precludes future federal wolf recovery efforts in the Northeast, Colorado and other parts of the country where gray wolves once existed.

"We believe wolves should be returned to the north woods of Maine and other northeastern states," said Peggy Struhsacker, wolf recovery program coordinator in the NWF's office in Montpelier, Vermont. "By lumping our vacant wolf habitat into the successful recovery effort that has occurred in the Great Lakes, FWS does a great disservice to both wolves and people."

FWS officials believe that it is not realistic, nor consistent with the Endangered Species Act, to expect gray wolves to return to all of their historic range, said spokesman Chris Tollefson.

The department's action does "nothing to prevent states and organizations from continuing reintroduction efforts," Tollefson said.

Gray wolves were hunted and killed with more passion and zeal than any other animal in U.S history. (Photo by John and Karen Hollingsworth courtesy FWS)

They contend that the stated goal of FWS to work toward complete delisting of gray wolves will open the door to states to engage in policies that could threaten the future of the species.

Several states are pursuing anti-wolf legislation, said Nina Fascione, Defenders of Wildlife vice president for species conservation. She said that Idaho's state legislature passed a resolution in 2002 calling for the removal of wolves by any means necessary. Both Montana and Wyoming are considering similar legislation.

"The ultimate goal of the Endangered Species Act is to restore species and give management back to the states, but these legislatures are showing their true colors, and true intentions, for how they plan to 'manage' wolves once they are delisted," Fascione said. "There's no doubt that wolf recovery will essentially cease, and probably reverse, if this moves forward."

Supporters of legislation to increase the ability of ranchers and others to harass and kill wolves contend that the animals pose significant risk to livestock and are adversely affecting elk populations, which in turn is annoying elk hunters.

"The livestock issue is a legitimate issue," Fascione agreed. "But the concern about elk numbers is a fallacy."

Conservationists say there is ample evidence that reintroduction of wolves has positive effects on ecosystems, often from the restoration of more natural movement patterns by elk herds. This can allow native vegetation to regenerate.

Gray wolves live within territories that range from 50 to 1,000 square miles. (Photo by Gary Kramer courtesy FWS)

Defenders of Wildlife has created two programs that directly help ranchers deal with the threat from gray wolves. One compensates ranchers for livestock killed by wolves, and the other provides funds to help with measures to further protect herds and flocks from the predators.

The numbers of livestock lost to wolves do not appear to merit the fears raised by some advocates of looser protection for the species.

Fascione's organization reports that Montana ranchers have lost an average of just six head of cattle and five sheep per year since 1987, and Central Idaho ranchers have lost an average of eight head of cattle and 23 sheep per year since 1995.

The FWS announcement could signal the start of a fierce debate over the legal interpretation of the Endangered Species Act, a law that has prompted many legal battles across the nation.

"Because so few species are considered recovered under ESA, what constitutes 'recovery' is a new question," Fascione said. "These decisions will have implications beyond the wolf."

Only 33 species placed on the ESA list during the law's history have been taken off, and seven of these were removed because they are now extinct.

The FWS decision can not be justified by "sound science or by the law," Clark said. "This will likely generate only controversy and litigation."

The final FWS rule to change the status of the two gray wolf populations, and its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to delist can be found at: http://endangered.fws.gov

More information about Defenders of Wildlife's trusts for wolf conservation can be found at: http://www.defenders.org/wolfcomp.htm