Cross Posted from Sunset
One decision could forever change the future of gray wolves in our country.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is proposing to remove all Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for most of the gray wolves across the United States.
Yes, you read that correctly.
The FWS is moving forward with a proposal to strip nearly all gray wolves throughout the United States — with the exception of the Mexican gray wolf — of Endangered Species Act protections.
Please send an urgent message to Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell — demand that the federal government not turn its back on wolves when there is still more important wolf recovery work that needs to be done.
This proposal reflects an unacceptable and short-sighted vision of our nation’s conservation goals, and would give up on wolf recovery well before the job is done; a true conservation tragedy!
Delisting would prematurely turn wolf management over to the states, and we’ve already seen what can happen when rabid anti-wolf politics are allowed to trump science and core wildlife management principals.
Montana, Wyoming and Idaho — all states where wolves have been delisted — are not treating wolves like other wildlife such as elk and bears. Instead they’re driving the wolves’ population numbers back down to the bottom. More than 1,100 wolves have already been killed in the Northern Rockies since Congress took ESA protections away from them in 2011.
This decision would derail wolf recovery efforts in areas around the country where it has barely begun — in places like the Pacific Northwest and in states that possess some of the nation’s best unoccupied wolf habitat, such as Colorado, Utah and northern California.
This proposal represents yet another monumental setback for wolf recovery in the U.S.
Tell Secretary Jewell: The important work of wolf recovery is NOT FINISHED — don’t turn back the clock on almost 40 years of wolf conservation.
Over the coming weeks, we’re pulling out all the stops to urge the Department of the Interior to step up to its responsibilities under the Endangered Species Act and follow through on our nation’s commitment to restore imperiled wolves. It’s up to you and me to ensure that our children’s children will have the chance to cherish these magnificent creatures like we do today.
Thank you for speaking out for wildlife.