Update: March 7, 2022
Some good news for gray wolves! On February 10, a U.S. district court reinstated federal protections for gray wolves across much of the country, ruling that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service had failed to show that wolf populations could be maintained once the animals’ protections under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) were removed. Although gray wolves in 44 states will once again be protected under the ESA, those in the Northern Rocky Mountains—Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and portions of several surrounding states—continue to be unprotected by it, even though these states have declared open season on massacring these animals!
Please contact Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland via this online e-mail form and urge her to implement immediate emergency protections for gray wolves and to reinstate full federal protections for them under the ESA.
Here are a few sample points that be can be used:
I was very pleased to learn that a U.S. district court recently determined that gray wolves in much of the country must once again be protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), ruling that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service failed to show that wolf populations could be sustained in the Midwest and portions of the West without protection under the ESA. However, gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains—Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and portions of several surrounding states—remain unprotected under the ESA, even though open season has been declared on them. Officials in Idaho approved measures to allow for the massacre of a shocking 90% of the state’s 1,500 gray wolves, and in Montana, new laws allow for the killing of unlimited numbers of wolves and legalized baiting, hunting bounties, and the use of snare traps—anchored wire or cable nooses that tightly constrict and slowly suffocate animals. Additionally, 20 wolves were killed after leaving the safety of Yellowstone National Park, nearly wiping out the Phantom Lake Pack and leaving only 94 wolves living in the park.
While I’m grateful that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service previously announced that it has begun a yearlong review to determine whether the gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains should be relisted under the ESA, these animals might not have that long. Respectfully, I urge you to implement immediate emergency protections for gray wolves and to reinstate full federal protections for them under the ESA!
Originally published on September 20, 2021:
First protected by the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1974, gray wolves have been under attack ever since by those wishing to gun down or trap these majestic animals. Federal protections were stripped from Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves more than a decade ago, and in 2021, all gray wolves in the contiguous U.S. were delisted from the ESA, turning wolf management over to the individual states. Since then, it’s been open season on the wolves. In Wisconsin, 218 wolves—an estimated one-third of the state’s wolf population—were slaughtered last spring, and the state had approved a proposal to allow the killing of 300 more in the fall until a judge put a temporary halt to the massacre. Last May, Idaho’s governor signed a measure that allows for the shocking massacre of 90% of the state’s 1,500 gray wolves and Montana legislators approved new laws allowing the unlimited killing of wolves and legalized baiting, hunting bounties, and the use of snare traps—anchored wire or cable nooses that tightly constrict and slowly suffocate animals. Additionally, 20 wolves who call Yellowstone National Park home were shot and killed last year—the most since 1995—after wandering out of the safety of their protected home, nearly wiping out the Phantom Lake Pack and leaving just 94 wolves in the park.
Thankfully, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has announced that it has begun a yearlong review to determine whether the wolves should be relisted under the ESA. However, only an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 gray wolves remain in the contiguous U.S. (where once hundreds of thousands roamed), so these animals may not have that long.
Please contact the Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland via the online email form and urge her to implement immediate emergency protections for gray wolves and to reinstate full federal protections for them under the ESA.
