Terrible News for Wolves - Democratic Underground

G_j

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Sun Mar-08-09 10:04 AM
Original message

Terrible News for Wolves

Edited on Sun Mar-08-09 10:06 AM by G_j

3/6/09
I have some terrible news. Today, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that he would follow the discredited path of the Bush Administration and delist wolves in the Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone region.

This is a stunning development, just six weeks into the Obama Administration. This delisting paves the way for almost 1000 wolves to be killed under deadly state management plans in Idaho and Montana.

The killing could begin in just weeks.

As I write this, we are already preparing an emergency legal challenge to this harmful proposal -- and we’ll be in court as quickly as possible. But we need your help for the legal fight ahead.

Please make an emergency donation now to support our Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone Wolf Legal Defense Fund.

here: http://action.defenders.org/site/PageServer?pagename=savewolves_homepage

This delisting will put the fate of our wolves in the hands of state governments that want to slaughter nearly 1,000 wolves. Last year, when federal wolf protections were temporarily lifted in the region, more than 100 wolves were killed in just a short time -- including the world renowned “Limpy.”

In addition, regular wolf hunting seasons could begin as early as this fall in Idaho and Montana -- and Idaho Governor “Butch” Otter said again today that he still wants the first available hunting tag to shoot a wolf himself.

We can’t allow the out-of-control killing of wolves to happen again.

Please donate now to support our emergency legal challenge to protect our wolves in the Northern Rockies.

For more than 35 years, Defenders of Wildlife has fought for our wolves. We were there when the first wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park and we’ve been there to defend them ever since. We’ve beaten back efforts to prematurely delist these wolves in the past, and I'm confident we can do so again.

Just this week, we celebrated a hard-fought victory made possible with your help as the Senate voted to overturn the Bush Administration's last-minute gutting of the Endangered Species Act. We now need to beat back another deadly Bush-era plan that will open the door to the slaughter of nearly 1,000 wolves.

Please donate what you can today to save the lives of wolves in the Northern Rockies and Greater Yellowstone.

Together, we can win our legal challenge of the same bad plan originally put forth in the last throes of the Bush Administration -- and ensure that our wolves will continue to be around for future generations.

Sincerely,

Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/03/photo-a-gray-wo.html

Gray wolf removal from Endangered Species Act protection affirmed
8:53 PM, March 6, 2009

The decision to remove some gray wolf populations from protection under the Endangered Species Act will proceed as originally announced in January.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stated today that he will uphold the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to delist wolf populations in the northern Rockies and western Great Lakes states of Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Utah and Wisconsin, plus portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah.

"The recovery of the gray wolf throughout significant portions of its historic range is one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act," Salazar said in a press release issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior. "The successful recovery of this species is a stunning example of how the Act can work to keep imperiled animals from sliding into extinction."

Wolves in Wyoming will continue to be protected under the act, due to an inadequate wolf management plan, as will wolves in other parts of the country, including the Southwest.

This delisting will take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register and will mean that wolf management will become a job for state and tribal wildlife agencies instead of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

However, the Fish and Wildlife Service will monitor the delisted wolf populations for a minimum of five years to ensure that they continue to sustain their recovery. At the end of that time, they will decide if relisting, continued monitoring or ending service monitoring is appropriate.

While some state Fish and Game departments and outdoor organizations such as the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance Foundation applaud the decision to move ahead with the delisting, environmental groups such as Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity vehemently oppose it and are threatening lawsuits to overturn the plan.

--Kelly Burgess