POLICYMAKERS PANDER TO WOLF ADVOCATES
Our petitions provide flexibility to federal and state governments when it comes to managing current populations of recovered wolves , remnant populations found in areas outside those populations and future areas where they ’ re not yet found . However , wolf advocates don ’ t want to hear actual solutions ; they abhor any thought of scientific management and will do anything to stop it , as recently illustrated in :
WASHINGTON : Ruth Musgrave , former animal-rights law professor at University of New Mexico and senior natural resources policy advisor to Gov . Inslee , publicly cautioned the protectionist-focused fish and wildlife commission about any thought of downlisting Washington ’ s wolves under the state ’ s ESA . MINNESOTA : Perhaps nothing epitomizes the lengths politicians will go to when pandering to wolf advocates as the gamesmanship exhibited by Rep . Pete Fischer when he unsuccessfully tried to bypass discussion and ban any future wolf hunt by sneaking a ban into a huge spending bill ( see page 18 ). COLORADO : Gov . Polis vetoed Senate Bill 256 , a bipartisan attempt to give the state flexibility in the management of reintroduced wolves mandated by the narrowly passed Proposition 114 . The bill , supported by nearly every politician outside of the Denver-Colorado Springs metropolitan area , would have designated wolves as an “ experimental population ,” giving greater protections to livestock operators , rural pet owners and state managers when dealing with fallout from the apex predators . far surpassed FWS recovery goals , with the total population now exceeding 4,000 wolves . This includes estimates of 2,700 wolves in Minnesota , 1,000 in Wisconsin and more than 600 in Michigan . FWS ’ original recovery goals for the species was 1,400 for Minnesota and a minimum combined population of 100 wolves for Michigan and Wisconsin together . In all three states , fish and wildlife managers estimate that wolves occupy nearly all suitable habitat throughout their range .
FWS has delisted the WGL DPS at several points in the past , but each of these delisting actions has been challenged by animal-extremist organizations in federal court . In these cases , the courts have repeatedly ruled against delisting , not because of a concern over the wolf population within the WGL , where gray wolf recovery is well established , but due to FWS ’ failure to address “ remnant ” wolves that exist outside of established population segments like the WGL and NRM . The concern repeatedly raised by federal judges is that delisting the WGL DPS could remove protections for remnant wolves elsewhere in the country .
Cognizant of this reality , the Sportsmen ’ s Alliance filed a second petition concerning remnant wolves to develop a pathway out of the litigation morass that has strangled effective wolf management for nearly 20 years . With remnant wolves addressed with the second petition , the coalition is confident that FWS can move forward , once again , with a WGL DPS delisting action that will survive court scrutiny .
The remnant petition requests two specific actions . First , the FWS should create a West Coast Wolf DPS ( WCW DPS ) consisting of the partially recovered and rapidly growing wolf populations to the west and south of the defined NRM DPS . This DPS would mostly cover non-NRM wolves in California , Oregon and Washington .
The coalition recommends that this newly established WCW DPS be downlisted from the federal endangered status and protections to the threatened level , which will provide maximum flexibility to state wildlife managers . Assigning this remnant population into a new DPS will also provide FWS with much needed flexibility going forward .
Second , our petition asks that FWS create a “ non DPS ” consisting of all wolves in the lower 48 states that are not otherwise included in an established DPS . This will mean that all wolves outside of a DPS will continue to be protected under the ESA as endangered under the original 1978 listing .
Taken together , the two petitions create a clear pathway for FWS to recognize wolf recovery where it has taken place while continuing to ensure management flexibility under the ESA for remnant wolves in the West and throughout the country . Granting the requests within the two petitions in tandem also would align FWS ’ approach with federal court rulings in several cases over several years .
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