Title: Fair Game Now; Wolves

Articles for delisting

Title: Fair game now; Wolves

Source: The Economist. 386.8573 (Mar. 29, 2008): p44(US).

Document Type: Brief article

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A de-endangered species can now legally be hunted

ON MARCH 28th Ed Bangs will open the champagne. Mr Bangs is the government's chief wolf recovery co-ordinator, and on that day the grey wolf of the northern Rocky Mountains will lose its federal protection. The Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) says the population has reached sustainable levels. Mr Bangs has worked 20 years to see this moment.

Wolves were once found almost everywhere in the West, but settlers and ranchers made short work of them. The last one disappeared from the Yellowstone region in 1926. By 1973, when the Endangered Species Act became law, only a few wolves remained in northern Michigan and Minnesota.

After long and stormy debate, the federal government reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone and parts of Idaho in 1995. The greater Yellowstone area, encompassing parts of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, now has a population of 1,500 wolves. These three states will now each manage their own wolves. The USFWS will monitor their populations for the next five years. It has set a minimum of 300 wolves and 30 breeding pairs, split equally among the three states.

Idaho, Montana and Wyoming plan to allow the animal to be hunted as trophy game. The delisting also allows ranchers to shoot wolves that prey on their stock or threaten pets. Conservation and animal-rights groups plan to sue, fearing that wolves will die in huge numbers. Mr Bangs thinks otherwise. "Those states have done a superb job of managing their deer, elk and bear. I expect they'll do the same for wolves. If they don't, we'll take it back."

The wolf has been a pain to some stockmen, but has hardly put ranchers out of business. The Defenders of Wildlife, a wolfish outfit, says coyotes kill 20 times more cattle than wolves do. It also says that wolves are responsible, in a typical year, for less than 2.5% of sheep deaths.

Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)

"Fair game now; Wolves."The Economist 29 Mar. 2008: 44(US). General Reference Center GOLD.Web. 30 Apr. 2013.

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Title: Should gray wolves be delisted in the northern Rockies?

Source: Backpacker. 35.6 (July-August 2007): p56.

Document Type: Brief article

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Byline: Kauffman, Jason

The Big Question: Should gray wolves be delisted in the northern Rockies?

By Jason Kauffman

The gray wolf may become a victim of its own success. A dozen years after being reintroduced in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, populations have surged. Now officials in those states want to remove Endangered Species Act protection for these keystone predators, and reduce their numbers. On February 8, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed, formally proposing to turn wolf management over to the states. If that happens, gray wolves face a lethal future. In Idaho, Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has suggested culling his state's 700 wolves to 100. Several environmental groups have threatened legal action. The FWS will review public comment before making a final decision in early 2008.

Your view

Yes 24% No 76% Results of Backpacker.com poll

Yes In 1994, the reintroduction plan's impact statement promised to delist the gray wolf when numbers reached 300 in the tristate area. Today we have an estimated 1,200 wolves in the region, and hunters and ranchers say they're causing unacceptable harm to game animals and the livestock industry. Idaho is ready to protect the wolves' long-term viability. Our wildlife managers have a proven track record of conserving cougars and black bears, and we'll do the same for wolves. Plus, a cohesive state-run management plan will allow Idaho biologists to manage elk, deer, and predators together. Further delisting delays will rob the Endangered Species Act of a much-needed success story.

Jeff Allen, Policy Advisor, Idaho Governor's Office of Species Conservation

No The gray wolf is back, thanks to federal efforts. Dropping this protection will make them dependent on states like Idaho, where in 2001 the legislature called for total wolf removal "by whatever means necessary." In Wyoming, officials want to eliminate 16 of its 23 packs right now. These state agendas are driven by misleading and emotional arguments that wolves are dangerous. Wolves account for less than one percent of livestock losses in the northern Rockies, and keep game animal populations in a healthy balance. Until Wyoming and Idaho commit to conservation-based wolf management, the successful federal protections should remain.

Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies Representative, Defenders of Wildlife

Kauffman, Jason

Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)

"Should gray wolves be delisted in the northern Rockies?" Backpacker July-Aug. 2007: 56. General Reference Center GOLD.Web. 30 Apr. 2013.

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Gale Document Number: GALE|A168317508

Off the list: gray wolves have made a remarkable come back in the Northern Rockies. But is the celebration premature?

Author(s): Scott Kirkwood

Source: National Parks. 82.3 (Summer 2008): p12.

Document Type: Article

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By the 1930s, gray wolves had vanished from the Northern Rockies, after decades of being trapped, shot, and poisoned with a vigor generally reserved for the last few pages of a fairy tale. One year after the passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, wolves were added to the list of protected animals, though there was obviously very little to protect at the time. Finally, in April 1995, 14 grey wolves from Canada were released in Yellowstone National Park, launching one of the most significant and contentious reintroduction efforts in the country's history. At the time, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists pegged the recovery goals at a minimum of 30 breeding pairs and at least 300 wolves in the region for three consecutive years. That goal was achieved in 2002, but the delisting couldn't proceed until the federal government approved management plans from all three states, which finally happened in March of this year. Of course, wolves in Yellowstone will always be safe, but when animals wander beyond the park's boundaries, their fate is in the hands of the states' game wardens. And some people think that's a mistake.

Today, more than 1,500 wolves occupy the Northern Rockies, so there's no question the reintroduction was an unqualified biological success. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people trek to the park to view wolves and other wildlife, pouring more than $82 million into the region's economy, according to the most recent data. Over time, people have watched pups reared, seen packs split in two, and witnessed alpha wolves rising to positions of power, all through the lenses of so many high-powered telescopes. Although most wildlife biologists would dismiss the fate of an individual animal as it relates to the species' health, it should come as no surprise that the death of wolf 253M the day after the delisting enraged many wolf watchers.

"Limpy," as he was known, was shot and killed in Wyoming, the state with the most liberal management plan, and one that has drawn the most concerns. In about 90 percent of the state, wolves are designated as predators that can be shot on sight without reason.

Each state has promised to maintain populations of 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves within their borders, which ensures a population of 450 wolves, just above the delisting criteria. But in light of more recent scientific evidence that suggests this number may be inadequate, a dozen environmental groups sued the federal government in April, asking for grey wolves to be returned to the list immediately. The case could be in courts for years, but for now, many with a stake in the outcome believe wolves will do just fine.

"I support the delisting decision, and believe the process has been managed appropriately by the Fish and Wildlife Service," says Mike Phillips, who oversaw the wolf-reintroduction at Yellowstone, and now reintroduces species across the globe as head of the Turner Endangered Species Fund. "But the groups involved in the lawsuit make an important point: They're going to go before a judge and indicate that Yellowstone remains isolated, and that given enough time this isolation could create genetic problems that would eventually manifest itself as a declining and susceptible population. And there's no question you need that genetic exchange to ensure that everybody's got four legs, two ears, and a tail and the ability to kill an elk."

Phillips also points out that the delisting process for all species is still in its infancy, and the debate is an important one, because any decision regarding Yellowstone's wolves could have a dramatic impact on baselines established for wolf reintroductions in other parts of the country, not to mention dozens of other species.

Regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit, biologists with the federal government will monitor the wolf population closely for the next five years. And the Park Service will continue to oversee the population within Yellowstone's boundaries, where hunting is illegal. Barring a systematic campaign of killing like the one unleashed nearly 100 years ago, the prospect for wolves is still positive.

"Wolves in Yellowstone have proven to be very adaptable, and have flourished here despite significant challenges," says Tim Stevens, program manager in NPCA's Yellowstone field office. "With the abundant prey base in the region, wolves will continue to do well, as long as the states honor their obligation to sustain a healthy, well-distributed wolf population as directed by science, not politics. And if the states fail to fulfill that promise, NPCA will work to relist wolves and return management authority to federal wildlife managers, so that wolves are managed in a way that provides an abundant population for generations to come."

Kirkwood, Scott

Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)

Kirkwood, Scott. "Off the list: gray wolves have made a remarkable come back in the Northern Rockies. But is the celebration premature?" National Parks Summer 2008: 12+. General Reference Center GOLD.Web. 30 Apr. 2013.