Wolves Need Your Help!

Action Alert! Tell the US Fish and Wildlife Service that you oppose the delisting of wolves!

Submit your comment to the US Fish and Wildlife Service by clicking here. Comments are due by July 15th (the comment deadline has been extended from May 14th to July 15th).

Yet again, the Trump administration is attempting to strip protections from Gray wolves. Please let the US Fish and Wildlife Service know that you oppose the premature delisting of wolves. Wolves are still too limited in numbers and in distribution to maintain sustained populations or for ecological recovery to occur– they should remain listed under the Endangered Species Act until they have recovered across their range.

Wolves fill vital roles in ecosystems, and are essential to maintaining processes and functions in the natural systems in which they evolved. For example, wolves help  to protect our streams and rivers from overgrazing by ungulates. This, in turn, helps to support native populations of fish, birds, and riparian vegetation. The presence of wolves contributes to healthier soils, helps to sustain robust populations of birds of prey, and may buffer the negative effects of climate change on ecosystems.

Good-sense economic strategy favors strong ecological protections for wolves. Natural landscapes are one of the most valuable economic assets in many of the areas of the west and in the Great Lakes region. Wild areas provide tremendous economic gains from clean water, livability, outdoor recreation activities, tourism, and other resources associated with our breathtaking natural heritage. Wolves indirectly and directly contribute to these economic gains.

Non-lethal control is effective. Working ranches that fully implement non-lethal measures have been successful at keeping depredations very low, even in areas of high wolf activity. Resources are in place for compensation, as well as for grants to help ranchers implement non-lethal control measures. Co-existence with wolves is possible and necessary.

Killing wolves harms wolf pack structure, which may cause young, inexperienced, or immigrating wolves to be more likely to prey on livestock. Killing wolves will, in most situations, make livestock-wolf conflicts worse.

The public supports wolf recovery, and strong legal protections for wolves. Make sure that the agency hears loud and clear that the public is paying attention, and is opposed to the delisting of wolves. 

Please voice your support for their full recovery so that they can once again fulfill their ecological roles and have sustainable populations.

You can read the US Fish and Wildlife proposal to strip Gray wolves of their protections here.Photo of wolf pups in northeastern Oregon is from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Thank you for speaking out!

References:

Defenders of Wildlife, 2013. Polls show strong support for wolf recovery in the Pacific Northwest. http://www.defenders.org/press-release/poll-shows-strong-support-wolf-recovery-pacific-northwest

Tulchin Research, 2013. RE: Polls show strong support for wolf recovery in Western States. http://www.defenders.org/sites/default/files/publications/defenders-of-wildlife-public-memo-new- poll-finds-strong-support-for-wolf-protection-in-western-states.pdf

Harris Interactive, 2011. Endangered Species Act summary- Poll for Endangered Species Act public support. http://www.defenders.org/publications/endangered_species_act_poll.pdf

Treves, A., Naughton-Treves, L. & Shelley, V. 2013. Longitudinal analysis of attitudes toward wolves. Conserv. Biol. 27, 315-323.

Ripple, W.; Beschta, R.; 2011. Trophic Cascades in Yellowstone: the First 15 Years After Wolf Reintroduction.
http://www.cof.orst.edu/leopold/papers/RippleBeschtaYellowstone_BioConserv.pdf

Bump, J.; Peterson, R.; Vucetich, J., 2009. Wolves modulate soil nutrient heterogeneity and foliar nitrogen by configuring the distribution of ungulate carcasses. Ecology, 90(11), 2009, pp. 3159–3167.

Wilmers CC, Getz WM (2005) Gray Wolves as Climate Change Buffers in Yellowstone. PLoS Biol 3(4): e92. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030092.

Defenders of Wildlife, 2014. Living with Wildlife: Coexisting with Wolves in Idaho’s Wood River Valley. http://www.defenders.org/living-wildlife/gray- wolves?_ga=1.220162841.1084860869.1412731542

Defenders of Wildlife, 2014. Wolves Among the Sheep. http://www.defendersblog.org/2012/10/wolves-among-the-sheep/

City of Ketchum, Idaho. Recommendation To Adopt Resolution 14-022 in Support of Wildlife Co- Existence and Recognizing The Wood River Wolf Project. http://ketchumidaho.org/DocumentCenter/View/2251

KTVB.com, Idaho News and Weather, 2014. Conservationists use non-lethal methods to deal with wolves. http://www.ktvb.com/story/local/2014/10/07/12686175/

Wielgus, R. and Peebles, K. 2014. Effects of Wolf Mortality on Livestock Depredations. PLoS ONE 9(12): e113505. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.

Borg, B.; Brainerd, S.; Meier, T.; Prugh, L.; 2014. Impacts of breeder loss on social structure, reproduction and population growth in a social canid. Journal of Animal Ecology 2014 doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12256  

Treves, A. 2009. Hunting for large carnivore conservation. Journal of Applied Ecology 46: 1350-1356.