Red Lodge Clearinghouse

FWS announced the delisting of the gray wolf in the Northern Rockies on Feb. 21, saying the wolf is thriving and no longer requires the protection of the Endangered Species Act. The environmental groups filed a 60-day notice of their intent to sue on Feb. 27 (Land Letter, Feb. 21).

The groups also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction Monday aimed at halting the killing of wolves until a judge has ruled on the lawsuit, said Jason Rylander, an attorney for Defenders of Wildlife. They hope for a response on the injunction within a few weeks.

"Our lawsuit says that the service ignored most current and rational science regarding how wolves would be managed in the region," said Suzanne Asha Stone, a wolf conservation specialist with Defenders of Wildlife.

An FWS spokeswoman, Joan Jewett, said the service does not comment on pending litigation.

State governments to get involved

The state governments of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming plan a motion to intervene in the suit on FWS's behalf, claiming state management plans provide for a sustainable population.

"The only way we can hope to maintain wolves in the state is by keeping them in areas where they don't come into contact with individuals," said Steve Nadeau, large carnivore manager of Idaho Fish and Game. "Luckily, we have lots of public land where we can allow that to happen."

Nadeau said that the growing wolf population is not filling the areas his organization designated as core habitat but expanding into private lands, where the wolves will inevitably be killed.

While the lawsuit is aimed at restoring endangered species protection for gray wolves throughout the Northern Rockies, the groups are particularly focused on Wyoming's management plan. In 88 percent of the state, wolves are classified as predators that can be killed at any time and without justification.

Stone said 14 of the known 35 wolves in the predator area have been killed since states assumed management responsibility March 28. "It's reasonable to assume, based on previous history of law enforcement, that more wolves have been killed but not reported," she said, adding that the penalties for failing to report are not stiff enough to be a deterrent.

Public debate remains heated. As of yesterday morning, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal's (D) office had taken 682 calls regarding wolves, according to Freudenthal's chief of staff, Chris Boswell. Many of the callers read from a script written by Defenders of Wildlife, and only two identified themselves as Wyoming natives.

Currently, Wyoming's penalty for failing to report a killing in the predator area or poaching a wolf outside the hunting season in the trophy game area is a low misdemeanor with a maximum $1,000 fine, according to Eric Keszler, a spokesman for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

"If the delisting decision is overturned, I think that's going to cause some problems: The wolves will be managed by an agency that lacks the resources to do it in a way that works best for Wyoming," Keszler said. "We've played by the rules and done everything right, and it's time for wolves to be delisted."

Battling over numbers

"From our perspective, there's five times more wolves now in the region than were originally called for," Keszler said. "Their numbers are growing at a rate of 24 percent a year. Wolves are in a lot places; they're doing well."

Stone, with Defenders of Wildlife, argued that the original target was not 300 but rather 10 breeding pairs in each of the three states. But for Stone, who said that the original goal was not nearly enough to create a sustainable population, the fact that it has been surpassed is unimpressive.

She said the current numbers are allowing the wolves, which have been divided into distinct genetic population segments, to interbreed, a critical step in creating a self-sustaining population. "We don't want to see that progress reversed," she said. "We want to see the wolf population grow naturally, not driven down to where it won't sustain itself."

"We don't manage other wildlife this way. In Idaho, 7,500 sheep are killed by coyotes annually, compared to approximately 200 a year by wolves. We allow 10,000 mountain lions -- who eat twice as many elk as wolves -- but only 300 wolves," Stone said. "It's self-evident how extreme that is."

A new lawsuit in the Southwest

In Arizona, two conservation groups sued FWS and the U.S. Forest Service, lambasting their efforts to reintroduce the Mexican gray wolf to the region.

WildEarth Guardians and the Rewilding Institute are protesting the agencies' policy of permanently removing or killing wolves who leave their designated recovery zone and come into contact with livestock. The groups also accuse the agencies of failing to implement a conservation plan within the zone.

"The government is putting wolves on the ground with one hand, and then killing or removing those same wolves with the other," said Rob Edward of WildEarth Guardians. "The [Forest Service] acts as if Mexican wolves don't even exist, let alone need stewardship.

FWS does not comment on pending litigation.

Listed as endangered in 1976, the Mexican gray wolf was introduced a decade ago amid controversy over its effects on livestock. Currently, there are an estimated 52 Mexican gray wolves in the wild (Greenwire, March 31).

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