Groups to Challenge Wolf Delisting

Wolves have made remarkable progress toward recovery over the past two decades, but they're not there yet, says a coalition of 11 conservation groups.

On Wednesday, the coalition vowed to fight a recent decision to remove the gray wolf from the list of endangered species in federal court and filed the required 60-day notice within hours of the delisting rule's publication in the Federal Register.

Under the proposed rule, the states will assume legal management authority of wolves in the northern Rockies on March 28.

In Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, there are 1,500 wolves with 107 breeding pairs.

Those numbers aren't adequate to ensure the health of the species, the coalition said, especially considering that states are already planning hunting seasons. The populations need to be closer to 2,000 to 5,000 animals to be sustainable, the coalition believes.

"Wolves in the northern Rockies are simply not ready to lose federal protections," said Suzanne Asha Stone of Defenders of Wildlife. "America has come too far, and worked too hard, to throw away the successes of the past decade and see wolves in the Yellowstone region end up back where they started."

Federal officials said wolves have done better than expected and have exceeded the delisting threshold of 300 wolves and 30 breeding pairs in the tri-state area. The population has been growing at about 20 percent a year.

But the coalition claims the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act by delisting the wolf "despite the genetic inadequacy of the present population and the refusal of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana to make meaningful commitments to wolf conservation."

Wolves in the northern Rockies are endangered due to genetic isolation, lack of interchange between populations in Yellowstone, central Idaho and northwestern Montana and an insufficient number of animals, according to the coalition.

Delisting now would threaten those populations with increased wolf killing, resulting in fewer animals and less genetic exchanges between wolf populations.

The coalition is especially concerned with the possibility that under the three state management plans, wolf numbers could plummet because there's no set requirement that population be maintained above the federally established minimums.

Despite the fact that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that all three states need to maintain 15 breeding pairs and 150 wolves to ensure that wolf populations do not drop below 10 breeding pairs and 100 wolves, the state plans don't make that commitment, the coalition said.

"Inadequate state protections coupled with enduring hostility toward wolves in this region may well cause 80 percent of the region's approximately 1,500 wolves to be killed under state management," said a coalition fact sheet.

Louisa Willcox of the Natural Resources Defense Council said the coalition will ask the court for an injunction if any of the states move forward to kill a large number of wolves.

"There is nothing in the state management schemes or delisting rule itself to prevent the killing of up to 80 percent of wolves in the northern Rockies," Willcox said. "Attempts by the Fish and Wildlife Service to assure the public otherwise has no factual basis."

In Montana, Willcox said the coalition is particularly concerned with the number of wolves being killed each year by the federal Wildlife Services following depredations on domestic livestock.

While Montana has a smaller wolf population than either Wyoming or Idaho, more wolves have been killed by the federal agency here than in either of those two states. In 2006, Willcox said 53 wolves in Montana were killed in response to 38 confirmed predations on livestock.

Willcox believes part of the reason for those numbers is a state legislative mandate to have a collared wolf in each pack in Montana.

"It makes them easier to find and to kill," she said.

While there isn't a specific number included in Montana's wolf management plan, the state will attempt to maintain a minimum of at least 15 breeding pairs of wolves "forever," said Tom Palmer, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks information bureau chief.

"The federal rule requires that we maintain 10 breeding pairs with a minimum of 100 wolves," Palmer said. "We're way beyond that."

Montana's current wolf population is estimated to be 422 wolves in 73 packs and 39 breeding pairs.

Under the state's management plan, wolves would be managed in much the same way as black bears and mountain lions, Palmer said. It considers a variety of management activities in addressing wolf and livestock conflicts that run the gamut from harassment techniques to lethal control measures.

"The aim is to sustain the wolf population, Montana's deer and elk populations, and to help resolve wolf-human and wolf-livestock conflicts." Palmer said.

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