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Background - Why Wolves Need Your Voice Now
Wolves in Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho are currently not listed as endangered species. Being on the Endangered Species List gives species certain protections under the federal government while the population recovers; since being taken off the list, wolf populations in these states are no longer protected by the federal government, and instead are managed by the state governments.
This has left wolves vulnerable to political, rather than scientific, decisions of these states.
- Recently, Montana's state legislature decided to target wolves, passing bills liberalizing wolf hunting laws. The regulations now allow bounties for killing wolves; allow snaring and longer trapping seasons; allow baiting wolves with meat; allow one person to kill up to 20 wolves each; and allow night hunting on private lands with the use of "artificial lights, thermal imaging technology, or night vision scopes."
- Idaho, in some areas, allows 11- and 12-month wolf hunting and trapping seasons, resulting in young pups also being killed. The state helps fund a bounty on wolves, and annually kills wolves via aerial gunning. In certain areas, they also allow night hunting; hunting wolves with dogs; using vehicles to chase wolves; snaring; and baiting with meat.
- In 85% of Wyoming, wolves can be killed year-round, day or night, by nearly any method, including being chased down on snowmobiles. In the remaining 15% of the state, the Wolf Trophy Game Management Area (WTGMA) bordering the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, only 11 breeding pairs of wolves remain - dangerously close to the state's commitment to maintain at least 10 breeding pairs. They know that falling below this number could land wolves back on the Endangered Species List.
These are not sustainable or ethical hunting practices.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is conducting a Status Review of wolves in the Northern Rockies in deciding whether to restore federal protections for the species under the Endangered Species Act, and they are taking comments on the measure.
Please take a few minutes to submit a comment asking the Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland to emergency re-list wolves.
Be polite and respectful and use your own words! Comments are only counted if they are original. Some talking points:
- States have demonstrated that they cannot manage gray wolves responsibly. These laws are completely political, and not scientifically justified. State legislatures are now dictating wolf hunting regulations, going over the heads of the actual biologists.
- These new laws represent an inadequacy of regulatory mechanisms to sustainably conserve wolf populations in the Northern Rockies. Unregulated killing of wolves is what led to their extirpation decades ago.
- The wolf population in the Northern Rockies states is being overutilized for recreational purposes.
- An emergency relisting is necessary to prevent further overutilization and to make states revisit their wolf management policies to make them sustainable for the species.
- If you have ever visited Yellowstone National Park to see wolves, or if you plan to, mention this and how your tourism dollars would be lost if wolves were no longer visible there, impacting local businesses. 20 Yellowstone wolves have already been killed outside the park this season.
- Scientists Say Gianforte's Anti-Wolf, Anti-Grizzly Policies In Montana Have No Scientific Basis
- Local Businesses Ask for Limit to Yellowstone Wolf Harvest - Visitors to Yellowstone hoping to see wolves are estimated to have spent $80 million in the first ten months of 2021
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