Conservation Groups Launch Legal Challenge Against Government’s Inaction for Wolves in Northern Rockies
The lawsuit says the US Fish and Wildlife Service is illegally denying protections to wolves.
A debate about the level of protection granted to wolves is set to go to court as conservation groups say the government is acting illegally by failing to protect the animals.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains will not be relisted under the Endangered Species Act.
The decision alarmed conservationists and campaigners, who say that without such protection current state laws would continue to enable trophy hunters, trappers, and predator control agents to kill wolves and push the population closer to extinction.
Now, leading groups including the Center for Biological Diversity and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have filed a lawsuit against the Service’s decision to deny protections to wolves.
“We will not idly stand by while the federal government erases decades of wolf recovery by permitting northern Rockies states to wage war on these animals,” said Margie Robinson, staff attorney for wildlife at the Humane Society of the United States.
The lawsuit alleges that the government agency is ignoring scientific evidence from conservation geneticists and other scientists who say that wolf populations are at risk without protections.
“Under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cannot ignore crucial scientific findings”, explains Robinson. “Rather than allow states to cater to trophy hunters, trappers and ranchers, the agency must ensure the preservation of wolves — who are vital to ensuring healthy ecosystems — for generations to come.”
Those taking legal action are concerned that wolves in the northern Rockies, who are already at long-term risk of extinction, could be wiped out by high levels of killing.
Recent changes in Montana state laws, for example, allow wolves to be killed using bait and strangulation snares, permit a single hunter to hunt 10 wolves and trap an additional 10, and lengthen the wolf-trapping season.
While in Idaho, similar recent changes authorize the state to hire private contractors to kill wolves, allow hunters to purchase an unlimited number of wolf-killing tags and permit hunters to kill wolves by chasing them down with hounds and all-terrain vehicles.
And in most parts of Wyoming, wolves are designated as “predatory animals” and can be killed without a license in nearly any manner and at any time.
“The states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming act like it’s 1880 with the most radical and unethical methods to kill as many wolves as possible in an effort to manage for bare minimum numbers,” said Nick Gevock, northern Rockies field organizer for the Sierra Club, an advocacy group among those which filed the lawsuit.
Fighting for Wolf Protections in Court
Wolves in Idaho, Montana, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and northern Utah originally lost federal protections through a congressional legislative rider back in 2011. Then in 2012, wolves in Wyoming also lost federal protection following a court battle.
Ever since losing Endangered Species Act protection, wolves in the northern Rockies have suffered “widespread persecution under state laws”, the Center of Biological Diversity says.
But following a successful lawsuit by the Center, the USFWS announced earlier this year a first-of-its-kind national recovery plan under the Endangered Species Act for gray wolves in the lower 48 states. Crucially, the agency will exclude wolves in the northern Rockies from that planning effort unless they regain their federal protections.
“While wolves in the northern Rockies remain unprotected, states continue to facilitate the unabated slaughter of this iconic species,” said Gillian Lyons, director of regulatory affairs at the Humane Society Legislative Fund. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is required to take action when a species is at risk of extinction — and wolves are no exception. Our lawsuit today lets the agency know that we will hold them accountable to their statutory duty to protect species like wolves from extinction.”
Wolves in the US need our help more than ever. Species Unite refuses to give up for wolves who are being pushed to the brink of extinction. Join our campaign and send a letter to Secretary Deb Haaland, urging her to reconsider and reinstate protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies. Send the letter here.
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