Next Monday is the 20th Anniversary of Wolf Reintroduction in
Yellowstone: Twenty years ago this coming Monday, January 12, eight
wolves were relocated to Yellowstone National
Park by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
National Park Service personnel.
Another six wolves arrived in Yellowstone on January 21, 1995. The goal was to
restore balance to a landscape where wolves had been absent for more than 70
years. Since then, wolf reintroduction in the Northern Rockies has become one of
this country’s great wildlife conservation success stories. These original 14
wolves – along with naturally returning packs and wolves subsequently released
in 1995 and 1996 – were the first generations of today’s wolf population in the
Northern Rockies. Today we’re seeing wolves start to come back to new areas of
the country where they’ve been absent for decades — something that would not
have been possible without this original reintroduction effort.
Defenders was the first wildlife organization to call for the return of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park. We were there to help with the release of wild gray wolves in Yellowstone and central Idaho in the mid-1990s, and our field staff has been working ever since to secure the restoration of wolves in the Rockies and now Pacific Northwest. At a time when wolves are continually under fire, this anniversary is a milestone that we’re making sure to celebrate!
If you find yourself in the Yellowstone area are welcome to join us this coming Monday for an early morning of wolf watching in the Park followed by a commemorative gathering with some of the original recovery team members including Dr. Doug Smith (Yellowstone Wolf Project Leader), Carter Niemeyer (USFWS Idaho State Wolf Coordinator, retired) Suzanne Stone, (USA/Canadian Wolf Reintroduction team member and Defenders’ wolf conservation expert) and many others. For details, please email sstone@defenders.org For those who cannot attend, we’ll have reports from the field to share with you regarding this important milestone in wolf restoration.
Wandering Wolf OR-7 and his Family Named “Rogue Pack” in Oregon: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that OR-7 – the famous wolf that made headlines for being the first wolf to travel into California in six decades — and his family will now officially be named Oregon’s “Rogue Pack.” OR-7 and his family are unique in Oregon because they’ve traveled much farther west in the state than any other wolves; the eight other wolf packs in the state live in eastern Oregon. Wildlife biologists hope that the Rogue Pack’s presence in west Oregon means more wolves will “go West” in the coming years.
Not So Fast: Canceled Wolf Coyote Organized Hunt in Montana Is Back
On: Last week we informed
you that the “1st Annual Great Montana Coyote and Wolf Hunt” had been
canceled. But this week, Idaho for Wildlife, Montana Trappers Association and
Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, decided to sponsor the organized hunt
and will be hosting it on private land in Sanders County, Montana. Awarding
prizes for the killing, capturing or taking of wildlife is against the law in
Montana so these groups have gotten around the law by awarding prizes randomly.
Many states do not have such laws; we strongly believe that state wildlife
agencies should work to ban these types of commercialized killing contests and
we’ll continue to work with state agencies towards this goal. These events
promote the attitude that predators are vermin and promulgate anti-predator
myths. These tactics are similar to the misinformed thinking that led to wolves’
and other predators’ near extinction once before.
No Wolves Killed In Idaho Predator Derby: Even though our public opposition and threat of legal challenge stopped “Idaho for Wildlife’s” predatory derby from occurring on BLM-managed lands around Salmon, Idaho, no one was able to stop the derby completely. Last week the derby took place on U.S. Forest Service land and on private ranches. If there is a silver lining in this egregious event, it is that no wolves were killed during the three-day competition. Further, the number of registered participants in the derby decreased from last year, drawing fewer than 100 hunters this year.
Great Lakes Wolf Recovery Causes Changes to Ecosystem: Since wolf reintroduction began, researching the effects of wolves on the environment has been a hot area of scientific inquiry. In several regions, research has demonstrated that wolves, in conjunction with other factors like climate and landscape conditions, have a distinct positive impact on the local environment.
For example, in Yellowstone wolves helped reduce the intensity of elk grazing on berry producing shrubs, which provided additional food for grizzly bears. This week, the first study to examine the impact of wolf recovery in the Great Lakes showed that the forest ecosystem in northern Wisconsin has indeed changed because of wolves’ presence. The study shows that wolf reintroduction decreased local white tail deer populations, which led to an increased diversity of plant and shrub species in areas where wolves were present. This study contributes to the growing body of literature that documents the ways in which wolves contribute to the environmental health of the areas they inhabit.
A three-year-old female wolf photographed near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in November 2014 is now feared dead, as a hunter in Utah reportedly mistook it for a coyote and shot it on Dec. 28. (Photo: Courtesy the Center for Biological Diversity)
January
12, 1995 – first eight reintroduced wolves to arrive in Yellowstone National
Park.
Defenders was the first wildlife organization to call for the return of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park. We were there to help with the release of wild gray wolves in Yellowstone and central Idaho in the mid-1990s, and our field staff has been working ever since to secure the restoration of wolves in the Rockies and now Pacific Northwest. At a time when wolves are continually under fire, this anniversary is a milestone that we’re making sure to celebrate!
If you find yourself in the Yellowstone area are welcome to join us this coming Monday for an early morning of wolf watching in the Park followed by a commemorative gathering with some of the original recovery team members including Dr. Doug Smith (Yellowstone Wolf Project Leader), Carter Niemeyer (USFWS Idaho State Wolf Coordinator, retired) Suzanne Stone, (USA/Canadian Wolf Reintroduction team member and Defenders’ wolf conservation expert) and many others. For details, please email sstone@defenders.org For those who cannot attend, we’ll have reports from the field to share with you regarding this important milestone in wolf restoration.
Wandering Wolf OR-7 and his Family Named “Rogue Pack” in Oregon: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that OR-7 – the famous wolf that made headlines for being the first wolf to travel into California in six decades — and his family will now officially be named Oregon’s “Rogue Pack.” OR-7 and his family are unique in Oregon because they’ve traveled much farther west in the state than any other wolves; the eight other wolf packs in the state live in eastern Oregon. Wildlife biologists hope that the Rogue Pack’s presence in west Oregon means more wolves will “go West” in the coming years.
(story continues below)
Two
of the newly named “Rogue Pack” pups, June 2, 2014.
No Wolves Killed In Idaho Predator Derby: Even though our public opposition and threat of legal challenge stopped “Idaho for Wildlife’s” predatory derby from occurring on BLM-managed lands around Salmon, Idaho, no one was able to stop the derby completely. Last week the derby took place on U.S. Forest Service land and on private ranches. If there is a silver lining in this egregious event, it is that no wolves were killed during the three-day competition. Further, the number of registered participants in the derby decreased from last year, drawing fewer than 100 hunters this year.
Great Lakes Wolf Recovery Causes Changes to Ecosystem: Since wolf reintroduction began, researching the effects of wolves on the environment has been a hot area of scientific inquiry. In several regions, research has demonstrated that wolves, in conjunction with other factors like climate and landscape conditions, have a distinct positive impact on the local environment.
For example, in Yellowstone wolves helped reduce the intensity of elk grazing on berry producing shrubs, which provided additional food for grizzly bears. This week, the first study to examine the impact of wolf recovery in the Great Lakes showed that the forest ecosystem in northern Wisconsin has indeed changed because of wolves’ presence. The study shows that wolf reintroduction decreased local white tail deer populations, which led to an increased diversity of plant and shrub species in areas where wolves were present. This study contributes to the growing body of literature that documents the ways in which wolves contribute to the environmental health of the areas they inhabit.
Idaho Begins 2015 With 3-Day Wolf and Coyote Hunt
Northern Rockies wolves face a state-approved hunt as Great Lakes wolves regain federal protections.
o days from now, $1,000 prizes will be awarded to the two people who kill the most wolves and the most coyotes in an Idaho hunting competition.
The Predator Hunting Contest and Fur Rendezvous, organized by a group called Idaho for Wildlife, began at sunrise Thursday morning and ends on Sunday, Jan. 4. The hunt is happening on about 3 million acres of privately owned ranchlands, as well as U.S. Forest Service land, near Salmon, a town in eastern-central Idaho that bills itself as “the birthplace of Sacajawea.”
A listing on coyotecontest.com notes that the contest includes two youth categories (ages 10–13 and 14–17) and bars traps as well as aerial and dog-assisted hunting. Idaho for Wildlife’s website was inaccessible at press time.
In mid-November, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management issued a five-year permit to Idaho for Wildlife that would have allowed the hunt on BLM lands throughout the state. But the BLM withdrew the permit two weeks later after conservation advocates sued the agency for not fully investigating the hunt’s environmental impacts, reported The Oregonian.
The BLM also received 56,500 public comments on the permit, most of them against the hunt, reported Boise State Public Radio.
The coyotecontest.com listing notes that participants must “sign a waiver stating that no predators taken on BLM land will be eligible” for prizes, suggesting that hunters might pursue animals on the agency’s lands nonetheless.
Wolves were nearly wiped out in the contiguous 48 states by the 1960s, and they were protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. But their numbers didn’t grow significantly until active efforts began in the 1990s to reintroduce them in some parts of their historic U.S. range.
Wolf populations in Alaska are considered healthy, while in Canada wolves still inhabit nearly all of their historic range. “We have 6,000 wolves in Alberta alone,” University of Alberta biologist Mark Boyce told Nature News recently. “Except for Mexican wolves, the populations in the lower 48 states add nothing to the genetic diversity of the species,” while expanding them could lead to more predation on livestock herds, he believes.
Since 2009, the Obama administration has removed federal protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies, including in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, as well as for wolves in nine states across the western Great Lakes region, including Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Those moves turned wolf management over to the states.
But last month, a federal judge restored federal protection to wolves in the western Great Lakes, finding that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had violated the ESA when it took them off the endangered list in 2012. “[A]t times, a court ‘must lean forward from the bench to let an agency know, in no uncertain terms, that enough is enough,’ ” wrote U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in her final ruling on Dec. 19.
“This case is one of those times,” Howell continued, describing the move to delist the Great Lakes wolves as “no more valid than the agency’s three prior attempts to remove federal protections for a population of gray wolves, which are otherwise members of an endangered species.”
The Grand Canyon's Only Gray Wolf May Have Been Shot by a Hunter
A three-year-old female was most likely killed by a hunter who thought the animal was a coyote.
A three-year-old female wolf photographed near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in November 2014 is now feared dead, as a hunter in Utah reportedly mistook it for a coyote and shot it on Dec. 28. (Photo: Courtesy the Center for Biological Diversity)
A gray wolf spotted roaming the Northern Rim of the Grand Canyon in November had wildlife enthusiasts thrilled at the sight of the species returning to the area for the first time in 70 years.
But on Dec. 28, after surviving a 500-mile trek from its home in the Northern Rockies, the three-year-old female encountered a hunter who shot the protected species after mistaking it for a coyote.
“It’s heartbreaking that another far-wandering wolf has been cut down with a fatal gunshot,” Michael Robinson, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “This female wolf could have helped wolves naturally recover in remote regions of Utah and neighboring states.”
The hunter, who has yet to be identified, alerted state authorities about the kill. They in turn contacted United States Fish and Wildlife Service officials.
FWS spokesperson Steve Segin said agency biologists are examining DNA from the wolf to determine if it is the one spotted near the Grand Canyon in November.
So far, no charges have been filed against the hunter for killing a protected species. But Mark Hadley of Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources said that remains a possibility as the investigation is ongoing.
But hunters killing wolves while crying “coyote” has become an all-too-frequent occurrence, Robinson said. The smaller, more abundant canines aren’t protected, so hunters can claim they are targeting coyotes without suspicion.
Robinson said prosecuting hunters who kill wolves is just one of the changes necessary to protect the species if the gray wolf is to have a chance of expanding its habitat from the Northwest and Great Lakes regions through Utah and into Arizona.
“Wolves in Utah deserve real, on-the-ground protection,” said Robinson. “That means, first, keeping them on theendangered species list; second, spreading the word about their presence as an endangered species; third, prosecuting those who kill them; and finally, developing a science-based recovery plan so that instead of one or two lone and vulnerable wolves, Utah and the West will eventually boast hundreds more wolves to stave off extinction and help keep ecosystems in healthy balance.”
Gray wolves were almost hunted to extinction by the early 1900s; a 40-year-long recovery effort has pushed the population up to around 5,500 in the continental United States.
In a recent study, the Center for Biological Diversity identified an additional 359,000 square miles of wolf-friendly habitat, including the Grand Canyon area.
| This Wolf Is Facing Extinction | ||
 |
 |
Time
is running out for the Mexican gray wolf. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) claims it is working to keep this species alive, but so far their policies
seem more focused on killing these wolves rather than protecting
them. The organization's recovery team scientists have stated that the Mexican gray wolf could go extinct without three separate genetic populations that the wolves can move between. Unfortunately, the FWS has said they will consider killing wolves if they grow to be "too numerous" or if officials think they've eaten too many elk. This is ridiculous! If the FWS won't listen to its own team of scientists, it's time for us to step in. Write to the FWS today and demand that they take the safety of Mexican gray wolves seriously! |
 Take
Action | ||
|
Posted:
02 Jan 2015 08:52 AM PST
We Reached Our Goal! Running Billboards in Spokane,
Washington: We did it! Thanks to the support of our members and a
wonderful partnership with local Washington State wolf advocates, we’ve achieved
our goal to run a coordinated media and public education campaign in Spokane,
Washington – beginning with a series of nine billboards in the City of Spokane.
We’re launching this campaign in response to a hostile anti-wolf billboard
campaign that went up earlier this month in the same area. Our
opponents’ billboards do nothing but spread lies and myths about wolves and we
were not willing to let this misinformation go unchecked. Public support for
wolf recovery in Washington State is critical; residents of Spokane need to know
the real facts about wolves, not the fairytales. Check out our billboard design
below and see our website at WolfRealityCheck.com!
Idaho Predator Derby Could Still Take Place; Montana Predator Derby Canceled: We know you’ve heard about the Idaho-based hunters’ rights organization which proposed to hold an egregious predator derby this January over a period of three days outside of Salmon, Idaho. While our public opposition and threat of legal challenge have stopped the derby from occurring on BLM-managed lands outside of Salmon, even with this victory, the derby could still proceed on National Forest lands within the Salmon-Challis National Forest unless the U.S. Forest Service takes immediate action to stop it. But while we continue to protest this killing contest in Idaho, this week we learned that this fever may be spreading East across state lines to Montana. A local hotel and resort announced the “1st Annual Great Montana Coyote and Wolf Hunt” which was scheduled to take place January 16th to 18th in Sanders County, Montana. But, just as quickly as this derby was announced, it was canceled later this week after the organizer reported threats of violence. Defenders of Wildlife does not condone any threats of violence. But, Defenders does support this derby cancellation and we will continue to look for collaborative opportunities to support wolf recovery in Montana. 
©Didier
Lindsey
Has The Grand Canyon Wolf Been Killed? This week news surfaced that a collared three-year-old female wolf was shot and killed near Beaver, Utah. Tragically, we suspect that it may be the wandering wolf that captured our imaginations by showing up on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon a few weeks ago – the wolf that some in the Southwest called, Echo. But whether this is the Grand Canyon wolf or not it still is unfortunate that this wolf was killed and demonstrates what would happen if the Fish and Wildlife Service finalizes its delisting proposal. We’ll keep you updated here as we learn more. The post Wolf Weekly Wrap-Up appeared first on Defenders of Wildlife Blog.  |
