Delisting of Gray Wolves as Endangered, Fed gov comments open to Sep 11, 2013

Jamie Clark President of Defenders of Wildlife, (formerly Director of US Fish and Wildlife from 1997 to 2001)



"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced recently that it plans to prematurely delist wolves under the ESA and abandon their restoration efforts for gray wolves everywhere except for the Southwest. With wolves struggling to gain a toehold in the Northwest and still nonexistent in places with excellent suitable habitat like California, Utah and Colorado, the federal government is giving up on the dream of full gray wolf recovery. Put simply, they are quitting before their work is done.

Some 5,000 wolves currently inhabit six states in the lower 48. This is a marked improvement since the late '80s when there were only a few hundred left in northern Minnesota. Yet, the reality is that the recovery of the species throughout key areas in the West remains as uncertain as ever. Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have already started to drive their wolf populations down. Anti-wolf legislation has cropped up in Oregon and Washington, where there are presently only about 100 wolves. Utah's legislature passed a bill several years ago banning wolves altogether. And without continued federal protection, we're as likely to see sustainable populations of unicorns in five years in Colorado and California as we are to see sustainable populations of wolves.

By walking off the job before the task is done, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is redefining what it means to recover imperiled species...and not in a good way. The agency has adopted a shrunken vision of what wolf conservation is all about, failing to stick with the program until full recovery is achieved. We didn't take this easy way out in recovering the bald eagle or the American alligator, and we shouldn't do it now for wolves."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-rappaport-clark/mission-forgotten_b_3403584.html




BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Obama administration on Friday will propose lifting most of the remaining federal protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, a move that would end four decades of recovery efforts but has been criticized by some scientists as premature.

Under the administration's plan, federal protections would remain only for a fledgling population of Mexican gray wolves in the desert Southwest. The proposal will be subject to a public comment period and a final decision made within a year.

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-administration-ending-federal-protection-of-gray-wolves-2013-6



Comments accepted until September 11, 2013.

Summary

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) evaluated the classification status of gray wolves (Canis lupus) currently listed in the contiguous United States and Mexico under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). Based on our evaluation, we propose to remove the gray wolf from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=FWS-HQ-ES-2013-0073-0001