Kristin Hines

October 28, 2008

2008 has been a tumultuous year for gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain region. In the ongoing back-and-forth battle over whether to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list, another shot has been fired: late last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) reopened public comment on a proposal to again de-list the gray wolf in the Northern Rocky Mountain states, excepting Wyoming. The effect would be to remove federal Endangered Species Act protections, opening wolf populations up to their most immediate threat --human hunting. A timeline of the recent legal disputes below helps to put this recent proposal in context.

The gray wolf population has made a remarkable comeback since 1978, when the species was first listed under the Endangered Species Act. Numbers are up, thanks to successful reintroduction programs and the federal protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act. By 2003, the populations seemed stable enough for the FWS to propose downlisting the wolf from "endangered" to "threatened" status. Prior to complete de-listing and state control, each Rocky Mountain state involved was charged with creating acceptable state management plans for ensuring wolf populations remained healthy.

In March 2008, the FWS de-listed the gray wolf, turning management control over to the states. Wolf kill spiked. Almost a wolf a day was killed after the March decision, significant with a base population of 2,000. Concerned about kill-off and current state management plans that failed to allow the genetic exchange between wolf populations necessary for species survival, conservation groups brought suit in April against the FWS. In July, a U.S. District Court judge in Missoula, Montana granted the conservation groups' request for an injunction, reinstating federal protection for the wolf until the FWS formulated a new plan. In September, the FWS withdrew its de-listing rule, meaning wolves were protected from hunting while FWS went back to the drawing board.

No creative genius has yet struck. Nevertheless, on October 24th the FWS announced its intention to again propose de-listing the gray wolf --on much the same terms shot down by the District Court in July. This announcement has squashed the conservation community's hopes of a fresh start under a new administration, but it's unlikely that the proposal will go far without a fight. Hold on, wolf --it may be your year yet.

Sources:

Defenders of Wildlife v. Hall, 565 F. Supp.2d 1160 (D. Mont. 2008).

Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544 (2000).

Grist, The Gray We Were: Gray Wolves in Northern Rockies to Remain on Endangered List for Now, Sept. 17, 2008, http://www.grist.org/news/2008/09/17/Howlin/index.html.

National Resources Defense Council, NRDC Statment on the Reopening of Wolf Delisting in the Northern Rocky Mountains, Oct. 24, 2008, http://www.nrdc.org/media/2008/081024.asp.

Sierra Club, Protecting Wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, http://wyoming.sierraclub.org/issues/wolves/index.html (last visited Oct. 27, 2008).