Lillian Kortlandt

March 15, 2009

On March 6, 2009 Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar upheld the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to partially remove the gray wolf from the threatened and endangered species list. This decision came as a shock to many in the environmental community since the new Obama administration has been quick to reverse or at least abandon the Bush administration's agenda on environmental issues, specifically issues dealing with the Endangered Species Act. Secretary Salazar felt the timing was right and that this move should be hailed as a success, not as a failure. He stated, "When it was listed as endangered in 1974, the wolf had almost disappeared from the continental United States. Today, we have more than 5,500 wolves, including more than 1,600 in the Rockies." Critics are already questioning whether that population increase will be enough to withstand legalized hunting.

The delisting will be done on a state-by-state basis for areas of the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountains (including Idaho, Montana, and portions of Washington, Oregon, and Utah). Notably absent is the state of Wyoming, home to the famous Yellowstone packs. Fish and Wildlife did not recommend Wyoming because they felt the recovery plan was still inadequate to protect the wolves. Some have already noted the strange irony at play since ranchers in Wyoming may have actually contributed to the further protection of wolves in their state by refusing to compromise on recovery plans--at least for now.

Many environmental groups have already filed lawsuits to challenge the state-by-state delisting, claiming it is based on bad science and makes little practical sense since wolves do not observe state boundaries. Secretary Salazar said he did not want to "punish the states that have done well." He further added, "We shouldn't hold Idaho and Montana hostage to the inadequacies we have seen in Wyoming. The point is, we can make the Endangered Species Act work if we have the cooperation of the states. In the case of Wyoming, it has not worked."

Leading the pack of environmental groups, Defenders of Wildlife issued an immediate statement by President Rodger Schlickeisen stating, "Today is a truly disappointing day for Americans who care deeply about the Northern Rockies wolf population and for the integrity of the Endangered Species Act. We are outraged and disappointed that Secretary Salazar has chosen to push the same, terrible Bush administration plan for wolf delisting just six weeks into President Obama's administration."

Suzanne Stone, the Defenders of Wildlife northern Rockies representative, echoed Schlickeisen's statement and argued that this decision has already been decided since "[n]othing about this rule has changed since it was rejected and deemed unlawful in a federal court in July of 2008. It still fails to adequately address biological concerns about the lack of genetic exchange among wolf populations in the northern Rockies and it still fails to address the concerns with the states' wolf management plans and regulations that undermine a sustainable wolf population by killing too many wolves."

Defenders of Wildlife are not alone in this matter and at least ten other organizations have joined them by publically condemning Secretary Salazar's ruling. Well-known organizations such as the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, and the Humane Society of the United States will be working together to strike down the delisting in court.

Meanwhile, the ruling will be published in the Federal Register shortly, and after 30 days, will go into effect and hunting seasons and permits could be issued by the end of this year in areas of Idaho and Montana. Wolf populations in the remaining states will not be affected by this ruling and will remain listed as endangered.

Sources:

Jim Robbins, Gray Wolf Will Lose Protection in Part of U.S., N.Y. Times, March 6, 2009 available at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/07/science/earth/07wolves.html?_r=1&ref=earth.

Press Release, Earthjustice, Interior Secretary Salazar Announces Wolf Delisting (March 6, 2009) (http://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/2009/interior-secretary-salazar-announces-wolf-delisting.html).

Environmental News Service, Salazar Upholds Bush-era Decision to Delist Gray Wolves, March 6, 2009, http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2009/2009-03-06-092.asp.

Lindsay Barnett, Gray Wolf to Lose Federal Endangered Species Protection in Most of U.S., Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2009, available at http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2009/03/gray-wolf-delis.html.

Bill Schneider, Salazar Approves Wolf Delisting, New West, March 6, 2009 available at http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/salazar_approves_wolf_delisting/C41/L41/ (last visited March 13, 2009).

Bill Schneider, Wolf Delisting: The Neverending Story, New West, March 6, 2009 available at http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/wolf_delisting_the_neverending_story/C41/L41/ (last visited March 13, 2009).