Court rules that wolf delisting likely violates the Endangered Species Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2009
Contact:
Suzanne Stone: (208)424-9385, (208)861-4655
Erin McCallum: (202)772-3217; (610)207-5209
Court rules that wolf delisting likely violates the Endangered Species Act
Hunt will continue while court hears lawsuit

Summary:

• Yesterday evening, the U.S District Court of Montana agreed with plaintiffs that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service likely violated the Endangered Species Act in delisting wolves in Idaho and Montana.
• While Defenders is disappointed that the court declined to immediately halt the ongoing wolf hunt, we are optimistic that the court will ultimately overturn the wolf delisting and restore Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the Northern Rockies.

WASHINGTON, DC. –
The following is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife:
“A hunting season for wolves at this point in time still poses a threat to the Northern Rockies population and we’re disappointed that the court did not grant our motion to immediately stop the hunt.  We’re pleased, however, that the court recognizes that we are likely to prevail on our legal claim that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted illegally by delisting wolves in Idaho, Montana, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, and portions of north-central Utah.
“We will continue to press our lawsuit challenging the delisting and are optimistic that the court will ultimately rule in our favor, restoring federal protections to Northern Rockies wolves.”

The following is a statement by Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife.
“We’re hopeful that the ongoing hunt is only a temporary setback on the road to accomplishing our ultimate goal: Restoring protections for wolves until a scientifically sound delisting rule that ensures a healthy regional wolf population, and adequate state plans are in place.”

Links:
Learn more about what Defenders is doing to help wolves in the Northern Rockies
Learn more about our ongoing legal actions

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Defenders of Wildlife is represented in this litigation by Earthjustice, along with plaintiffs Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, The Humane Society of the United States, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Friends of the Clearwater, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands Project, Western Watersheds Project, Wildlands Project, and Hells Canyon Preservation Council.
Defenders of Wildlife is dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities.  With more than 1 million members and activists, Defenders of Wildlife is a leading advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard our wildlife heritage for generations to come.  For more information, visit www.defenders.org

Hunters take aim at Idaho's wolves......

Hunters take aim at Idaho’s wolves

Today Idaho hunters are able to shoot and kill previously endangered wolves for first time

WASHINGTON, DC. – Today Idaho’s previously endangered wolves are in the crosshairs of hunters taking part in the first-ever hunt of reintroduced gray wolves as a game species in the contiguous United States.

Defenders of Wildlife and 12 other conservation groups are still awaiting a decision by the U.S. District Court in Montana on the group’s motion for a preliminary injunction. If granted, federal protection would be restored to the regional wolf population until the court reaches a final decision in the plaintiffs’ pending legal challenge to the delisting.

The 220 wolves slated to be killed in this year’s wolf hunt in Idaho are over and above the 150 or more wolves already killed or meeting death each year in the state by other means including lethal control, natural deaths and the 35 wolves allowed to be killed by the Nez Perce tribe. All these actions combined threaten the recovery of the still tenuous regional wolf population in the Northern Rockies.

The following is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife:

“The heavy-handed wolf hunt beginning today in Idaho, together with the hunt planned to begin September 15^th in Montana, puts the recovery of the Northern Rockies population of wolves at risk and demonstrates precisely the kind of irresponsible state management that should have precluded taking the wolf off the endangered species list at this point in time.

“We hope that the court will stop this ill-timed and politically motivated hunt before it is too late for hundreds of Idaho’s wolves.”

The following is a statement by Suzanne Stone, Northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife:

“Today’s hunt undermines decades of tremendous support, time and investment from the American public, federal, tribal and state wildlife agencies, and threatens one of the most successful wildlife restorations in history.

“While we have consistently encouraged all of the states in the region and the federal government to adopt scientifically sound wildlife conservation and management policies that are in the best interests of wolves and people, Idaho’s plan does not adhere to that standard and places the recovery of the Northern Rockies gray wolf in serious jeopardy. This level of mismanagement and population reduction would never be accepted for elk or deer and should not be attempted for any native wildlife, including wolves.

“Idaho hosts the core of the region’s wolf population, with approximately 1,000 wolves. By wiping out 220 wolves, the state is taking the first step toward crippling the regional wolf population by isolating wolves into disconnected subgroups incapable of genetic or ecological sustainability. This puts the wolves at risk for genetic inbreeding and disease outbreaks – and reduces the important ecological niche that wolves fill on the land.

“Idaho’s wildlife agency has stated that its intent is to reduce the population to only 518 wolves, while the Idaho state legislature’s official policy is that all wolves be removed ‘by whatever means necessary.’

“No other endangered species has ever been delisted at such a low population level and then immediately hunted to even lower unsustainable levels. This clearly is not responsible wolf management.”