Wolves

NRDC Joins Legal Action to Challenge the Department of Interior's Decision to Remove Northern Rocky Mountain Wolves From Endangered Species List

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (June 2, 2009) – Another chapter in the legal battle over wolves was opened today when the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and a coalition of concerned conservation groups challenged the recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to remove protections for packs in Montana and Idaho.    » read more »

March 6, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today affirmed the decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species in the western Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountain states of Idaho and Montana and parts of Washington, Oregon and Utah. Wolves will remain a protected species in Wyoming.

“The recovery of the gray wolf throughout significant portions of its historic range is one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act,” Salazar said. “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.”    » read more »

Bush Administration Rule Leads to Wolves Removal from Endangered Species List

CHICAGO (March 6, 2009) – The Secretary of the Interior announced today that he will remove the gray wolf from the federal Endangered Species List in Montana and Idaho, as well as the western Great Lakes region. Wolves in the state of Wyoming will remain under Endangered Species Act protection due to federal concern over the inadequacy of the state’s management plan.

The State of Idaho recently proposed killing 200 wolves within their borders.

Following are comments from Andrew Wetzler, Director of NRDC’s Endangered Species Project:    » read more »

"It's going to be open season on wolves," says Natural Resources Defense Council

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (January 24, 2008) – Conservation groups say they will file a lawsuit in federal court immediately to block a rule announced today by the Bush administration that will allow the states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming to kill most of the threatened wolves in the Northern Rockies. The new “10(j)” rule widens a loophole in the Endangered Species Act that permits the killing of hundreds of wolves even though the animals are considered at risk of extinction.    » read more »

September 26, 2007, Anchorage, Alaska - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today criticized Congressman George Miller’s (D-CA) legislation to eliminate an important element of wildlife management by the State of Alaska.

“Moose and caribou are important food for Alaskans, and Congressman Miller’s bill threatens that food supply,” said Governor Palin. “Congressman Miller doesn’t understand rural Alaska, doesn’t comprehend wildlife management in the North, and doesn’t appreciate the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that gives states the right to manage their own affairs.”    » read more »

July 6, 2007 -- SANTA FE – New Mexico Governor Richardson seeks to change key protocols for the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program following a recent wolf kill incident in southwestern New Mexico.

“I am deeply concerned about the recent escalation in wolf removals and incidents surrounding yesterday’s lethal removal of a female wolf,” said Governor Bill Richardson.    » read more »

“License to Kill” Would Reverse Wildlife Recovery in Northern Rockies, Says NRDC

LIVINGSTON, Mont. (July 6, 2007) – Twelve years after reintroducing wolves in the wild in the Northern Rockies, the federal government has today announced a plan to allow most of the animals to be exterminated. The government wants to remove the wolves from the endangered species list, a move that conservation groups oppose, but the new plan allows the slaughter to begin even before the wolves are formally delisted, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).    » read more »

July 6, 2007 -- SANTA FE – New Mexico Governor Richardson seeks to change key protocols for the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program following a recent wolf kill incident in southwestern New Mexico.

“I am deeply concerned about the recent escalation in wolf removals and incidents surrounding yesterday’s lethal removal of a female wolf,” said Governor Bill Richardson. “State Police are investigating the incident and are collecting the facts as this investigation takes its course.”    » read more »