Stop the Slaughter

Restore Protections for Yellowstone, Northern Rockies Wolves!

 

The slaughter of wolves in Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies is out of control – and must stop. So far this winter twenty-one Yellowstone Park wolves have been killed after wandering outside the invisible boundary of Yellowstone Park. In most instances these wolves were lured into traps where they were then shot.

 

Yellowstone National Park's Superintendent Cam Sholly recently sounded the alarm, telling an AP reporter that at least one pack, the Phantom Lake Pack, had been "eliminated" and that the ongoing destruction is “a significant setback for the species’ long-term viability and for wolf research.”

 

So far, the response from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and President Biden has been silence and delay. Last September, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in September that it would begin a 12-month review to determine whether “potential increases in human-caused mortality may pose a threat” to the wolves, perhaps exacerbated by new, more permissive regulations in Idaho and Montana. Those two states are home to about 75 percent of the gray wolf population in the Northern Rockies.

 

But, since then, Fish and Wildlife Service has said nothing – and the assault continues.

 

The restoration of wolves in the lower 48 is a remarkable achievement. Brought back to Yellowstone and central Idaho in the 1990s, wolves quickly resumed their age-old ecological role as top predators. Alive, these wolves represent our commitment as a nation to correct our past wrongs.

 

But now, Haaland and Biden are letting the success slip away.  No doubt, grizzlies are next in line for similar treatment by extremists in the Northern Rockies. Those who care about bears and our natural heritage need to speak up for wolves!

 

In the words of Dan Ashe, former Director of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, “If Secretary Haaland wishes to stop this killing, the Endangered Species Act gives her ample authority and discretion to stop it — cold.”

 

Please write Haaland and ask her to stop the killing and relist wolves!

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DRAFT TEMPLATE LETTER to BIDEN and HAALAND

 

Addresses: Haaland feedback@ios.doi.gov

                    Biden https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

To: President Joseph R. Biden and US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland

From: [Your Name]

 

Please Act Now to Save America's Wolves!

 

I'm writing to ask you to help save our wolves in the United States. I care deeply about our nation’s wolves that are again being persecuted under state authority. I fear that grizzlies will suffer the same fate if the states are allowed to manage them.

 

The State of Idaho has adopted legislation that allows for the killing of 90% of the wolves statewide including newborn pups and nursing mothers in their dens. The State of Montana has adopted a bounty system similar to the one that led to the eradication of wolves from the West. The State of Wisconsin opened a hunting season without adequate regulations – allowing for hundreds of wolves to be slaughtered in just a few days.

 

Wolves need to regain the protection of the Endangered Species Act. The states are proving unable or unwilling to manage wolves responsibly, and seem hell-bent on eradicating this iconic species. And grizzly bears are next. If Fish and Wildlife Service delists grizzlies, they too will be pushed back to the brink of extinction by state officials.  

 

There is no excuse for the assault on our wolves. Wolves help maintain healthy elk and deer herds by culling diseased animals. Livestock losses to wolves remain extremely low. Less than 1 percent of cattle and sheep in wolf range are lost to wolves. Nonlethal deterrents and improved husbandry work better to protect sheep and cattle than does unchecked slaughter of wolves.

 

You have the ability to restore Endangered Species Act protections for wolves now—before it's too late. And please, keep grizzly bears on the endangered species list so they do not suffer the same fate as wolves. The future of these magnificent species is in your hands. 

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