Area Gray wolves denied Endangered Species Act protection

By Soncirey Mitchel
Reader Staff

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a decision Feb. 2 denying wildlife conservation groups’ petition to protect northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act, which would have safeguarded them from potentially devastating state hunting and trapping laws.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Humane Society, Humane Society Legislative Fund and Sierra Club notified FWS of their intention to sue Feb. 7, giving the agency a 60-day window to reconsider the decision before taking the matter to federal district court.

Gray wolves — with the exception of those in the northern Rocky Mountains — have been listed as threatened or endangered in 44 U.S. states and Mexico since Feb. 10, 2022. The wolves lost their protected status in Idaho, Montana, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and northern Utah in 2011 and in Wyoming in 2012.

“I’m incredibly disappointed that the Fish and Wildlife Service is turning a blind eye to the cruel, aggressive wolf-killing laws in Montana and Idaho,” stated Kristine Akland, northern Rockies program director at the Center for Biological Diversity, in the nonprofit’s recent news release. “By denying protections to these beautiful creatures, the Service is letting northern Rockies states continue erasing decades of recovery efforts.”

According to the CBD, hunters and trappers in Montana and Idaho killed well over a 1,000 wolves from 2022 to 2023 due to those states’ aggressive laws. The FWS estimated that, as of 2022, there were only 2,797 wolves spread across seven western states.

Idaho currently allows hunters and trappers to kill an unlimited number of wolves — which they can chase down using all-terrain vehicles and hunting dogs — and not only permits year-round trapping on private land, but also allows the government to hire private contractors specifically to kill wolves.

Between hunting and trapping, licensed individuals in Montana can kill up to 20 wolves a season. The state allows for the use of strangulation snares and baiting, and private groups may even reimburse people for their hunting costs.

“The regimens these states have pursued are reminiscent of the 1800s effort to eradicate wolves, and they have no place in modern wildlife management. No other species is treated this way, and it’s reversing what was a great conservation success story,” stated Nick Gevock, Sierra Club field organizer for the northern Rockies, in a joint news release with the CBD.

According to the organizations, wolves are again in danger of extinction in Yellowstone National Park just 30 years after their reintroduction. Conservation efforts in neighboring states rely on northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf populations for genetic diversity to ensure the health of the species.

Conservation groups initially petitioned FWS to extend federal protection to northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves in 2021 and were forced to sue in August 2022 when the service failed to deliver a decision. The Feb. 2 denial stems from a court-imposed deadline, and utilized federal, state and tribal data, as well as an assessment of threats like human-caused mortality and disease — what CBD called “outdated and unambitious recovery goals.”

“Unlike the Fish and Wildlife Service, we refuse to sanction the annual slaughter of hundreds of wolves,” stated CBD Carnivore Conservation Legal Director Andrea Zaccardi in the Feb. 7 news release.