Tag Archives: Endangered Species List

Proposed rule would end federal wolf protections in Lower 48

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The U.S. Department of Interior has posted a draft rule proposing to remove federal wolf protections . . .

Federal wildlife officials have drafted plans to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, a move that could end a decades-long recovery effort that has restored the animals but only in parts of their historic range.

The draft U.S. Department of Interior rule obtained by The Associated Press contends the roughly 6,000 wolves now living in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes are enough to prevent the species’ extinction. The agency says having gray wolves elsewhere — such as the West Coast, parts of New England and elsewhere in the Rockies — is unnecessary for their long-term survival. A small population of Mexican wolves in the Southwest would continue to receive federal protections, as a distinct subspecies of the gray wolf.

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Battle lines forming over blanket delisting of wolves

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a blanket delisting of wolves from the Endangered species List in all the lower 48 states . . .

Western environmental groups say they’re alarmed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a plan to end federal protections for gray wolves in vast areas where the animals no longer exist.

The groups say ending federal protections would keep wolves from expanding their range back into states that could support them, including Colorado and California.

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It’s official: Feds want wolverines on Endangered Species List

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As expected, the federal government will propose giving wolverines Endangered Species Act protection today. The recommendation includes a proposal to reintroduce wolverines into Colorado and, of course, would permanently ban trapping and hunting of wolverines in the lower 48 states . . .

The tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving carnivore sometimes called the “mountain devil,” is being added to the list of species threatened by climate change — a dubious distinction that puts it in the ranks of the polar bear and several other animals that could see their habitats shrink drastically due to warming temperatures.

Federal wildlife officials on Friday will propose Endangered Species Act protections for the wolverine in the lower 48 states, a step twice denied under the Bush administration.

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Interagency committee wants full picture of grizzly bear diet before delisting

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The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee plans a close look at the grizzly bear’s overall diet . . .

To ensure they’ve got the best look at how well grizzly bears can endure in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, researchers want a full picture of the predators’ diet before another attempt to remove them from endangered species protection.

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee hopes to convince the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals it was justified in delisting the big bears from the federal Endangered Species Act…

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Glacier Park stonefly could be first species put on endangered list due to climate change

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Glacier Park’s meltwater stonefly is a candidate species for addition to the endangered species list . . .

An obscure aquatic insect found exclusively in the high alpine streams of Glacier National Park will remain a high-priority candidate for endangered species protection because it is at risk of extinction due to climate change, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced last week.

The rare stonefly, called Lednia tumana, has narrow temperature requirements and lives only in cold-water streams fed by Glacier Park’s melting glaciers and snowfields – a mountain ecosystem rapidly disappearing due to global warming. It was included on the most recent list of 192 candidate species eligible for protection under the Endangered Species Act. However, it did not receive emergency listing for protection.

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Wolves again fair game in many states

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The Washington Post put up a pretty good article on Wolves yesterday. Here’s the lead-in. (Thanks to the ever-alert Richard Wackrow for spotting this article.) . . .

Most wolves in the continental United States soon will be off federal assistance.

For more than 300 years, trappers and settlers did their best to exterminate wolves, for their pelts and to protect livestock. They were so successful that only a few hundred gray wolves were left in the lower 48 states when they were listed as an endangered species in 1973.

Now the wolves are back, with roughly 6,000 in the contiguous United States and 7,700 to 11,200 in Alaska. The Obama administration has declared all but two small populations — Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico and Arizona, and red wolves in North Carolina — fully recovered. On Oct. 1, Wyoming will become the fifth state with a significant wolf population to legalize hunting.

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Environmental coalition to sue over Wyoming wolf delisting

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As expected, a coalition of environmental groups intends to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the removal of federal protection for wolves in Wyoming . . .

A coalition of environmental groups has filed notice that they intend to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the agency’s decision to end federal protections for wolves in Wyoming.

WildEarth Guardians and other groups announced Monday that they have filed a notice of intent to sue the federal agency.

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Feds ending wolf protections in Wyoming at end of month

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Federal wolf protections officially end at the end of September. Lawsuits are likely . . .

The federal government will end its protections for wolves in Wyoming, where the species was introduced two decades ago to revive it from near extinction in the United States.

The announcement Friday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will entrust the state with managing wolf numbers and endorses a plan that allows for them to be shot on sight in most of the state, while keeping them permanently protected in designated areas like Yellowstone National Park. Wyoming will take over management of the wolves at the end of September.

The decision of the announcement quickly sparked promises of legal challenges from environmental groups that argue wolves still need protection to maintain their successful recovery.

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Feds to announce end to wolf protections in Wyoming

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The final wolf “delisting rule” for Wyoming will be published the end of this month. Expect lawsuits . . .

The federal government plans to announce an end to protections for wolves in Wyoming later this month.

Spokesmen from some environmental groups say they plan to review the final wolf delisting rule carefully when it’s issued Aug. 31. They say legal challenges are likely over the state’s plan to classify wolves as predators that can be shot on sight in most areas.

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Wolf hunt suit dead; no appeal to Supreme Court

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The folks who filed suit opposing the wolf hunt in Montana and Idaho have given up on a Supreme Court appeal . . .

Wildlife advocates say they decided not to appeal to the Supreme Court to keep wolves on the endangered list in Idaho and Montana after their arguments were rejected in lower court rulings.

Congress ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take gray wolves off the endangered species list last spring. That triggered lawsuits from wildlife groups and environmentalists who argued state-sponsored hunts could again drive wolves towards extinction.

But after two lower courts sided with the government, the plaintiffs let the 90-day deadline for appeal to the Supreme Court pass this week without action.

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