10 DAYS TO KEEP GRAY WOLVES ON THE ENDANGERD SPECIES LIST 17MAR14

POLITICS, not science, is what is driving the Obama administration's consideration of removing wolves from endangered species protections. Democrats are in danger of loosing their seats in congress if they don't declassify wolves as an endangered species. Science has shown that wolves do not present an economic threat to farmers, ranchers and hunters (competition for the same big game in the Rockies) but instead improve the overall health of the entire ecosystem in areas where they have been reintroduced and allowed to establish packs and territories. Politicians follow the money, and as long as ranchers and farmers and the nra can threaten them by giving their campaign donations to a candidate who will do as he is paid by them to do. Click the link to the sign the petition to the US Fish and Wildlife Service to keep gray wolves on the Endangered Species List....

Help turn back a dire threat to America’s embattled wolves. Tell the Obama Administration to cancel its reckless plan and give wolves a fighting chance at recovery. TAKE ACTION We’ve been granted one more chance to keep life-saving protections in place for our nation’s wolves -- but we must make our voices heard in the next 10 days. The truth is finally out: an independent panel of scientific experts has unanimously agreed that the Obama Administration’s proposed plan to strip wolves of their endangered species protections across most of the Lower 48 states is not based on the “best available science” -- just as we have long argued. Please urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to abandon its reckless plan and give wolves a fighting chance at recovery! The return of gray wolves to areas like the Northern Rockies and the western Great Lakes has been one of the greatest conservation success stories of our time. But wolves are only starting to return to large portions of their former range, like the Pacific Northwest. Lone wolves have crossed into California, Utah, Colorado and states in the Northeast. Removing federal protections now would slam the door on wolf recovery long before the job is done. That’s why it’s crucial that we keep the pressure on the Fish and Wildlife Service and make sure these magnificent animals remain protected under the Endangered Species Act. The administration’s disastrous plan would leave vulnerable wolf populations at the mercy of state governments and local politicians -- with potentially deadly consequences. Since the Fish and Wildlife Service kicked wolves off the endangered species list in the Northern Rockies, more than 1,000 wolves have been killed. In Wyoming, wolves can be shot on sight across most of the state. And right now in Idaho, the state legislature is considering a bill that aims to kill 500 wolves -- more than 75 percent of Idaho’s entire wolf population. We can’t afford more wolf-killing policies like these! Yet that is exactly the gamble that Fish and Wildlife appears ready to take ... unless we move quickly to stop them. Please send your message to the Fish and Wildlife Service right away -- even if you’ve submitted comments before. Call on the agency to do the right thing for wolves and give them the fighting chance at recovery that they deserve. Thank you for making your voice heard in defense of America’s imperiled wolves. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

The mission of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.

TAKE ACTION: Stop The Slaughter Of Wyoming Wolves 10AUG12 & Hunting Wolves, Saving Wolves (VIDEO)26FEB10

WHO'S afraid of a big, bad wolf? Everyone who doesn't understand the necessity of a healthy wolf population in the Northern Rockies it would seem. The US Fish & Wildlife Service is considering removing Endangered Species protection for wolves in Wyoming and allowing a shoot on sight program to begin. Wolves are vital to maintaining a healthy, balanced ecosystem in the Rockies, and the federal government has taken steps to restore wolves in their natural habitat. That could all be undone if the US F&WS gives in to political pressure and allows unlimited hunting and killing of wolves in Wyoming. Please participate in the action to stop the killing before it starts, just click the link. And then watch the PBS program on EarthJustice and wolf restoration and the calls for open season hunting of wolves in Wyoming below (click embed link)....

TAKE ACTION! Stop The Slaughter Of Wyoming Wolves
	This could be our last chance to save Wyoming wolves before hunting begins! Tell President Obama to stop a deadly proposal to allow unlimited, shoot-on-sight killing of wolves in most of the state. Take action now!
Wyoming’s remaining wolves are in danger! Under intense political pressure from Wyoming state officials, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cut a deal that could remove Endangered Species Act protections for wolves and open most of the state to unlimited killing, trapping and even gassing of wolves and their pups. Wolves could be in the crosshairs as early as this month, unless we stop it! Tell President Obama to keep Wyoming wolves protected. Last year, Congress gave anti-wolf interests the right to hunt and kill wolves in Montana and Idaho, and we’ve seen the grim results. If we don’t act now, Wyoming will soon take the killing even further! As the Managing Attorney for Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies Office, I know first-hand the power of our law and courts to stop these deadly proposals once they are released. We’ve successfully shut down wolf hunts in the Northern Rockies twice. But I also know that the easiest way to stop the hunt is for it to never start. Will you help us keep this brutal proposal from ever seeing the light of day? Stand up for wolves today by opposing this deadly proposal. The federal government has spent 17 years and millions of dollars to restore wolves to the West. But Wyoming’s proposal now threatens the recovery that is under way—even including a dangerous loophole that would make it legal to kill wolves no matter how few remain. Wyoming’s wolves should remain protected under the Endangered Species Act until they have fully recovered and there are laws in place to ensure their survival. Tell the White House to stand up for wolf protections and oppose any plan that allows politics to decide the fate of an imperiled species. Thank you for being a hero for wolves and their pups, Tim Preso Managing Attorney Northern Rockies Office P.S. After taking action, share this news with as many people as possible. We need all the help we can get to make sure President Obama hears our request to stop this brutal and deadly proposal before hunting begins!

Week of 2.26.10

Hunting Wolves, Saving Wolves 26FEB10

Is the Obama Administration breaking its promise to protect endangered species?

Last year the Obama Administration removed federal protection from some of the wolves that had been restored to the northern Rockies under the Endangered Species Act. The move paved the way for controversial state-regulated wolf hunts.

Wolf advocates strongly oppose the administrations decision saying the three states in the region, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming need a cohesive management plan that allows for a much larger wolf population. "It was very disappointing when Secretary Salazar in the Obama Administration, signed off on this rushed-through Bush administration delisting package for wolves," said Doug Honnold, a lawyer with Earthjustice, who is representing conservation groups challenging the government's decision.

The return of the gray wolf to the northern Rockies is considered to be the most successful wildlife reintroduction project in the history of the 27 year old Endangered Species Act. In 1995 and 1996, 66 gray wolves we relocated from Canada to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho. Today there are more than 1,600 wolves in the region.

For its part the federal government says that just 300 wolves are needed for legitimate recovery in the region. "Wolves are back and there's plenty of them in plenty of places. They're never really going anywhere," said Ed Bangs, the Northern Rockies Wolf Recovery Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

More than a dozen conversation groups have sued the Interior Department to return federal protection to the northern Rockies wolves. Some believe the result of this legal debate is a litmus test for the Obama Administration's overall approach to wildlife issues and the Endangered Species Act.

Correction: Our report incorrectly stated Wyoming will manage for a maximum of 150 wolves. The current Wyoming wolf management plan states they will manage for a least 150 wolves.
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Related Links

Nature: Clash: Encounters of Bears and Wolves

Defenders of Wildlife: Wolves

Earthjustice: Wolves in Danger

Greater Yellowstone Coalition: Return of the Wolf

National Park Service: Yellowstone National Park Wolf Project

NRDC: Posts about Protecting Wolves

Save Elk: The Facts About Wolves

US Fish & Wildlife Service: Gray Wolf in Northern Rockies with State Wolf Plans

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VICTORY FOR WOLVES IN THE NORTHERN ROCKIES from EARTH JUSTICE & THE NRDC

Protections Restored! Thanks to your ongoing support, Earthjustice has secured federal protections for the wolves of the northern Rockies. The hunts are off! Learn More Support our Work

Protections have been restored for the gray wolves of the northern Rockies!

Just yesterday we learned that the Earthjustice team in Bozeman, Montana won a stunning victory for the wolves on behalf of a broad coalition of environmental groups.

On the basis of our team's expert work in court, a federal judge ruled that the wolves had been illegally stripped of their protections. Yesterday, he ordered that the northern Rockies wolves be placed back on the Endangered Species List. Because of this victory, wolf hunting in Idaho and Montana is off.

You and your fellow Earthjustice supporters and activists made this victory possible. Thanks to your support and participation in our efforts, Earthjustice has been relentless in our pursuit of justice for these wolves on the brink of recovery.

The court has sided with the law and science in this latest chapter of a conflict as old as our western settlements. But, sadly, anti-wolf sentiment runs deep in the region. And while we celebrate today, our team is preparing for the inevitable counter-attack by anti-wolf interests.

We want to see the wolves come off of the Endangered Species List—but only after they have recovered to the point where their survival is no longer in question and laws are in place to keep the population healthy. And we will not rest until they have.

Time and again, the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming have sought to strip legal protections for wolves. And time and again we have defeated those efforts—thanks to your ongoing support.

Together, we are making a difference. Thanks for all that you do.

Sincerely,

Trip Van Noppen
President, Earthjustice

VICTORY! It's fantastic news: yesterday a federal court ruled in our favor and restored endangered species protection to wolves in Montana and Idaho! The ruling effectively returns ALL wolves in the Northern Rockies to the endangered species list and puts a halt to the wolf hunts that were planned for this fall, starting next month. As you know, the states' management of wolves has taken a terrible toll over the past year and a half. Since the Obama Administration stripped these wolves of federal protection, more than 500 of them have been gunned down by hunters or government agents. In response, NRDC -- in partnership with Earthjustice and 13 other conservation groups -- sued the government in federal court and demanded endangered species protection for all 1,700 wolves across the Northern Rockies until their population is able to fully recover. A federal judge agreed, saying that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted illegally when it removed wolves from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana but left them on the list in Wyoming, splitting the population along political, rather than biological, lines. Now that the courts have called off the guns, you and I can breathe a sigh of great relief that the public hunting of wolves will not resume this fall. Hundreds of wolves that would have been killed will instead be spared. For that, we have you to thank. You sustained us through this long legal battle with your donations, your online activism and your absolute commitment to restoring wolves to their rightful place in Greater Yellowstone and across the Northern Rockies. We can only hope that the Obama Administration will now go back to the drawing board and come up with a solid plan that ensures the sustainable recovery of wolves over the long term. But if they do not, you can be sure that we will be ready to come to the defense of wolves once again. In the meantime, on behalf of everyone here at NRDC, I want to extend my deepest thanks for helping to make this great victory possible. Sincerely, Peter Lehner Executive Director Natural Resources Defense Council