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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http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/609/index.html

TAKE ACTION: Don't Let Congress Strip Endangered Species Protections from the Gray Wolf 3DEZ10

GRAY WOLVES in the lower 48 are under attack in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming and EarthJustice is fighting in the courts (and winning) to protect them as an endangered species. Please participate in this action to contact your Senators and Representative asking them to oppose attempts to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list.

The restoration of the gray wolf to the Rocky Mountains of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming represents one of America's greatest endangered species success stories. Where once there were almost no gray wolves, today there are 1,700 wolves living in the Yellowstone ecosystem and Northern Rockies.

Yet, this success and the very future of the Endangered Species Act are under grave threat.

On August 5, 2010, in a case argued by Earthjustice on behalf of 13 conservation groups, the Montana federal district court struck down the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2009 delisting of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies. As a result of this litigation, wolves are now protected under the ESA in the lower 48.

But now, in response to our court victory, Congress is attempting to pass legislation that would override this decision and remove these wolves' Endangered Species Act protections. These bills would allow hunting of the gray wolf and decimate these newly restored populations.

It would also set a terrible precedent for the Endangered Species Act, opening the door for members of Congress to determine which species survive and which would become extinct, based solely on politics, not science and law.

We must send a message to Congress to protect the gray wolf and safeguard the Endangered Species Act.

Please tell your senators and representative to protect one of America's greatest wildlife success stories -- the magnificent gray wolf and to safeguard the Endangered Species Act.

To take action on this issue, click on the link below:
http://action.earthjustice.org/site/Advocacy?s_oo=YuVe-i-iZxhyTn49fVZeCw..&id=1065
If the text above does not appear as a link or it wraps across multiple lines, then copy and paste it into the address area of your browser.

HELP STOP THE LATEST ATTACKS ON WOLVES from the NRDC 27AUG10

Even after the court victory on the wolf hunt in the Northern Rockies there are some in the government that are intent on the killing of hundreds of wolves in Idaho, including the gassing of wolf pups in their dens. Please click the header to go to the NRDC's BioGems site and participate in the e mail campaign to the federal Wildlife Services demandin a fair, unbiased review of the wolf hunt. The deadline for comments is 31 AUG 10.

		Save Wolves from Slaughter Dear Craig, When it comes to gray wolves, the federal Wildlife Services agency typically has one thing on its mind: killing them. Now it’s teaming up with the State of Idaho in a plan for gray wolf management that would slaughter hundreds of wolves. In some cases, entire packs will be killed -- and newborn pups could be gassed in their dens. Please send a message to Wildlife Services expressing your outrage and strong opposition to its proposed wolf-killing plan. You may recall that earlier this month, a federal judge ruled in our favor and restored endangered species protection for wolves in Idaho and Montana, saying that they should not have been removed from the endangered species list in the first place. Now, Wildlife Services is proposing to slash the wolf population in Idaho by about 40 percent! What’s worse, they are justifying this deadly plan by saying it’s necessary for the protection of livestock, elk and deer. But the reality is that wolf conflicts with livestock make up a miniscule percentage of livestock losses, and 23 of Idaho’s 29 elk population zones are above or within management objectives. Tell Wildlife Services to go back to the drawing board and prepare a full Environmental Impact Statement for their plan to manage wolves in Idaho, especially now that wolves are back on the endangered species list. Please take action today -- the deadline for comments is August 31. Let’s make sure this massacre of wolves is not allowed to proceed. Sincerely, Peter Lehner Executive Director Natural Resources Defense Council