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Editor's Note: In 1998 the International Wolf Center invited concerned organizations to submit a position statement on the status of wolves for distribution on its web site. A new request for current statements has gone out to these and other organizations and statements will be updated as they are received. (return to list of Organizations)

Conservation Groups Raise Red Flag Over Proposed Wolf Delisting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 7, 1998

CONSERVATION GROUPS RAISE RED FLAG OVER PROPOSED WOLF DELISTING

More than 15 conservation and Native American organizations warned today that dropping federal protection of the eastern timber wolf in the Great Lakes region would be premature and unwarranted. Reacting to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announcement earlier this week that the agency will consider deleting the region's wolves from the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act, the conservationists say insufficient state wolf protections are in place.

"Conservationists have fought hard for a quarter of a century to help wolves make a comeback in the United States, and we want to ensure adequate protections so that once they are removed from the Endangered Species list, they won't ever have to be put back on it," Defenders of Wildlife president Roger Schlickeisen declared. "Any delisting action must be accompanied by a detailed post-delisting management plan. Although Michigan has an approved plan, Wisconsin's plan is only in draft form and Minnesota lacks even a draft plan."

Besides Defenders of Wildlife, national groups with serious reservations about the proposed delisting plan at this time include the Sierra Club, Humane Society of the United States, Indigenous Environmental Network, U.S. Public Interest Research Group and The Wolf Recovery Foundation. Minnesota groups concerned about delisting in the absence of a state management plan include the Wildlife Education Program, Help Our Wolves Live (HOWL), the Minnesota Wolf Alliance, the Minnesota Sierra Club, Friends of Animals and Their Environment and the Fond du Lac band of Chippewa. Other state and regional groups include Sinapu in Colorado and the New England-based Restore the North Woods, Maine Wolf Coalition, Northern Forest Chapter of the Sierra Club and Greater Laurentian Wildlands Project.

When the eastern timber wolf was listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1973, wolf numbers were at a precariously low level of between 500 and 1000 wolves, and they resided in less than 3 percent of their former range. Although there has been significant improvement in wolf numbers since that time--wolves in the Midwest now number more than 2,200--many groups believe the states are not ready to assume primary protection of the wolves. FWS will announce its proposal next fall. If the agency proposes delisting, it could take effect next year.

"The delisting process should be at least a scientifically rigorous as is the listing process," said Carl Zichella, Midwest Regional Director of the Sierra Club. "Not only are wolf populations at stake, but so are the ecosystems in which they live."

According to the Minnesota Wolf Alliance, the months remaining before the proposal would not give Minnesota enough time to draft a plan. Wisconsin and Michigan took two and five years, respectively, to write their plans. Meanwhile, Minnesota officials seem eager to open a hunting and trapping season on wolves following delisting. According to both the Sierra Club and HOWL, the wolf population has been able to prosper in Minnesota largely because of a successful lawsuit brought against the federal government by environmental groups in the early 1980's to bar wolf hunting and trapping.

"As top predators, wolves will not do well if they are allowed to be hunted. Hunting is indiscriminate and it will destroy the social structure of the pack," said Jean Brave Heart of the Minnesota Wolf Alliance. "It seems the delisting process has started before we have assurance that there will be a responsible management plan in place that does not include wolf hunting."

Even with federal protection, these states have been unable to control illegal wolf killings. Defenders of Wildlife is offering rewards of $1.000 each for information leading to the convictions of those responsible for killing three wolves in Wisconsin and more than 20 wolves in Minnesota.

Many groups that work on wolf issues were not consulted before Monday's announcement by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Jaime Clark. Representatives of these groups say the announcement was made for political reasons to please Minnesota officials and hunting groups.

"Tribes are supposed to be consulted before decisions regarding delisting of the wolf per a Secretarial order," said Esther Nahgahnub, acting chairperson of the Fond du Lac band. "The wolf is of utmost importance to indigenous peoples both culturally and spiritually. In addition, much of wolf habitat in Minnesota is on indigenous land, so we need to have more input."

Robert Shimek of the Indigenous Environmental Network said there are many parallels between wolf policy and Indian policy. According to an indigenous creation story, he pointed out, what happens to wolves happens to humans, making a secure future for the wolf even more significant. "The spiritual and traditional members of our indigenous communities historically have been shut out of the decision making process that involve resource management. This has altered our ability to sustain traditional relationships to the land. The wolf balances these relationships and makes us all stronger," he added.

Allen Rutberg, a senior scientist with Humane Society of the United States, summed up the coalition's concerns: "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is under pressure to demonstrate that the Endangered Species Act works. Of course the act works, but this particular decision was driven by politics, not science. At this point it seems that the intention to delist wolves in the Great Lakes region is being made to appease politicians and those who.ve been dying to hunt wolves for years."