Places for wolves: A blueprint for restoration and long-term recovery in the lower 48 states

J. Henry Fair

Bob Ferris (right), Defenders of Wildlife, USA with Mike Phillips.

Robert M. Ferris, Mark Shaffer, Nina Fascione, Heather Pellet, Mike Senatore, Defenders of Wildlife, 1101 14th Street Northwest, Suite 1400, Washington, DC 20005, USA

When Europeans came to North America, estimates of the number of wolves ranged as high as 400,000 from Mexico to the Arctic, and from the Pacific to the Atlantic. By 1970, persecution had eliminated wild wolves in the contiguous United States except on Isle Royale, Michigan, and in Minnesota, where fewer than 1,000 remained. Today, wolves are coming back. Gray wolves increased substantially in Minnesota and have recolonized parts of Wisconsin, Michigan and Montana and occasionally move into Washington's Cascades from Canada. Gray wolves also were reintroduced in the Northern Rockies. Reintroductions are also returning the gray wolf to Arizona and red wolves to North Carolina.

As a result of population expansions, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering reclassifying wolves under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). FWS is considering downlisting the gray wolf to threatened in most of the contiguous states despite the absence of wolves or reintroduction plans in most of those states. Inexplicably, FWS may delist in California and Nevada irrespective of available habitat and the absence of wolves. Reintroduced gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, Arizona's Mexican wolves and the red wolves in North Carolina would all remain experimental populations. Minnesota wolves were slated for delisting, but state management plan disputes stalled that action.

Such changes, by setting goals too low to foster long-term recovery, would fail to complete the job of saving wolves. They would also not capitalize on significant opportunities to restore integrity to important ecosystems and the wolf's many cultural values. Achieving long-term wolf recovery requires not just protection and expansion of populations but also more active restoration areas. Multiple, resilient populations representing the full environmental, ecological and geographical spectrum for these species should be the standard by which recovery is judged. Consequently, FWS should:

1. Designate and restore sufficient distinct population segments (DPSs) of wolves to assure adequate species representation throughout its former range.
2. Actively restore wolves to at least two core areas for each DPS.
3. Support expansion of all DPSs into areas with sufficient habitat to support the multiple, resilient populations necessary for species viability.
4. Transfer management for wolves to state agencies when threatening factors have been removed and states demonstrate their commitment to continued wolf restoration and long-term recovery.
5. Encourage wolf restoration on non-federal lands by working to develop incentives for private landowners.
6. Request that the State Department negotiate a North American treaty to provide international protection for large predators in North America.