Animal Rights Coalition Sues Over Wolf Delisting
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Animal Rights Coalition Sues Over Wolf Delisting





On April 28, a coalition of 12 animal rights groups filed a lawsuit against the federal government in an attempt to have the northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf placed back on the endangered list.

The northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf was officially removed from the federal endangered species list on Friday, March 28 after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) determined that federal recovery efforts have been successful and the animals no longer belong on the endangered list. Shortly after the Endangered Species Act (ESA) delisting took place, the coalition announced that it would be filing a lawsuit.

The coalition, including the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council, among others, is challenging the USFWS decision to remove the wolf from the federal list of endangered species.

If successful, this lawsuit brought by anti-hunters will make it virtually impossible to remove recovered wildlife populations from the federal endangered list. Obstructing delistings will also prevent states from resuming control of healthy wildlife populations.

Because of the delisting, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have now taken control of continued conservation management for the northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf.

The group has also asked for an immediate court injunction to stop state management of wolves and return federal protection to the species while the lawsuit is pending.

This case will be heard in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy. No hearing has been scheduled at this time.

“According to the federal government, these wolf populations have recovered and it is time for states to resume control of their wildlife resource,” said U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF) Senior Vice President Rick Story. “The goal of the animal rights plaintiffs is not species recovery, it is to force a hands-off approach for all animals, and they see the ESA as a tool they can use in their battle.”

Sportsmen support the delisting of the specific wolf populations. They want the states to resume management control of the animals, and establish regulations that will allow them to protect their property, including hunting dogs, from wolf attacks.

The USFWS contends that the ESA has been effective, this population of wolves is not endangered or threatened, and authority to manage wolves should now be returned to the states. For the past several years, the recovery goals for the wolf population in this area have been exceeded. Wildlife officials say the population is increasing by 24 percent annually.

According to the USFWS, there are currently more than 1,500 wolves and at least 100 breeding pairs in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Under the terms of the delisting, the three states and the USFWS will work together to monitor the wolf population for the next five years. If annual reports and USFWS analysis show recovery levels dropping to threatened or endangered levels, the population could once again be listed under the ESA.

The USFWS designated all of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, the eastern third of Washington and Oregon and a small corner of north-central Utah as the northern Rocky Mountain wolf District Population Segment (DPS) as part of the delisting.

The gray wolves of the Western Great Lakes DPS were delisted in 2007. The population of gray wolves in the southwestern United States remains federally listed as endangered.

This is just one of many lawsuits brought by the anti’s to manipulate the ESA to eliminate hunting.
US Sportmens Alliance on Target

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