Currently, the wolf population in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming total at least 89 breeding pairs (or 89 packs) and 1,243 gray wolves. Delisting will give eager ranchers and hunters their shot at killing at least 59 breeding pairs and at least 943 wolves. The wolf population in this area is in a state of recovery, so their numbers will continue to grow, but this means that hunters will have even more of them to shoot. Delisting could endanger the very survival of this species in areas to which they are native, though it wouldn't necessarily be readily apparent since population estimates would come from the states themselves and errors have been known to occur.

Gray Wolf Recovery: A Conservation Success Story

The combination of federal protection, reintroduction programs and dispersal of gray wolves from Canada into American wolf habitat have enabled the species to occupy 6% of their historic range. Wolves once roamed over all of the U.S. before they were hunted, trapped and poisoned to the brink of extinction by ranchers and government agencies. The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has protected gray wolves and allowed the species a chance to recover.

Despite this success, the Service maintains that a total number of only 300 wolves (100 each in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming) is adequate for the species’ survival. That is why they stand ready to hand management over to state legislatures that have been eager to kill off wolves who they accuse of threatening their hunting success and their livestock. This reflects and perpetuates the attitude that moose, deer, elk and other “prey” should be hunted only by man, and not the natural predators that rely on them for survival. This is the same attitude that fueled the worst extermination plan of a non-human species in North American history.

Wyoming: Wolves in the Crosshairs

It is premature for wolf management to be turned over to the states, least of all Wyoming. In fact, even the Service has openly stated they will not release management of wolves to the state because Wyoming does not even meet the most minimal requirements for delisting. Of the three Northern Rocky Mountain states, only Wyoming still lacks a wolf management plan approved by the federal government. They have, however, proposed a draft management plan that includes revisions submitted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

For one thing, Wyoming's proposed plan conforms to FWS's assertion that only 15 pairs of breeding wolves need be spared death in order to ensure the species' survival in the state. This number was increased because of faulty calculations regarding what constitutes a breeding pair. As published by the Service in the Federal Register, “Making the problem worse, Wyoming could well be overestimating the number of breeding pairs. Wyoming incorrectly used, as the Service initially did, a linear regression to predict a relationship between wolf group size and its potential to be a breeding pair. This was mathematically incorrect and greatly overestimated wolf breeding pairs in Wyoming, because the relationship is logistic.” The Service further stated that “Wyoming State law defines a wolf pack in a manner that has little biological relationship to wolf recovery goals or population viability, and minimizes opportunities for adaptive wildlife.”

Much more alarming is that current Wyoming State Law designates wolves as a “predatory animal,” which is defined in the Federal Register as:

“…under the jurisdiction of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture and may be taken by anyone, anywhere in the predatory animal area, at any time, without limit, and by any means (including shoot-on-sight; baiting; possible limited use of poisons; bounties and wolf killing contests; locating and killing pups in dens including using explosives and gas cartridges; trapping; snaring; aerial gunning; and use of other mechanized vehicles to locate or chase wolves down).”

If Wyoming’s plan is approved, gray wolves will no longer be protected under the ESA: they will be reclassified as "trophy game animals" in the Northern Rocky Mountains, and as "predatory animals" in the rest of the state. However, Wyoming and FWS still disagree over the boundaries where wolves would be classified as predators and trophy animals, as state officials want to expand the area where they would be designated predators. The Wyoming Senate recently approved measures to give the governor’s office authority to negotiate with the Service over the boundaries. Mitch King, regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said that any reduction in the boundaries previously proposed by Wyoming would be unacceptable.

Prioritizing Wolf “Management”: Protection or Slaughter?

Wolf populations only occupy 6% of their historic range, and are still in a state of recovery. As stated in the Federal Register, “recovery plans are not regulated documents and are instead intended to provide guidance to the Service, States, and other partners on methods of minimizing threats to listed species and on criteria that may be used to determine when recovery is achieved.” We need to push to have the recovery goals raised so that hundreds if not thousands of wolves will be spared from being brutally killed just as they are making a historic comeback in their native country.

If wolves are delisted, the worst wolf massacre in the lower 48 states in decades will soon ensue. Even worse, it could be executed using egregious killing methods that no civilized person would consider appropriate for "wolf management" efforts. None of the states' wolf management plans adequately address the underlying issues that once brought these magnificent animals to the brink of extinction before they were pulled back by aggressive conservation. In so doing, they ignore not only the wolves' welfare, but also the crucial role the species plays in maintaining balanced ecosystems.

Wolves live together, forming close bonds with members of their packs. They raise their young much like mother dogs raise puppies. It is a sad tragedy that these magnificent and sentient animals may be hunted down again and exterminated.

What You Can Do:

Please Take Action to remind FWS Western Gray Wolf Recovery Coordinator Ed Bangs that wolves have not recovered in the U.S., and that they should remain protected in Wyoming at their present level by the Endangered Species Act. Feel free to edit the sample letter and print it out for mailing, and to follow up with a polite letter or email.

Ed Bangs
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Western Gray Wolf Recovery Coordinator
585 Shepard Way
Helena, MT 59601
Email - WolfRuleChange@fws.gov

For more information, please email wildlife@idausa.org.