No more protection for gray wolves in Lower 48? Draft rule proposes that

[IDemo]

Source: NBC News

BILLINGS, Mont. -- Federal wildlife officials have drafted plans to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, a move that could end a decades-long recovery effort that has restored the animals but only in parts of their historic range.

The draft U.S. Department of Interior rule obtained by The Associated Press contends that roughly 5,000 wolves now living in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes are enough to prevent the species' extinction. The agency says having gray wolves elsewhere — such as the West Coast, parts of New England and the Southern Rockies — is unnecessary for their long-term survival.

A small population of Mexican wolves in the Southwest would continue to receive federal protections, as a distinct subspecies of the gray wolf.

The document was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.



Read more: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/26/17933489-no-more-protection-for-gray-wolves-in-lower-48-draft-rule-proposes-that?lite

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

1. Too disgusted for words

How can so many be blind to what they are doing? Easy, they make money from ruining nature.
Tonight I will cry and pray for my brethren wolves, tomorrow I will take up my sword and shield once again...

[Iliyah]

2. Well there you have it, the palins, nugents

cheneys, bushes, kochs, nra = ar15 and other womd to shoot and kill for fun or meat but still kill until there are no more.

What could possbility go wrong.

[wordpix]

3. WTF? Where is Obama when we need him? I am tired of this anti-environment admin.

Whether it's OKing Corexit or asking the US public to guarantee taxpayer loans for new nukes in the billion$, getting deepwater drilling going within months of the BP massacre or killing gray wolves, this admin. is a big zero on the environment.

Repukes would be worse but I'm not seeing a whole lot different.

[840high]

11. ....

[mrdmk]

4. Here is the latest breakdown

Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Current Population in the United States


Western Great Lakes States

Michigan*

Upper Peninsula (late winter 2010-11) 687 (wolfs)

Isle Royale (March 2012) 9 (wolfs)

Minnesota**

(2007 - 2008) 2,921 (estimated wolfs)

Wisconsin ***

(late winter 2011-12) 815 (wolfs)

Total 4,432 (estimated wolfs)

* Michigan did not conduct a survey during the winter of 2011 to 2012, but plans to conduct a survey for late winter of 2012 to 2013.

** Minnesota does not conduct an annual survey. This estimate is from the Minnesota DNR Report: Distribution and Abundance of Wolves in Minnesota, 2007 - 2008. (11-page PDF)

*** From Wisconsin DNR News Release (June 19, 2012): Wisconsin's gray wolf population grew in 2012


Northern Rocky Mountains (current as of December 2011)

Idaho 746 (wolfs)

Montana 653 (wolfs)

Oregon 29 (wolfs)

Washington 18 (wolfs)

Wyoming 245 (wolfs)

Total 1,700 (wolfs)


Outside of Northern Rocky Mountain

Distinct Population Segment (current as of December 2011)

Washington 9 (wolfs)


Southwest Recovery Area
Mexican Gray Wolf - Experimental Population (current as of December 2011)

Arizona & New Mexico 58 (wolfs)


Alaska (not protected by ESA)

7,700 to 11,200 (wolfs)


Revised December 2012

Link: http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=A00D

[defacto7]

5. My 10 year old son will be heart broken when he hears of this.

He loves gray wolves. His room has posters of them everywhere.

[tofuandbeer]

6. :(

[In_The_Wind]

7. IMO: This is a huge mistake!

[pinto]

8. Kick

[byeya]

9. In the Rockies, most of the wolves are on federal land - US Forest Service, BLM, NPS.

We citizens own these lands yet we kowtow to the few who populate the Rocky Mountain west for no good reason.
Many of the most vocal against the existence of gray wolves lease grazing land from the USFS or BLM so they are not only forcing the country to kill off the wolves, they are(usually) degrading the environment.
The west's ecosystems would be healthier without the thousands of acres of federal land leased for grazing.

[Solly Mack]

10. :(

[rwsanders]

12. Does anyone know of an organization that is prepared to try a new tactic to stop this?

I contribute monthly to Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club. They have been trying to battle these things in court, but we are still losing ground during a democratic administration. I'm beyond disgusted with the situation and I'm ready to move my contributions to some group that is ready to take stronger action.
My suggestion to those groups is a campaign like that with the tuna industry that produced the "dolphin safe" labels. I was thinking a "wildlife safe" label for beef that comes from ranches that support conservation and use non-lethal detterants for wolves. Or a boycott of states that don't have a good management plan for tourism, conferences, etc.
I'm going to call the humane society next, but was wondering if anyone knew of a group that is ready to take on the beef industry (and I know they aren't the only anti-wolf group, but they are financially the strongest and most vocal).