JUNE 8 STATUS OF WOLF DELISTING NEWS

This is the current status supplied by the USFWS about the reasons that the Obama Administration has officially declared wolves to be delisted from the ESA federal protections.

http://www.fws.gov/graywolfrecovery062013.html

June 7, 2013

Successful Recovery Efforts Prompt Service Proposal to Delist Gray Wolf

Four decades of work by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners to protect and recover the gray wolf (Canis lupus) have successfully brought the species back from the brink of extinction in the western Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountains. As a result of these successful efforts to ensure that the gray wolf is no longer threatened with extinction as a species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to remove it from the list of threatened and endangered species throughout the United States and Mexico, while maintaining protection for the Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) in the Southwest.

The Service will continue federal protection and expand recovery efforts for the Mexican wolf in the Southwest by proposing to designate the Mexican wolf as an endangered subspecies under the Endangered Species Act and to modify existing regulations governing the nonessential experimental population. Outside of that recovery area, management and protection of wolves would be returned to state wildlife management agency professionals, following approved wolf management plans in states where wolves occur or are likely to occur in the future.

NOTE: The comment period on these proposals will open when the proposals publish in the Federal Register (scheduled the week of June 10). At that time, the Fish and Wildlife Service will publicly announce the opening of the comment period and provide instructions on this web page and through other channels.

News Release

What Supporters Are Saying

FAQs

Federal Register Notices: Gray wolf; Mexican wolf:

More information: Gray wolf profile page

Regional Information: Gray wolf:  Mountain Prairie Region;   Midwest Region;  Mexican wolf: Southwest Region

USFWS Gray Wolf Flickr Page

FWS Director Dan Ashe blog on wolves

ANOTHER EMAIL BLITZ TO #KEEPWOLVESLISTED : NEW CONTACT:Council on Environmental Quality

Courtesy blog.yimmyayo~dot~com




Hello Wolf Folks!
If you would, we need to go another round of emails to #keepwolveslisted

We need to speak to Nancy Sutley, who is the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality = CEQ, Nancy Sutley reports directly to President Barack Obama and is responsible for coordinating the actions of all federal agencies who deal with protections of USA wildlife, land, air and water. We need to implore that she use her position to intervene for our wolves and make the decision to keep them listed under the federal protection of the the Endangered Species Act a permanent decision, not just the temporary stay of execution that we have now. 

Website: Council on Environmental Quality 
 Web Contact: Contact the Council on Environmental Quality 

This is the email link:
FN-CEQ-OpenGov@ceq.eop.gov

This is the page the email link is on, under share your ideas
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/open

Address: The White House 
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW 
Washington, DC 20500
Phone Number: (202) 456-1111
(202) 456-1414 (Switchboard)
TTY: (202) 456-6213


Here is mine, please do add, edit, and most preferably use as an example to write your own, as it has more impact .

Greetings Nancy Sutley!

My name is ............ , and I need to ask you to do me a huge favor.

I need for you to use every resource you have at your disposal to protect America's wolves by listing them under the Endangered Species Act federal protections.

I assume you already know all of the stats, facts, and backstory here.

Already I have written to the Secretary or the Interior, Sally Jewell, President Barack Obama, and my state senators and representatives.

Please, we need your help for our wolves.

Over 75,000 wolf activists have voiced their opposition to this dangerous decision to delist America's wolves from the E.S.A.

Since Ken Salazar decided that it was a good idea to do so, we have witnessed the slaughter of 1500 wolves in the U.S.A.

Nancy, our wolves will NEVER recover at this rate, and we will indeed be reporting that the American wolf in the wild has been listed as extinct, if this decision is not reversed permanently.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing that you have taken strong action to ensure that our wolves have a chance to survive another generation.

Sincerely,

Remember to please add some form of address here for yourself, so that you are valid.

!!!UPDATE 5-28-2013: NOW, MORE THAN EVER ~SPEAK OUT FOR OUR WOLVES!!!!!!

http://nowolfhaters.blogspot.com/p/email-congress-state-by-state.html

These are emails to use for Secretary Sally Jewell + USA Congress. There are also 8 petitions to #KEEPWOLVESLISTED under the Federal Protections of the Endangered Species Act =ESA

http://nowolfhaters.blogspot.com/p/email-congress-state-by-state.html

Below is the most recent action petition action. Thank you for your help!!!

This is the email I got from Wild Earth Guardians on Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Now, More Than Ever, Speak Out for Wolves

Dear Heidi, 

Right now is the time to speak up for America’s wolves!

The U.S. Department of Interior’s shameful plan to remove federal protections for wolves everywhere in the U.S. is being reconsidered. Your pressure, and recent media exposure, has led the agency to re-evaluate its scorched earth wolf plan.

But we think the Interior Department may be stalling, hoping the pressure and scrutiny will just go away.

Help us make sure that doesn’t happen. Please call upon the new Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, today and demand that she protect America’s wolves.

Wolves have already lost their protections in the Great Lakes region and in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming because of pressure from the livestock industry, hunting groups, and the National Rifle Association.

We’ve seen what’s happened as a result. In the Northern Rockies it’s been a blood bath with more than 1,000 wolves already killed. And now Montana is considering increasing the number of wolves that can be taken.

If the Interior Department gets their way, they would remove protections for wolves everywhere else in the lower 48: on the West Coast, the Southern Rocky Mountains (Colorado and Utah), and in the East—places where they don’t even currently reside.   

Wolves have been restored to less than 8% of their historic range in the U.S.—that is simply not enough.

Tell Interior Secretary Jewell to forever mothball this horrible plan for wolves.

Even highly-endangered Mexican wolves will wither under the Interior’s plan—they would never be allowed to recover outside of a small core area in southern New Mexico and Arizona.

The Interior Department is likely to soon move rapidly forward with its rotten plan, so speak now!

Wolves are necessary for vibrant ecosystems and biological diversity. These beautiful animals need Americans to stand by them and demand that they be conserved, not handed off to states that want to completely destroy them. Call on Secretary Jewell today!

For the Wild Ones,

John C. Horning
Executive Director
WildEarth Guardians
jhorning@wildearthguardians.org


Wolves were recently and prematurely removed from the protections afforded to them under the Endangered Species Act.



See PEER’s Lawsuit demanding that secret agency meeting records see sunlight.

Read scientists' letters to Secretary Sally Jewell calling for immediate wolf conservation measures:

From the American Society of Mammologists

From Conservation Biology Scientists


Check out our map, which shows every state where wolves would be subject to state shooting and trapping plans instead of federal protection.

Scientists to President Obama : DON'T END WOLF PROTECTIONS

Courtesy fineartamerica~dot~com

Scientists to Obama: Don’t End Wolf Protections

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Animal Connection

WASHINGTON— In two sharply worded letters sent to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell today, prominent scientists argued for continued protections for gray wolves across the lower 48 states and criticized a draft federal proposal to remove those protections for being premature and failing to follow the best available science. One of the letters came from the American Society of Mammalogists, the other from 16 prominent biologists.

“The science simply doesn’t support removal of protections for wolves,” said Dr. Brad Bergstrom with the American Society of Mammalogists. “Wolves are altogether absent or barely beginning to recover in large swathes of the country that still contain excellent habitat.”

Signatories to the letter include several scientists who conducted research that’s relied on by the government in its draft proposed rule. Those scientists are now criticizing the agency for misrepresenting their work, stating: “Collectively, we represent many of the scientists responsible for the research referenced in the draft rule,” and “We do not believe that the rule reflects the conclusions of our work or the best available science concerning the recovery of wolves.”

“No animal is more important to the North American landscape than gray wolves,” said Bergstrom. “The science shows that wolves are not yet recovered in the Pacific Northwest, California, the southern Rockies and the Northeast.”

As noted in the scientists’ letter, research conducted following the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park found that wolves “caused changes in elk numbers and behavior which then facilitated recovery of streamside vegetation, benefitting beavers, fish and songbirds.”

“In these two letters, scientists are simply asking the administration to acknowledge what the research clearly shows — that gray wolves are far from recovered,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “There’s still time to reverse course and do what’s best for these beautiful animals and the landscape we all share.”

Earlier this month, leaders of six national environmental groups also sent Jewell a letter urging her to keep wolf protections in place and last week, Representative Raúl Grijalva sent a similar letter.

Learn more about gray wolves .

WOLF HUNT SUSPENDED!! GO MICHIGAN!!!

Wolf Hunt Suspended!
http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.aspx?id=901563#.UZ_tzZWOMUS



A petition opposing the 2013 Michigan wolf hunt has gained enough signatures to temporarily suspend the hunt


MARQUETTE -- The 2013 wolf hunt is officially suspended, but some say it is only temporary. A petition from the Keep Michigan Wolves Protected campaign has gained more than 255,000 signatures from Michigan, enough to fight and suspend the law declaring the wolf as a game species.

The Keep Michigan Wolves Protected petition signatures were validated Wednesday, meaning that Public Act 520 is suspended. They only needed about 161,000 signatures to succeed. Governor Rick Snyder signed the act in December declaring the wolf as a game species. The petition removes the wolf from the game species list, therefore, suspending the hunt until the public can vote on it in November 2014.

"I think the campaign, no matter what, is moving forward through public outreach and an educational campaign with the goal of obtaining votes in 2014 that would repeal Public Act 520," said Adam Robarge of Wild Land Guardians. Robarge led the search for signatures in the U.P. for the campaign.

It may not matter, however. Earlier in May, Governor Snyder signed Public Act 21, giving the Natural Resources Commission the power to add to the game species list, not just the state, and the petition is only good against the state legislature. The NRC has the authority to completely bypass the petition if they choose.

"The petition drive, while valid, is really not going to have an impact. We're far enough out from the established wolf hunt that the new legislation will kick in, and we will have a wolf hunt regardless of this petition drive," said Terry Minzey, U.P. Regional Wildlife Supervisor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Minzey and the DNR support the limited wolf hunt.

"It helps us to, at least, attempt to address some of those chronic problems where we have dogs being attacked by wolves, we have wolves coming into town, and people are worried about the safety of their children, and we have livestock being killed," Minzey said.

In May, during the NRC's monthly meeting and prior to the validated petition, the NRC voted six to one to establish the wolf hunt under their new authority from Public Act 21. The May meeting was the first monthly meeting with the new authority.

On June 13 during the next monthly meeting for the NRC, they will receive information and discuss the issue on whether to rename the wolf as a game species. Then in the following July meeting they will vote yes or no, something Minzey expects to be a guaranteed vote in favor of renaming the wolf as a game species and restoring the wolf hunt based on their previous vote in May. Minzey describes the July vote to restore the hunt more as a formality and that ultimately the hunt will not be affected.

Many fighting the hunt are not discouraged.

"Certainly it's disappointing, but no matter the outcome, I think that what's happening now...remaining steadfast with the goals of the campaign is completely positive," Robarge said.

The Department of Natural Resources has more details on the wolf hunt.

DECISION ON DELISTING WOLF PROTECTIONS UNDER ESA IN LOWER 48 STATES DELAYED

FOLKS! YOUR EMAILS ARE WORKING! LETS KEEP AT IT AND SUPPORT THESE FOLKS. WE ARE ALL ONE FOR THE WOLVES! THANK YOU!

WOLF ACTION UPDATE: THE MONTANA GOVERNMENT HAS ALREADY RECEIVED OVER 5,000 E-MAILS IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS!
Wolves of the Rockies texted us with this phenomenal news. Our deepest thanks to our entire H.A.N.D.S. network.
NOW, LET'S KEEP MOVING & SHARING!

Adelheid Adelliam

STOP WOLF HUNTS (Discussion)  -  May 20, 2013

Do you see what I see here? Am I reading this correctly???
Adelheid Adelliam originally shared:
!!!!!THANK YOU > THE WOLF ARMY
Great news...and it also means that we have to keep the pressure up....

We keep that pressure up here:
http://nowolfhaters.blogspot.com/p/email-congress-state-by-state.html
PLEASE HELP! And let's make this GREAT NEWS FOR WOLVES! FOREVER
SHARE with everyone you think will send an email. Thank you! ~Heidi and Olaf

Let's make the headline below read GREAT NEWS FOR WOLVES ! FOREVER

GREAT NEWS FOR WOLVES! FOR NOW
http://exposingthebiggame.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/great-news-for-wolves-for-now/

Decision on wolf protections in Lower 48 delayed...

BILLINGS — Federal wildlife officials are postponing a much-anticipated decision on whether to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states.

In a court filing Monday, government attorneys say “a recent unexpected delay” is indefinitely holding up action on the predators. No further explanation was offered.

Gray wolves are under protection as an endangered species and have recovered dramatically from widespread extermination in recent decades.

More than 6,000 of the animals now roam the continental U.S. Most live in the Northern Rockies and western Great Lakes, where protections already have been lifted.

A draft proposal to lift protections elsewhere drew strong objections when it was revealed last month.

Wildlife advocates and some members of Congress argue that the wolf’s recovery is incomplete because the animal occupies just a fraction of its historical range.

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/viewart/20130520/NEWS01/305200018/

Photo credit : U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
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MORE MEXICAN WOLVES TO BE RELEASED

White Mountain Independent

Courtesy mexicanwolf.gluzberg.com 

Updated: 7:21 am, Thu May 9, 2013


PHOENIX — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) released a pair of Mexican wolves April 26 into the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area of Arizona. In a separate action, the Service will also release a second pair of Mexican wolves into the wolf recovery area in New Mexico.
Both pairs, selected to increase genetic diversity of the wild wolf population, were previously held at the Service’s Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility where they have undergone an acclimation process to determine that they are suitable release candidates.
“We continue to be committed to strategic releases that improve genetic diversity, increase the number of breeding wolves, and offset illegal mortalities in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area,” said Benjamin Tuggle, the Service’s Southwest regional director. “We’re excited to be working with our partners on this simultaneous release of Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. This dual release is another step that helps us reach our goal of a self-sustaining wild wolf population.”
“The strategically-planned release of the wolf pair into Arizona is to improve the genetic integrity of the wolf population. The release approaches being used are tailored to encourage these wolves to acclimate and behave as wild wolves. Our experience shows that wild- born, wild-raised wolves have a much better chance at success,” says Director Larry Voyles, AGFD.
In Arizona, the Interagency Field Team (IFT) will conduct a “soft release” of Mexican wolves F1126 and M1051 (F indicates female and M indicates male) near the Corduroy Creek release site on the Alpine Ranger District in the Apache National Forest.
“We considered several factors in the selection of the release site, including appropriate prey density, distance from occupied residences, seasonal absence of livestock grazing, and occurrence of established wolf packs in the area,” says Chris Bagnoli, Arizona Game and Fish’s IFT leader. “This particular site was also chosen in close coordination with the public and with approval from the Forest Service.”
The Arizona pair will be released into an enclosure and held for a time to acclimate them to their surroundings. They will be released into the primary recovery zone in compliance with the existing federal 10(j) rule covering the reintroduction project because F1126 does not have previous wild experience. This will be an initial release of F1126 and a translocation of M1051.
The Service, in cooperation with the IFT, will also conduct a “modified soft release” of Mexican wolves F1108 and M1133 into New Mexico. These wolves will be translocated to an enclosure in the Gila Wilderness. The enclosure is designed so that the wolves can chew through and self-release any time after being placed there. Thus, the wolves may remain in the enclosure for less than 24 hours, or may release up to several weeks later. Both F1108 and M1133 have previous wild experience, and so are able to be translocated into the secondary recovery zone in compliance with the existing federal 10(j) rule covering the reintroduction project.
For both the Arizona and New Mexico pairs upon release, the IFT anticipates the wolves will begin using the area around the release sites. The IFT will provide supplemental food while the wolves learn to catch and kill native prey, such as deer and elk, on their own. The supplemental feeding will assist in anchoring the wolves to the area.
The IFT estimates the population of Mexican wolves in the wild to be a minimum of 75 animals, as determined by their most recent annual survey conducted in January 2013, up from a count of 58 last year.
The reintroduction project partners are AGFD, White Mountain Apache Tribe, USDA Forest Service and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service – Wildlife Services, several participating counties in Arizona, the Eastern Arizona Counties Organization, and the Service.

For more information on Mexican wolves, visit www.azgfd.gov/wolf .