In the ongoing saga over relisting the Northern Rocky Mountain and Western U.S. subpopulations of gray wolves, the Sportsmen’s Alliance filed comments encouraging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to resist efforts by environmental extremists to strip wolf management away from the states and return them to threatened or endangered status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), along with Western Watersheds, two extreme anti-hunting organizations, filed petitions demanding ESA protections for western wolf populations last fall, and thankfully, the FWS refused their emergency request. However, FWS did allow for an extended time frame to consider the petitions on a non-emergency basis, noting that ESA protections “may” be warranted.
The Sportsmen’s Alliance and our partners have briefed the FWS on the data regarding these wolf populations, which clearly illustrates that Montana and Idaho are successfully managing wolves, to the point where populations are well above sustainable levels. As usual, CBD and other organizations care little about what the science shows, and care only that hunting, trapping and other uses are out-of-step with their extreme dogma and world views.
“These data are clear: these populations of wolves are under no threat and do not need ESA protection,” said Todd Adkins, vice president of government affairs at Sportsmen’s Alliance. “But once again, the science doesn’t matter to CBD and groups like them, who only want to shut down effective fish and wildlife management.”
ACT NOW! Sportsmen should be heard loud and clear on this one. Those who favor the North American model of fish and wildlife management and oppose extreme environmentalists can comment on the FWS rule here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/FWS-HQ-ES-2021-0106-0001
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.