Tag Archives: Endangered Species List

Federal government to continue monitoring gray wolves

May 7, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species Act, Endangered Species List, wolf hunt, wolf management, wolvesnfpa

This article from the Missoulian points out that, even though wolf management has been returned to state level in Montana and Idaho, the federal government will still be shoulder-surfing actions by state management agencies.

Thursday’s announcement that gray wolves are back under state management in Montana and Idaho also included a warning: The federal government is watching.

“We will continue monitoring gray wolves to ensure those populations remain robust,” Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Hayes said during a news conference call. “We will continue to follow the Endangered Species Act in Montana and Idaho.”

That was welcome news to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Agency spokesman Ron Aasheim said the department’s wolf management program was closely linked to support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Continue reading . . .

Lawsuits challenge new wolf rules in Northern Rockies

May 5, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, wolf hunt, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

Here’s a short Associated Press article covering both of the two lawsuits filed today opposing congressional removal of gray wolves from Endangered Species Act protection . . .

Environmental groups asked a federal judge Thursday to put gray wolves back on the endangered species list in the Northern Rockies.

Two lawsuits were filed in federal court in Montana as control over more than 1,300 wolves was turned over to state authorities in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Utah.

A federal budget bill rider in April had mandated Thursday’s lifting of wolf protections.

Continue reading . . .

Environmental groups file suit to stop wolf delisting

May 5, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, wolf hunt, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

As expected, a number of environmental groups filed suit in federal court today challenging congressional removal of gray wolves from Endangered Species Act protection. Here is the Missoulian’s write-up on one of the two suits . . .

A trio of wolf advocates claim Congress violated the Separation of Powers Doctrine when it removed gray wolves from Endangered Species Act protection and blocked future court review.

“We will not allow the fate of endangered species to be determined by politicians serving special interests,” Alliance for the Wild Rockies director Michael Garrity said in an email Thursday morning. “These decisions must be based on science, not politics, and Congress has never before removed species from the endangered species list by political fiat.”

AWR was joined by Friends of the Clearwater and WildEarth Guardians in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

Continue reading . . .

Wolves are off the Endangered Species List — again

May 5, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, wolf hunt, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

As of yesterday, wolf managment has been returned to state control in Montana and Idaho. Here is the Daily Inter Lake’s take on the subject . . .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule Wednesday that officially removes wolves in Montana and Idaho from the Endangered Species list.

The rule comes on the heels of Congressional action that compelled delisting.

“We are implementing the recent legislation that directs the delisting of the gray wolf in most of the northern Rocky Mountains,” Interior Deputy Secretary David Hayes said in a prepared statement. “As with other delisted species, we will be applying the Endangered Species Act’s post-delisting monitoring requirements to ensure that wolf populations remain robust while under state wildlife management.”

Continue reading . . .

Idaho officials set meeting to plan wolf hunt

April 16, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, Idaho, wolf hunt, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

Idaho is already spooling up for a wolf hunt this year. No word from Montana yet . . .

Officials with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game plan to meet with Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter on Monday to discuss a public wolf hunting season.

“We will be ready to have another hunting season,” said Jim Unsworth, deputy director of Fish and Game.

Continue reading . . .

It’s official: wolves to come off endangered list within 60 days

April 15, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, wolf hunt, wolf management, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

It’s official: Gray wolves are off the endangered species list in this corner of the country . . .

Federal wildlife officials say they will take more than 1,300 gray wolves in the Northern Rockies off the endangered species list within 60 days.

An attachment to the budget bill signed into law Friday by President Barack Obama strips protections from wolves in five Western states.

Continue reading . . .

Feds want to take Great Lakes wolves off endangered list

April 15, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, Great Lakes region, wolf management, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

Seems like there’s also a move afoot to remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List in the Great Lakes region . . .

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is making another attempt to remove gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region from the endangered species list.

The agency says Friday that wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin have recovered and no longer need federal protection. About 4,000 wolves roam the three states.

Continue reading . . .

Montana and Idaho wolves delisted by Congress

April 15, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, wolf management, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

Here’s the Daily Inter Lake’s story on congressionally mandated delisting of wolves . . .

Congress passed legislation Thursday removing Montana and Idaho wolves from the Endangered Species list and returning management to the state, as part of a budget bill to continue federal funding this year.

The legislation was advanced by Montana Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus, along with Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, in the House.

Tester said the overall package is expected to be signed by President Barack Obama.

Continue reading . . .

Obama expected to sign budget bill containing wolf delisting measure

April 14, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species List, wolf management, wolf recovery, wolvesnfpa

This recent post to the Missoulian contains some additional information on the wolf delisting rider attached to the federal budget bill that is expected to be signed into law within the next few days . . .

The U.S. Senate passed a budget bill Thursday that will return gray wolf management to Montana and Idaho state control, settling the question whether the predator is endangered or recovered.

“Our provision does not undermine the Endangered Species Act,” said Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who led the effort to delist the wolf in Congress. “It recognizes the ESA as a success.”

Under a 2009 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisting rule, wolves reached the numbers needed for full recovery in 2002, Tester said in a conference call Thursday afternoon. There are almost 1,700 animals in the three-state area, including about 600 in Montana.

Continue reading . . .

Congressional move to reduce wolf protections raises concerns about precedent

April 14, 2011Environmental Issues, NewsEndangered Species Act, Endangered Species List, wolf hunt, wolf introduction, wolf management, wolvesnfpa

This is a pretty good article about the potential implications of the budget bill rider that will remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List in several western states . . .

The White House is poised to accept a budget bill that includes an unprecedented end-run around Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in five Western states — the first time Congress has targeted a species protected under the 37-year-old law.

Continue reading . . .