[Vision2020] NY Times OP/ED: Mixed News for Wolves

[Art Deco]

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January 31, 2007
Editorial
Mixed News for Wolves 
The Interior Department's decision on Monday to remove the gray wolves that inhabit the western Great Lakes region from the endangered species list represents yet another triumph for the much-maligned Endangered Species Act. First listed in 1974, when their numbers had dwindled to the low hundreds, the wolf population there now numbers about 4,000, thanks almost entirely to the act's prohibitions on hunting and trapping. State and tribal governments will now be responsible for keeping their numbers at healthy levels.

This good news, however, was immediately spoiled by the department's proposed delisting of the gray wolves (also known as timber wolves) that roam the northern Rocky Mountains. Virtually eliminated from their range in the 1920's, these wolves have also staged a remarkable comeback.

What's disturbing about this proposal is that two of the states that will assume responsibility for managing the wolves have shown little interest in protecting them. At a recent rally, Idaho's governor, C. L. Otter, called Butch, said he would authorize the destruction of more than 80 percent of the state's 650 wolves, leaving the bare minimum required to keep them from being returned to the endangered list. Not to be outdone, Wyoming said it would allow 16 of its 23 wolf packs to be killed on sight. Montana, by contrast, will bar any hunting until officials see how well the wolves are doing, and even then hunting will be strictly monitored. 

This eagerness to resume the slaughter is based on claims that the wolves are devastating livestock populations and game animals like elk. These claims have little basis in fact and should be rigorously examined during the public comment period ahead. Even then, the wolves should not be de-listed until Idaho and Wyoming adopt adequate regulatory mechanisms for protecting wolf populations that present no threat to humans, are valuable to the ecosystem and have taken years to rebuild.
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