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Archive for the ‘Wolf Current Events’ Category

Update: Arizona’s Game and Fish Commission supports Congressional efforts to delist gray wolves

Posted in Wolf Current Events on December 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »


PLEASE CONTACT CONGRESS NOW!

On December 4, the AZ Game and Fish Commission decided to ignore the overwhelming majority of Arizona’s voters that support the Mexican wolf reintroduction. 

Instead, the Commission voted 4-1 to support Congressional actions to delist the gray wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act, making it clear that state control is their top priority, not Mexican gray wolf recovery. 

Please contact your members of Congress to ensure the Mexican wolf remains a protected species!   Please follow the link below providing by “Lobos of the Southwest.”


http://www.mexicanwolves.org/index.php/news/299/51/Update-Arizona-s-Game-and-Fish-Commission-supports-Congressional-efforts-to-delist-gray-wolves

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New in the Press: Changes Sought to Mexican Gray Wolf Plan

Posted in Wolf Current Events, Wolf Legislation on December 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »


LAS CRUCES — Twelve Democratic members of Congress, including New Mexico Rep. Martin Heinrich, have sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar calling for changes to the federally run Mexican gray wolf recovery project aimed at bolstering the wild lobo population.
       
The letter calls for five key recommendations. They include the release of 22 wolves — eight in Arizona and 14 in New Mexico — that are considered eligible for release under the program’s rules; and the retrieval of telemetry receivers loaned to private parties that alert ranchers and property owners when wolves are nearby.
       
Some conservationists believe the telemetry receivers can be used to locate and kill Mexican gray wolves. Thirty-five wolves have been killed illegally since the program was launched in 1998 with the release of wolves into a national forest in southeast Arizona.
       
In the Dec. 1 letter to Salazar, the members of Congress call for reforms “before it becomes too late and this unique and vital animal can no longer be saved from extinction.”
       
They add: “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service persists in pursuing failed policies and repudiated management practices, while delaying positive change, even as the sole Mexican wolf population in the wild continues a five-year decline.”

Along with Heinrich, the letter was signed by Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, four representatives from northern California, and others from Tennessee, New York, Georgia, Indiana and Colorado.
 …      
       
The letter also asks Fish and Wildlife to release a completed draft environmental assessment that could lead to a new policy allowing captive wolves to be released directly into New Mexico. Under current rules, wolves new to the wild can only be released initially into Arizona, with New Mexico reserved for the relocation of previously captured wolves.
       
In addition, the letter urges the agency to assemble a scientific team that would produce a new draft recovery plan by next month establishing a formal goal for the wild lobo population.
  
To read the full article, published in the Albuquerque Journal on December 4, 2010, click here (Non-subscribers can scroll down and use the Trial Access Pass button).   

Please write a letter to the editor praising these legislators for their informed and courageous stance at a time when other members of Congress are pushing legislation to strip Mexican wolves of endangered species protections!!

And please send a quick email to let Congressmen Heinrich and Grijalva, and the other signers know how much you appreciate their support for lobos:
Congressman Raul Grijalva
Congressman Martin Heinrich
Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
Congressman Jared Polis
Congressman Andre Carson
Congressman Sam Farr
Congressman Pete Stark
Congresswoman Nita Lowey
Congressman Mike Honda
Congressman John Lewis
Congressman Steve Cohen

Please, it is critical that you follow the link below and write to these Congressman!  Thanks to www.mexicanwolves.org for providing this information.

http://www.mexicanwolves.org/index.php/news/298/51/New-in-the-Press-Changes-Sought-to-Mexican-Gray-Wolf-Plan

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OUTRAGE: Politicians may decide wolves fate, not science!

Posted in Wolf Current Events, Wolf Legislation on December 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »


Western Watersheds Project states, “According to a November 29 article in the Washington Post, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made a back-room pledge to Western governors yesterday that the administration will back congressional efforts to strip gray wolves of their endangered species status.

Salazar also issued a public statement yesterday that he supported legislative delisting for gray wolves. The Endangered Species Act requires that decisions on delisting be based on the best available science, and never before has a species been taken off the endangered species list by an act of Congress that would amend the act.

This hugely disappointing idea coming from an administration that has made promises to base decisions on science violates the integrity of the Endangered Species Act by setting a destructive precedent for removing endangered species protections from any animal that faces political opposition.

Supporters of wolves and other wildlife need to flood the White House and their U.S. Senators with protests against the Secretary’s plan to use Congress for an end-run around the Endangered Species Act. 

Please, call or write right away and tell everyone you know to do the same. None of our wildlife is safe if the Obama administration is willing to let political considerations trump science and law.”  This is urgent, please visit the site below and contact your U.S. Senator and the White House immediately!

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/435877/c56b3aa028/1454001502/ee35a54549/

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NEW threats to wolves!

Posted in Wolf Current Events, Wolf Legislation on November 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »


“After the long and successful effort to re-establish wolves back into their historic ranges in the northern Rocky Mountains, wolves in the wild face a new and critical challenge.  Several members of the Senate and Congress, representing the states of Montana, Texas, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and others, have introduced bills that will weaken the protections afforded rare species under the Endangered Species Act, and result in wolves in the northern Rockies being taken off the ESA list. This latest attack is a result of states wanting full control over the management of wild wolves. 
 
Wolf management was taken away from Montana and Idaho and returned to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on August 5, 2010, as a result of a lawsuit against the USFWS for removing federal protection for wolves in these states. Montana and Idaho had management control of wolves in their states for four months, during which over 200 wolves were legally killed in the hunting season.
 
The Endangered Species Act provides strong protection for species in peril. It was created to bring species which are on the brink of extinction back to a healthy population level based on the best available science. Decisions involving species recovery – including wolf recovery – should be made in accordance with the ESA, and not by Congress. Congress should NOT be managing wildlife on a species by species basis, which sets a bad precedent for wildlife conservation in our nation.”
Thanks to “Wolf Haven” for providing this information!  Please follow the link below to urge Senate and House Representatives to solidify the Endangered Species Act!

http://app.e2ma.net/app2/campaigns/archived/28823/bbdf9a86f227fd4006d46405bf5d0d59/

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“Japan went from a country that viewed wolves as benign creatures to one that viewed them as animals that needed to be erased from the landscape.”

Posted in Facts and Figures, Wolf Current Events on October 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »


Not much is said about wolves in Japan but now it’s time!

The Japanese once saw wolves as benign creatures that guarded their crops. Farmers went to shrines to buy wolf talismans they could place around their grain fields for protection. In some places, the kindly Canis lupus was even honored with stone sculptures.

“It was almost the exact opposite of our 18th and 19th centuries in the American West,” says Brett Walker, assistant professor of history at Montana State University-Bozeman.

But then came 1868, a critical year in Japanese history.

The feudal government of the Tokugawa shoguns fell that year, and Japan turned to the West for help. As part of its effort to create a more modern and western-style country, Japan invited Edwin Dun, a rancher from Ohio, to oversee the establishment of a ranching industry on the northernmost island of Hokkaido.

“They believed ranching represented the agricultural future of Hokkaido,” Walker explained.

Dun introduced American ranching techniques to the Niikappu Ranch, but he also introduced American anxieties toward wolves, Walker continued. Dun advised the Hokkaido Development Board to poison wolves and wild dogs with strychnine. Hunting and bounty systems followed. Ultimately, persecution and other ecological factors caused the Hokkaido wolf to become extinct around 1890. The last Japanese wolf was killed in 1905. Both were distinct subspecies of Canis lupus and different from any wolf found in the United States.

“I’m interested in that historical shift. That is, how Japan went from a country that viewed wolves as benign creatures to one that viewed them as animals that needed to be erased from the landscape,” Walker said.

ALTHOUGH SOME REPORT SIGHTINGS, WOLVES IN JAPAN ARE BELIEVED TO BE EXTINCT.  Another failure about lack of efforts to co-exist with an animal long feared and terrorized.  “Wolf Preservation,” along with many other wolf agencies listed on my site, strive to attain the goal of wolves having a place in this world and to paint a complete picture of them.  Thank you to “Wolf Song of Alaska” for providing this information in this article!

http://www.wolfsongalaska.org/Wolves_Japan_parallels.htm

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Resigned to Living With Wolves, More Ranchers Are Giving Deterrence Projects a Try

Posted in Wolf Current Events, Wolf Preservation Efforts on October 14, 2010| Leave a Comment »


SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz. — On a luminous fall afternoon, a couple of Carey Dobson’s sheep graze in a pasture stretching across a high valley edged with ponderosa pines. A wire fence keeps them from wandering into the adjacent road.

 But this is no ordinary fence. All along its length, long slips of magenta plastic flagging wave in the wind, like streamers on a parade float. No one knows exactly why, but wolves typically stay clear of these decorated fences.  Dobson put up the “fladry” and electrified the fence about three years ago after losing nine sheep to wolves in one year.So far, the combination of visual repellent and electric shock seems to be working.

“From the time we started doing that in 2007 up to now, we’ve had zero wolf depredations,” Dobson said, sitting at the kitchen table of his family’s spacious log home on a private inholding surrounded by the Apache National Forest. “I think the fence has a lot to do with it.”

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/10/14/14greenwire-resigned-to-living-with-wolves-more-ranchers-a-60509.html

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Mexican Gray Wolves Due Place in N.M. Wilderness

Posted in Wolf Current Events on October 7, 2010| 2 Comments »


Federal agents are investigating the suspicious death of a Mexican gray wolf near Pinetop, Ariz. The female wolf was found on Jan. 19.
        It had died from a gunshot wound and was dumped along State Route 260. The wolf was part of the Moonshine Pack in the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project in Arizona and New Mexico.
        I was devastated when I read these words. I remember the day clearly, I was sitting at my desk in the Wolf Conservation Center’s office in South Salem, N.Y., thinking, we’re two for two.
        It was roughly two months after the wolf’s release into the Arizona wilderness when the 5-year-old female was found dead. Her “name” was F836. She was beautiful. So was her sister, F838. I guess you can say that I “knew” them.
        We were first introduced to the sisters in November of 2004 when the center welcomed four Mexican wolf yearlings from a facility in Minnesota. Our center was selected to care for these wolves as a participant in the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan. We had the enclosure space available and the luxury of allowing them to reside off exhibit in a natural environment with minimal human contact.
        Although the wolves are identified by alphanumeric labels — F836, F837, F838, and F839, we called the sisters “the Minnesota Girls.” They were strong and elusive. I didn’t have a relationship with these wolves, in fact I rarely saw them, but I understood their weighty significance.
        When the Minnesota Girls arrived, we were relatively new to the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan program and were honored to be a part of the recovery effort. Less than a year later and with much jubilation we received the most exciting news: F838 was chosen for release to the wild Southwest.
        We transferred the 2-year-old to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pre-release facility at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico where she was paired with a mate.
        The following spring the wolves proved fruitful adding two pups to the limited Mexican wolf population. The family, dubbed the Meridian Pack, was placed in a temporary mesh holding pen in eastern Arizona on July 6, 2006. Perhaps with understanding of the liberty just beyond their grasp, the pack eagerly freed themselves within 24 hours.
        From our office in New York, we closely followed the pack’s voyage. I challenged school children to imagine that they were F838 — the thrill of living without boundaries and fence lines and the task of bringing an ecosystem back to balance. F838’s story enhanced our education programming and helped guests better understand the significance of the special wolves on our property that they were not allowed to behold.
        Just a few months after her adventure had begun, we received the dreadful news that F838 was dead — illegally killed. Three years later, F836 was granted a life in the wild only to suffer the same fate as her littermate.
        Each wolf had only a few months to enjoy their rightful place in the wild. But a few months in the wild was the biggest gift we could have ever given to the girls from Minnesota.
        If not for some heartless criminals, they could have survived and contributed to the recovery of their species. The deaths of the Minnesota Girls weigh heavy on our hearts, but our commitment to our mission and the recovery of Mexican gray wolves in the wild remains strong. While tragic, these shootings strengthen our resolve to restore these majestic creatures to their ancestral home in the wilds of the Southwest.
        It’s been two years since F836 received the call of the wild and no other captive Mexican wolf has received the opportunity since. The wild population has been declining for six years now and that must change soon. The wolves are ready and the wild is calling. It’s time to release some wolves.
By Maggie Howell, Managing Director , Wolf Conservation Center
http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/guest_columns/072142332951opinionguestcolumns10-07-10.htm

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WildEarth Guardians Alert: Help Increase Endangered Species Act Protections for Lobos

Posted in Wolf Current Events, Wolf Organizations, Wolf Preservation Efforts on October 2, 2010| 4 Comments »


In July, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico stood up for wolves by issuing a temporary ban on traps and snares in the Mexican wolf recovery area. Governor Richardson said he wanted wolves to “survive and flourish.”

The feds need to provide leadership for wolves alongside Governor Richardson.

For Mexican wolves to flourish, after a long history of intolerance and persecution, they need a strong federal safety net, coupled with protections at the state level. You can help increase legal safeguards for Mexican wolves by asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to increase Endangered Species Act protections for these animals by listing them under the Act separately from other wolves.

And the Mexican wolf urgently needs upgraded protections. Just this year, at least three endangered lobos were shot by a serial killer – or killers. As of December 2009 there were only 42 wolves surviving in the wild. At the end of 2010, that count may be even lower.

Sadly, the Mexican wolf’s scant numbers have emboldened its critics, who went to court in August, arguing for even less protection for this endangered carnivore.

Urge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to maximize legal protections for the lobo in the face of this intolerance.

http://www.mexicanwolves.org/index.php/news/238/51/WildEarth-Guardians-Alert-Help-Increase-Endangered-Species-Act-Protections-for-Lobos

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Montana wolf killers need the blood, they cannot live without, it is driving them crazy….

Posted in Wolf Current Events, Wolf Organizations on September 28, 2010| Leave a Comment »


The Wolf Army reports, “Montana so called wildlife officials have applied for a special ‘Conservation hunt’ permit based on the canceled hunt quota(they set) of 186 wolves. ( wonder how they got to 186. Some yahoo formula or just thumb suck, sounds like a good figure)
Montana State Officials earlier asked the US Fish and Wildlife Service to expedite their dec…ision. The wolves need conservation and the Montana wolf killers need the blood, they cannot live without, it is driving them crazy….
Montana, the fourth largest state in the USA (147000 sq miles) with only about 1 million people cannot cope with 525 wolves. What’s wrong with these people?? Can 525 wolves break the Montana economy?
This is a classic case of governmental ‘elitism’ protecting favors they promised benefactors who keeps them in power.”
Thanks to Wolf Army for advocating!

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Action Alert: The Assault On The Endangered Species Act Has Begun…

Posted in Wolf Current Events, Wolf Legislation, Wolf Preservation Efforts on September 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »


“Are we going to sit by and let politicians use wolves to further their political ambitions? Are we going to allow them to strip gray wolves of their ESA protections?   The assault on the ESA has begun and we better be ready to fight. That means calling every senator and congressman, as many times as necessary, to defeat any and all attempts to remove gray wolves’ ESA protections. It may mean organizing  pro-wolf rallies across America to show support for wolves.   

There’s been coalition building by Montana FWP with ranching and hunting lobbies, to find ways around Judge Molloy’s ruling. There’s wolf hysteria in Idaho County, Idaho, asking the Governor to allow wolves to be shot on sight.(that was tried once before).

The latest and most popular assault on gray wolves is coming from the legislative branch. Montana’s Representative Denny Rehburg (who has a dead, stuffed wolf in his DC office) along with Utah’s Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, are signing onto the anti-wolf House Bill 6028, which aims to strip wolves of their ESA protections. The bill was drafted by a Texas Congressman, lord only knows why, since there are no wolves in Texas. But it’s fairly obvious this is a political ploy to garner support from the “hook and bullet crowd”, right before the November elections.”

Thanks to “Howling for Justice” for providing this information!  Please click on the link and follow rest of story.  Write and letter or e-mail these senators to help protest HR 6028 (a law that would allow hunters to kill wolves, even though they are an endangered species)!

http://howlingforjustice.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/action-alert-the-assault-on-the-endangered-species-act-has-begun-2/

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