Last week, Big Wildlife, along with the Missoula-based conservation group, Wildlife Watchers, condemned the U.S. and Montana government's killing of an entire pack of wolves near Kalispell, Montana. According to today's Associated Press, the slaughter of all 27 wolves of the Hog Heaven wolf pack is not an isolated incident. The AP reports that there has been a dramatic spike in government-sanctioned killing of wolves -- a species that is supposed to be protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The AP reports "Record numbers of endangered gray wolves were shot this year by government wildlife agents and ranchers in the Northern Rockies, as the predator's attacks on livestock met with an increasingly aggressive response."
In 2008 alone, Montana and federal agents completely wiped out seven wolf packs in the state. Through early December, 245 wolves were legally killed by wildlife agents and ranchers - a 31 percent spike over last year's figure, according to state and federal records. That included 102 wolves in Montana, 101 in Idaho and 42 in Wyoming. Another nine wolves were shot in a specially designated "predator zone" in Wyoming that has since been struck down by a federal judge.
This week, the Bush administration plans to remove the region's estimated 1,500 wolves from the endangered species list, though environmental groups are lined up to challenge the move. If federal protections are lifted, wolves will also face immediate threats from trophy hunters and trappers.
Big Wildlife has urged federal and state officials in the Northern Rockies to shift away from aggressive lethal responses to alleged wolf encounters toward strengthening protections for the species and providing education and technical assistance to the public to help prevent conflicts. In addition, the wildlife protection group has roundly criticized northern Rockies state wolf "management" plans for proposing hunting of wolves once the species is removed from the endangered list. When federal protections were briefly lifted this year, dozens of wolves were killed by hunters.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
*Urge President-elect Obama to overhaul how the federal government responds to alleged conflicts with wolves and to strengthen protections for the species. Also, please urge the President-elect to appoint Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) as Interior Secretary. Rep. Grijalva has been a champion of protecting wildlife, wildlands, and imperiled species.
Obama transition team phone number: (202) 540-3000
To submit comments online click here. Be sure to scroll down the page to "Contact." You will be able to submit your comments to the transition team via an online form there.
*Urge the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Department to shift its actions away from aggressive lethal control of wolves toward policies that will safeguard the species and educate the public about how to prevent conflicts with wildlife.
Contact MFWP Director Joe Maurier at:
Email: jmaurier@mt.gov
Phone: (406) 444-2535
Fax: (406) 444-4952
For more information, please visit Big Wildlife.