USFWS Archives - Endangered Species Coalition

Trump Administration Declares a War on Wildlife with Nomination of Brian Nesvik

Endangered Species Coalition — Tue, 05 Aug 2025 17:01:01 +0000

Last week, the Senate confirmed Brian Nesvik as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. While his appointment was endorsed by some within the traditional wildlife community, the Endangered Species Coalition and numerous conservation partners strongly opposed his confirmation based on his track record of undermining federal protections for imperiled wildlife and prioritizing extractive interests over science-based recovery.

Brian Nesvik has long championed efforts that weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA), including campaigns to prematurely delist gray wolves, eliminate habitat protections, and sideline federal oversight, all while serving the interests of politically powerful industries in the West. His approach reflects the same harmful ideology behind recent legislative attacks like the ESA Amendments Act (H.R. 1897), which aims to hollow out the Endangered Species Act.

The Endangered Species Act is one of our nation’s most successful and beloved environmental laws. It has prevented the extinction of more than 99% of listed species — from bald eagles to gray whales — and remains a beacon of bipartisan conservation. What imperiled wildlife need now is a science-driven leader committed to recovery, not one who pushes states to sidestep federal accountability and science.

We are not alone in our concerns. Organizations across the country, including Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and GreenLatinos, stood firmly against this nomination. These are frontline groups who have seen the real impacts of policies that erode protections, fragment habitats, and put species on a collision course with extinction.

In the words of our Executive Director, Susan Holmes:

“The Endangered Species Act only works when science leads the way. Political appointees who disregard habitat science, suppress recovery recommendations, or champion premature delisting put our most vulnerable wildlife at grave risk. This confirmation is a setback — but our fight to defend endangered species is far from over.”

We remain committed to holding the Fish and Wildlife Service accountable and to protecting the integrity of the Endangered Species Act against political interference. We urge members of Congress and the public to stand with us and with the science to ensure the future of America’s most at-risk species.

What our partners are saying:

“Nesvik has a track record of favoring industries over wildlife. Ranching and agriculture and extracted industries get all the concessions here in Wyoming,” said Kristin Combs, Executive Director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates. “There’s no reason to think that it would be any different at the federal level.”

“Rather than ensuring the survival of America’s most at-risk wildlife, Nesvik’s history suggests he will do the opposite—greenlighting more destruction, more killing, and more habitat loss,” said Joanna Zhang, endangered species advocate at WildEarth Guardians. “WildEarth Guardians and our allies will fight every step of the way to hold this administration accountable and protect our nation’s wildlife from this disastrous leadership.”

“Nesvik’s lackadaisical response to the tormenting of that young Wyoming wolf speaks volumes about his lack of care for wildlife,” said Stephanie Kurose, Center for Biological Diversity Deputy Director of Government Affairs. “But his larger record truly underscores how deeply he despises the Fish and Wildlife Service’s fundamental mission. Most Americans want our imperiled wildlife protected, but we can’t count on Nesvik to lift a finger to prevent extinction.”

“Nesvik’s tenure as head of Wyoming Game and Fish prioritized trophy hunts and weakened protections for imperiled species over scientifically sound wildlife management,” said Bradley Williams, Sierra Club’s Deputy Legislative Director for Wildlife and Lands Protection. “One of the USFWS most important roles is upholding the Endangered Species Act, and given his experience, it’s not clear whether Nesvik will be able to fulfill that duty. Unfortunately, it appears that wildlife will pay the price.”

“California’s national wildlife refuges are a cornerstone of Latino communities’ access to nature and biodiversity,” said Pedro Hernandez, California State Program Manager for GreenLatinos. “Our refuge system and successful Endangered Species Act implementation have supported California as a global biodiversity hotspot. Yet, Brian Nesvik’s nomination risks years of progress and his track record threatens to roll back the clock to a time when our refuge system was even more under-resourced and dominated by extractive interests. Our communities can’t afford leadership that deprioritizes science, equity, species protections and ecological integrity.”

“Brian Nesvik has repeatedly used state power to undermine the very laws he’s now charged with upholding. His confirmation as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a gift to extractive industries and a threat to imperiled species across the West,” said Josh Osher, Public Policy Director for Western Watersheds Project. “From sanctioning wolf slaughter to promoting unsustainable livestock grazing on public lands, Nesvik has consistently prioritized industry profits over ecological integrity. We need leadership rooted in science and recovery — not someone who treats the Endangered Species Act as an obstacle to be dismantled.”

“Nesvik has a track record of favoring industries over wildlife. Ranching and agriculture and extracted industries get all the concessions here in Wyoming,” said Kristin Combs, Executive Director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates. “There’s no reason to think that it would be any different at the federal level.”

“Rather than ensuring the survival of America’s most at-risk wildlife, Nesvik’s history suggests he will do the opposite—greenlighting more destruction, more killing, and more habitat loss,” said Joanna Zhang, endangered species advocate at WildEarth Guardians.

“WildEarth Guardians and our allies will fight every step of the way to hold this administration accountable and protect our nation’s wildlife from this disastrous leadership.”

“Nesvik’s lackadaisical response to the tormenting of that young Wyoming wolf speaks volumes about his lack of care for wildlife,” said Stephanie Kurose, Center for Biological Diversity Deputy Director of Government Affairs. “But his larger record truly underscores how deeply he despises the Fish and Wildlife Service’s fundamental mission. Most Americans want our imperiled wildlife protected, but we can’t count on Nesvik to lift a finger to prevent extinction.”

“Nesvik’s tenure as head of Wyoming Game and Fish prioritized trophy hunts and weakened protections for imperiled species over scientifically sound wildlife management,” said Bradley Williams, Sierra Club’s Deputy Legislative Director for Wildlife and Lands Protection. “One of the USFWS most important roles is upholding the Endangered Species Act, and given his experience, it’s not clear whether Nesvik will be able to fulfill that duty. Unfortunately, it appears that wildlife will pay the price.”

“California’s national wildlife refuges are a cornerstone of Latino communities’ access to nature and biodiversity,” said Pedro Hernandez, California State Program Manager for GreenLatinos. “Our refuge system and successful Endangered Species Act implementation have supported California as a global biodiversity hotspot. Yet, Brian Nesvik’s nomination risks years of progress and his track record threatens to roll back the clock to a time when our refuge system was even more under-resourced and dominated by extractive interests. Our communities can’t afford leadership that deprioritizes science, equity, species protections and ecological integrity.”

“Brian Nesvik has repeatedly used state power to undermine the very laws he’s now charged with upholding. His confirmation as Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is a gift to extractive industries and a threat to imperiled species across the West,” said Josh Osher, Public Policy Director for Western Watersheds Project. “From sanctioning wolf slaughter to promoting unsustainable livestock grazing on public lands, Nesvik has consistently prioritized industry profits over ecological integrity. We need leadership rooted in science and recovery — not someone who treats the Endangered Species Act as an obstacle to be dismantled.”

The post Trump Administration Declares a War on Wildlife with Nomination of Brian Nesvik appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Over 150,000 Americans Oppose Trump Administration’s Unprecedented Effort to Eliminate Habitat Protections for Vulnerable Wildlife

Endangered Species Coalition — Mon, 19 May 2025 17:30:00 +0000

Scientists, legal experts, and environmental groups also urge Trump administration to drop proposed rule

WASHINGTON D.C. — Over 150,000 Americans have opposed a proposed rulemaking by the Trump administration to eliminate major habitat protections for endangered species in the U.S. after it was unveiled in April — and as the period for public input concludes today. The proposed rule would rescind the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s and National Marine Fisheries Service’s definitions of what counts as illegal “harm” to threatened and endangered wildlife under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“Harm” is currently defined to include significant habitat modification that kills or injures species by removing necessities such as food and shelter. The current definition of “harm” is an important tool for habitat conservation that has been in place for over 40 years and was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1995.

It has been integral to the ESA’s role in saving more than 99 percent of species under its protection including the bald eagle, Florida manatee, gray wolf, and many other iconic American wildlife. Even with the incredible success of the ESA, over 90 percent of listed species remain threatened by human-caused habitat destruction. If anything, the case for habitat protection under the ESA has grown even stronger over the years, with mountains of scientific evidence linking habitat and species’ survival.

The ESA was passed by Congress in 1973 with virtually unanimous bipartisan support. The lawmakers behind the ESA knew that scientists — not politicians — should decide whether vulnerable animal and plant species should be protected. In their spirit, three U.S. senators have officially demanded that the Trump administration explain how it came to its determination to eliminate habitat protections for U.S. wildlife and to answer whether industry influence was involved.

Additionally, a group of the nation’s leading scientists and experts on wildlife sent a letter to the Trump administration urging it to abandon the proposed rule, which the scientists state “lacks any scientific basis and misinterprets the Endangered Species Act.” And 25 legal scholars expressed “vehement opposition” to the proposed rule in a letter to the administration. The outpouring of public opposition to the proposed rule change is no surprise. Over 80 percent of Americans support the ESA. Most Americans know how important conserving habitats, lands, and waters are to our everyday lives and that protecting them should be a national priority. The stakes aren’t limited to wildlife — when ecosystems degrade, people suffer from threats to clean water, food security, and public health.

In response to the tens of thousands of Americans who are calling on the Trump administration to abandon its effort to eliminate habitat protections for vulnerable wildlife, 131 environmental and animal welfare groups from across the country issued the following statements:

“Tens of thousands of Americans have rejected the Trump administration’s callous effort to steal habitat away from our endangered species,” said Earthjustice attorney Kristen Boyles. “Trump’s proposed rule recklessly ignores common sense and common science. We’ll do all that we can to ensure vulnerable wildlife continue to have a livable habitat and a chance at survival.”

“Wildlife cannot survive without habitat — that’s not opinion, that’s biology,” said Josh Osher, public policy director for Western Watersheds Project. “This proposed rule is an industry-crafted blueprint for extinction, designed to let corporations destroy the very ground endangered species stand on, while pretending no harm is being done.”

“Loving wildlife is baked into our national heritage. Americans are very proud that our nation has prioritized conserving birds, fish and other wildlife that make our country so special,” said Ramona McGee, leader of the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Wildlife Program. “Here in the South, the stakes are much higher because of our world-renowned biodiversity, which is increasingly at risk from human-made factors like habitat destruction from unchecked, harmful development. It is unconscionable that our leaders are unnecessarily attempting to remove vital wildlife and habitat protections to placate extractive industries.” 

“This nonstarter proposal ignores critical conservation provisions in a law that supports America’s most at-risk fish, wildlife, and plant populations, including over 600 species with habitat in our national parks,” said Christina Hazard, legislative director for the National Parks Conservation Association. “When food sources, nesting grounds or mating grounds are lost outside of national park boundaries, park wildlife will be lost as well.”

“Habitat integrity is among the most significant determinants of species’ survival; this rule change would jeopardize imperiled animals and entire ecosystems,” said Danielle Kessler, US Country Director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). “Effective, science-driven implementation of the Endangered Species Act–including habitat protection–benefits animals and people alike.”

“The Trump administration is attempting to dismantle and discredit one of America’s most popular and successful laws,” said Sierra Weaver, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. “The current definition of ‘harm’ is a large part of what has made the ESA so effective at conserving imperiled species. This isn’t just redefining one word — it is gutting the heart of the Act. It will have cataclysmic consequences to the habitats, lands and waters that America’s wildlife relies upon, and goes against Congress’ intent for the law.”

“Extinction is forever,” says Katherine Miller, Country Director for FOUR PAWS USA. “If we allow the ESA to be weakened and species’ habitats to be destroyed for profit, the consequences of these decisions will reverberate for generations. Science has shown that protecting a listed species’ habitat is vital to their survival and recovery. This is why we urge FWS and NMFS to withdraw their proposed rule and uphold America’s commitment to save endangered species, ensuring a livable planet for all of us.”

“Loss of habitat is the number one reason species become endangered,” said Susan Holmes, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “Trump’s draconian proposal to end habitat protection for our most vulnerable wildlife rips out the heart of the Endangered Species Act and would put countless species on the path to extinction.”

“The Services’ proposal shows they are not serious about protecting imperiled species,” said Rebecca Riley, managing director for Food & Agriculture at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). “Habitat destruction is the number one threat to species’ survival, and yet they are coming up with weak excuses to claim Congress didn’t intend to address this existential threat.”

“Trump’s smash-and-grab habitat plan could welcome bulldozers and drilling rigs into the beautiful wild places that America’s most imperiled animals call home,” said Tara Zuardo, a senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The administration’s proposal seeks to rip a bloody hole in the Endangered Species Act, prioritizing industry profits over protecting habitat that’s crucial to preventing extinction. This is an illegal attempt to nullify a landmark wildlife law that’s supported by nearly every American who isn’t an oil executive, a timber baron or a Trump appointee.”

“Piping Plovers were set on a path to extinction due to millinery and hunting at the turn of the 19th century,” said Chris Allieri, founder and executive director, NYC Plover Project. “These are not the challenges the species is currently facing. The number one threat today is habitat loss, wherever they are found, including their wintering and breeding ranges. Without habitat protection, this species, and countless more, will go extinct.”

The post Over 150,000 Americans Oppose Trump Administration’s Unprecedented Effort to Eliminate Habitat Protections for Vulnerable Wildlife appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

USFWS Asks Court to Reinstate Rule Removing Protections for Gray Wolves

Endangered Species Coalition — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 17:49:28 +0000

For Immediate Release: September 18, 2024

Contact: Susan Holmes sholmes@endangered.org, (202) 329-1553

Trump-era Rule Would Halt Ongoing Wolf Recovery Across the U.S.

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) filed an appeal on Friday, seeking to overturn a 2022 district court decision that reinstated Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across most of the U.S. If the government’s appeal to the 9th circuit is successful, a Trump-era rule removing federal protections for gray wolves would be reinstated, robbing the species of important tools and protections that are key to conservation and recovery efforts.

“Endangered Species Act protections remain key to ensuring gray wolves return to the American landscape where they belong,” said Endangered Species Coalition Executive Director Susan Holmes, “It is bewildering that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is doubling down on the Trump Administration policy that would undermine wolf recovery. This faulty interpretation of the Endangered Species Act would halt wolf recovery in its tracks. We urge the Service to continue gray wolf recovery efforts, and we remain committed to working with them on a vision for recovery.”

Historically, gray wolves numbered in the tens of thousands, but now there are less than 5,000 in the Lower 48, in just a few Western states. A successful USFWS-led restoration effort in the mid-1990s, in partnership with Nez Perce Tribe, brought wolves back throughout the N. Rockies region, and a voter-initiated effort to restore the species to Colorado has just begun. Other areas of suitable habitat in the U.S. do not yet have an established population of gray wolves yet. According to a recent poll by the National Parks Conservation Association, 84 percent of Americans support returning wolves to suitable national park landscapes in the Lower 48.

The Service announced in February that they would do a first-ever recovery plan, as part of a settlement agreement for a separate court case. If the government is successful in reinstating the Trump delisting rule, it is possible that the USFWS would abandon those efforts.

###

The post USFWS Asks Court to Reinstate Rule Removing Protections for Gray Wolves appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Wyoming Wolf Tortured and Killed. USFWS Must Act.

ESC — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:58:31 +0000

On February 28th of this year–just 26 days after the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service denied gray wolves protections–Cody Roberts of Daniel Wyoming tortured and killed a female yearling gray wolf after running her down with a snowmobile and taping her mouth shut.

This abhorrent act of cruelty cannot become normal or acceptable. The wildlife that you and I fight for every day face enough threats from habitat loss, climate change, and over consumption by lawful hunters. Torture cannot be added to that already-grave list.

Share this story to build pressure on decision-makers to act.

While this disgusting action likely shocks you as much as it does me, Mr. Roberts is currently facing a mere $250 fine for possessing a live wild animal. To put a fine point on that: running a wolf to exhaustion with a snowmobile and incapacitating her, taping her mouth shut, parading the still-live wolf around a bar, and finally killing and skinning her do not violate state law. Only the possession of the live animal is a low-level infraction.

Wyoming’s Governor,¹ the local sheriff,² the Director of the state’s fish and wildlife agency, and former U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Dan Ashe³ have issued statements condemning this brutal attack. But to date, the current Director of the USFWS, Martha Williams, and her boss, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, have had no comment.

The USFWS could have prevented this. We worked for more than two years to organize support for the protection of gray wolves in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana under the Endangered Species Act.⁴ Scientists, legal experts, activists, biologists, and Tribal representatives advocated to Secretary Haaland and Director Williams in support of protection.

And let’s be clear: Wyoming’s designated “predator zone,” 85 percent of the state where wolves can be shot on sight (without even a hunting license,) should never have been approved by the USFWS as an acceptable wolf management plan. Such a classification sends a message to the public that state wildlife officials consider wolves a pest and enables the type of horrific treatment of wolves that we witnessed last week.

As I wrote above, their decision to deny those crucial safeguards preceded this act of cowardly torture by just 26 days. I do not know if Mr. Roberts felt empowered by the USFWS deciding that these wolves did not warrant protection–but I do know that the agency could have acted before it and it can surely act now.

Today, I am asking you to share this story. The more people who know what happened to this wolf, the more the Administration will feel pressure to act. Please post to social media or share this story with a friend.

We will be in touch soon with additional actions that we can all take to protect wolves in the Northern Rockies and Colorado from similar acts of torture.

Thank you for your commitment to wildlife and wild places.

Sincerely,

Susan Holmes
Executive Director
Endangered Species Coalition

PS. Are the links not working? Please take action to share this story on this page: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wolves-are-not-safe

1. https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/04/08/gov-gordon-joins-outrage-over-torment-of-wyoming-wolf/

2. https://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/natural-resources-energy/2024-04-08/wolfs-capture-alleged-abuse-by-wyoming-man-condemned-highlights-legal-limitations

3. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/10/wyoming-wolf-bar-animal-abuse

4. https://www.endangered.org/statement-of-endangered-species-coalition-on-todays-announcement-by-the-u-s-fish-and-wildlife-service-to-deny-federal-protections-to-gray-wolves-in-the-northern-rockies/

The post Wyoming Wolf Tortured and Killed. USFWS Must Act. appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Conservation groups challenge federal decision to deny western wolves protections

Email Poster — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 12:50:22 +0000

BOISE, Ida. – Today, 10 conservation groups challenged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“the Service”) over its failure to list western wolves under the Endangered Species Act. The Service’s “not warranted” finding ignores obvious threats to the species, runs contrary to the best available science, and relies on flawed population models for its determination.

“The current killing regimes in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming put wolves at obvious risk of extinction in the foreseeable future, and this core population is key to wolf survival in the West,” said Erik Molvar, a wildlife biologist and executive director of Western Watersheds Project. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is playing politics, pretending that the anti-wolf agendas of state governments constitute adequate conservation regulations and that the small and vulnerable condition of fledgling wolf populations elsewhere in the West somehow protect the species from extinction.”

In its “not warranted” finding, the Service confirmed that a western U.S. distinct population segment (DPS) is a valid entity for listing consideration, but cites a deeply flawed modeling exercise to conclude there is no risk of extinction for wolves in the West either now or in the foreseeable future.

A 2023 study by Dr. Robert Crabtree and others found the Montana state population model was badly biased, overestimating total wolf populations by as much as 50%. These researchers found this flawed population model constitutes a “precariously misleading situation for decision-makers that threatens wolf populations.” In an earlier analysis, Dr. Scott Creel found that data used in both the Idaho and Montana population models violate the assumptions of the models, meaning population estimations generated by the models are unreliable. Yet the Service relied on these flawed population estimates to conclude wolves in the West are not at risk of extinction.

A second 2023 study by wolf geneticist Dr. Bridgett vonHoldt and others found wolf populations in the northern Rockies are losing genetic variability and below genetic minimum viable population levels at today’s populations. At present, wolf populations in California and the Cascade Range of western Oregon and Washington are far below minimum viable population thresholds, and Utah, Nevada, and northern Arizona, all of which have historic gray wolf habitat, have no wolves at all.

“The Service’s finding seems to give the green light for states hostile to wolves to follow suit with Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming’s aggressive killing regimes if they are eventually delisted and transferred to state management West wide,” said Kelly Nokes, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center representing the groups. “But wolves have yet to recover across vast portions of the West, and they exist in only small populations in the West Coast and Colorado habitats they are slowly reinhabiting. This legal challenge asks only for the protections needed for this iconic species to be rightfully restored across the West’s wild landscapes—protections that some states have shown only the Endangered Species Act can really provide.”

“Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have become the poster children for what happens when politics trumps science,” said Brooks Fahy, executive director of Predator Defense. “Science shows us the importance of intact pack structures, the vital role each family member plays. But these states are destroying wolf families in the Northern Rockies and cruelly driving them to functional extinction via bounties, wanton shooting, trapping, snaring, even running over them with snowmobiles. They have clearly demonstrated they are incapable of managing wolves, only of killing them.”

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is supposed to be the backstop for imperiled species like the gray wolf,” said Lizzy Pennock, carnivore coexistence attorney at WildEarth Guardians. “Instead, the Service decided that wolves in the Western U.S. do not qualify for federal protections, while Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming openly try to ‘manage’ wolves to the brink of local extinction. Wolves, and the American people, deserve better from this agency.”

“It’s deeply concerning to hear that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided not to list gray wolves, a ‘sacred’ species to Native Americans in the western U.S., under the Endangered Species Act, while ignoring traditional sacred religious beliefs of Native Americans,” said Roger Dobson with Protect The Wolves. “It’s important to protect these intelligent and family-oriented predators to maintain ecosystem health, and to protect Native Americans’ ‘sacred religious beliefs.’ Hopefully, the Service will take steps to address these issues with its determination before it’s too late for these native wildlife species, and before violating Indigenous religious beliefs.”

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service committed to ‘immediately pursue’ emergency Endangered Species Act listing of wolves if any state allowed unlimited and unregulated killing of wolves, which Idaho has done since July 1, 2021,” said Suzanne Asha Stone, director of the Idaho-based International Wildlife Coexistence Network. “The Service has failed to honor its delisting plan just as the state of Idaho has failed to manage wolves ‘like mountain lions and black bears’ as they publicly swore to do before wolf delisting. Aerial gunning of animals, killing pups for bounties, and widespread traps and deadly snares have no place in responsible wildlife management today.”

“Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming know that they were let off the hook in their brutal and unethical destruction of wolves even acknowledged as such by the Service,” said KC York, founder and president of Trap Free Montana. “They set the stage for other states to follow. Despite the best available science, the USFWS turned their backs on the Northern Rockies region gray wolves. Within just 60 days since the USFWS failed to relist them, we are already witnessing the disturbing onset of giving the fox the key to the hen house and abandoning the farm. The maltreatment is now destined to worsen for these wolves and other indiscriminate species, through overt, deceptive, well-orchestrated, secretive, and legal actions.”

“The Biden administration and its Fish and Wildlife Service are complicit in the horrific war on wolves being waged by the states of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana,” said George Nickas, executive director of Wilderness Watch. “Idaho is fighting to open airstrips all over the backcountry, including in designated Wilderness, to get more hunters to wipe out wolves in their most remote hideouts. Montana is resorting to night hunting and shooting over bait and Wyoming has simply declared an open season. It’s unfortunate that citizens have to turn to the courts, but it seems that like their state counterparts, federal officials have lost all reverence or respect for these iconic wilderness animals.”

“Since wolves began re-establishing in western states after the indiscriminate killing of the 19th and 20th centuries, U.S. citizens have had the opportunity to directly observe wolves in these incredible landscapes we are privileged to share,” said Jeff Juel, forest policy director of Friends of the Clearwater. “And in understanding the wolf as our wild relative in this community of life, we urge the Fish and Wildlife Service to reject the primitive, fear-based impulses some states exhibit with their regressive management.”

A copy of the complaint is here: https://www.wildernesswatch.org/images/wild-issues/2024/20240408_NRM_Wolves_Complaint.pdf

Contacts:

Erik Molvar, Western Watersheds Project, 307-399-7910, emolvar@westernwatersheds.org

Kelly Nokes, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-613-8051, nokes@westernlaw.org

Suzanne Asha Stone, International Wildlife Coexistence Network, 208-861-5177 suzanne@wildlifecoexistence.org

Brooks Fahy, Predator Defense, 541-937-4261, brooks@predatordefense.org

Roger Dobson, Protect the Wolves, ‪714-660-7208, roger@protectthewolves.com

KC York, Trap Free Montana, 406-218-1170, info@trapfreemt.org

Lizzy Pennock, WildEarth Guardians, 406-830-8924, lpennock@wildearthguardians.org

George Nickas, Wilderness Watch, 406-542-2048, gnickas@wildernesswatch.org

Mike Garrity, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, 406-459-5936, wildrockies@gmail.com

Jeff Juel, Friends of the Clearwater, 509-688-5956, jeffjuel@wildrockies.org

Julian Matthews, Nimiipuu Protecting Our Environment, 509-330-0023, protectingnimiipuu@gmail.com

# # #

The post Conservation groups challenge federal decision to deny western wolves protections appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

The Department of Interior just opened the door to relentless wolf slaughter

Endangered Species Coalition — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 15:50:54 +0000

I have a shocking and very disappointing update to share. On Friday, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) quietly announced its decision to deny Endangered Species Act protections to wolves in the Northern Rockies. Without these protections, hundreds of wolves have already been killed this year in traps and by guns, and it will only continue without your help.

Make a gift today to help us fight for nationwide protections for gray wolves.

In order to reach this disastrous decision, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and FWS Director Martha Williams chose to ignore hundreds of scientists, two former Directors of the FWS, dozens of members of Congress, hundreds of Tribes, and millions of activists like you and me.

Make no mistake, they failed these wolves and all of us. But we are not done. We’re going bigger. We’re advocating that FWS finally protect wolves in appropriate places across the country by creating a coast-to-coast recovery plan.

Help us protect wolves across the country once and for all.

Wolves were once found across Alaska and in all of the lower 48 states. And while much of that land has now been developed, significant habitat for wolves exists in many areas. But wolves have been treated as second-class citizens, with FWS only considering Endangered Species Act protections in a few small regions. (Other species that lived across the country have received national protections.) That isn’t good enough for wolves.

For wolves to finally come back, we need a national recovery plan. Wolf populations need protection until they’re truly recovered. FWS has been trying to remove protections from wolves nationally without actually trying to recover them nationally. No more.

Our new wolf organizing campaign advocates for more protection for Northern Rockies wolves as well as the restoration of wolves, including Mexican wolves, in suitable habitats across North America. This will be an uphill fight, to be sure – but we are hopeful that with public support, we can recover this most important keystone species.

Please support this work for wolves with your gift today and it will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

Thank you for your commitment to wildlife and wild places.

Sincerely,

Susan Holmes
Executive Director
Endangered Species Coalition
Facebook | X | Pinterest | Instagram | Medium

P.S. Are the links not working? Please make a gift at this URL: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/save-wolves-nationally

The post The Department of Interior just opened the door to relentless wolf slaughter appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Court Overturns Federal Authorization to Kill 72 Grizzlies Near Yellowstone

Email Poster — Thu, 25 May 2023 19:13:12 +0000

For Immediate Release, May 25, 2023

Contacts

Andrea Zaccardi, Center for Biological Diversity, (303) 854-7748, azaccardi@biologicaldiversity.org
Megan Backsen, Western Watersheds Project, (719) 297-2493; megan@westernwatersheds.org

Court Overturns Federal Authorization to Kill 72 Grizzlies Near Yellowstone

PINEDALE, Wyo.— The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service’s authorization of the killing of up to 72 grizzly bears on public land just outside of Yellowstone National Park violated federal law.

Meant to accommodate private grazing operations in grizzly habitat, the 2019 grazing authorization would have allowed an unlimited percentage of females to be killed in response to livestock conflict, despite the significance of breeding bears to the species’ recovery. But now the court has remanded the decision to the agencies to fix the legal deficiencies.

“We’re hopeful that in reconsidering their flawed analysis, the agencies will spare dozens of female grizzly bears previously sentenced to death by the Trump administration,” said Andrea Zaccardi, legal director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s carnivore conservation program. “This ruling confirms that federal officials can’t sidestep the law to allow grizzly bears to be killed on public lands to appease the livestock industry.”

The court found that among other issues, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s failure to consider limiting the number of female grizzly bears that could be killed was arbitrary and capricious because killing too many females could jeopardize the grizzly bear population in the project area. In so holding the court acknowledged the importance of protecting female grizzly bears for grizzly bear recovery.

“Today’s decision is a victory not only for endangered grizzly bears but for all wildlife in the Upper Green River Area,” said Megan Backsen, Tenth Circuit attorney for WWP. “The Court recognized that the Forest Service cannot ignore its own experts, particularly when those experts warn that a decision will harm those species that depend on intact ecosystems for their very survival.”

The grazing program area, approved by the U.S. Forest Service in 2019, encompasses the headwaters of the Green and Gros Ventre rivers and parts of two designated wilderness areas in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The area provides important habitat for Yellowstone grizzly bears — listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act — and other imperiled fish and wildlife species.

The challenged decision authorized the killing of up to 72 grizzly bears over the 10-year life of the reauthorized grazing program. The decision placed no limits on killing female bears or cubs, even though females with cubs live where the proposed killing would be permitted.

The judges also ruled that the Forest Service failed to follow its own Forest Plan requirements regarding wildlife habitat protections for migratory birds. Some 96% of the lands approved for livestock is zoned in the Forest Plan for a wildlife protection emphasis instead.

“Throughout this case, the Forest Service has tried to run away from its wildlife habitat commitments made to the public in its Forest Plan,” said Jonathan Ratner, Western Watersheds Project’s Wyoming Office Director. We are pleased to see that the court understands that the promises made in the Forest Plan are made to the American people and the wildlife that lives on these lands.“, the Forest Service has always ignored its Forest Plan and treated it like a livestock feedlot.

Dr. John Carter of Yellowstone to Uintas Connection said, “We have collected data within the allotments that shows how much degradation has been caused by livestock.

We have provided reports to the Forest Service but they feel they can simply ignore the data. We hope and expect that the Forest Service starts putting its duties to land and the American people ahead of the interests of a few ranchers”

“Before grizzly bears can be recovered and delisted, we need safeguards in place to ensure that the breeding population gets adequate protections from the depredations of the livestock industry,” said Mike Garrity, Executive Director of the Alliance Wild Rockies. “We are thrilled that the court sent the agencies back to the drawing board.”

The Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, Western Watersheds Project, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, and Yellowstone to Uintas Connection filed two separate suits on March 31, 2020 challenging the agencies’ decisions. Although the suit was originally filed in the U.S. District Court of Columbia, the lawsuit was later transferred to the U.S. District Court of Wyoming. The U.S. District Court of Wyoming issued a ruling upholding the agencies’ decisions on May 17, 2022. Today’s opinion overturns that decision.

The post Court Overturns Federal Authorization to Kill 72 Grizzlies Near Yellowstone appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week with action to get the lead out

ESC — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 14:12:18 +0000

This week the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is celebrating National Wildlife Refuge

Week across the public lands that it manages. Sadly, many already-imperiled species of wildlife on these lands and waters are being left to suffer painful and often-deadly lead poisoning due to inaction by the Department of Interior.

Wildlife refuges should be safe for wildlife who live there. Instead, these natural areas have been allowed to become littered with lead ammunition fragments and fishing equipment. These toxic metals are killing some of our most treasured species.

A recent study in the journal Science documented the mass poisoning of eagles by lead left in animals shot by hunters. It found that nearly fifty percent of eagles to have “bone lead concentrations above thresholds for chronic poisoning.”

The recovery of highly endangered California condors has been slowed by lead poisoning as a result of spent ammunition.

Despite that, the Department of Interior has opened more land and water acreage to hunting and fishing than any previous administration–and has only proposed banning the use of lead in a fraction of these refuges.

If the Department of Interior is unable to act to make our public lands safe for wildlife, Congress must. Senator Tammy Duckworth and Representative Ted Lieu have introduced bills in the House and Senate to phase out the use of lead ammunition in National Wildlife Refuges.

Please ask your senators and representative to support the LEAD Act (S. 4157 and H.R. 405) to phase out lead on all lands and waters under the jurisdiction and control of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Take Action For National Wildlife Refuge Week

Tall Congress that you support legislation that would require the Biden Administration to phase out lead ammunition on national wildlife refuges.

Take action

The post Celebrate National Wildlife Refuge Week with action to get the lead out appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Scientific Peer Reviewers Find Flaws in Federal Wolf Delisting Rule

Endangered Species Coalition — Fri, 31 May 2019 16:27:35 +0000

Nearly 1.5 Million Comments Oppose Removing Protections

Washington, D.C. – Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a scientific peer review of a proposed rule to remove Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves across the United States. A majority of scientists on the peer review project found the rule failed to follow the best available science, which is required by the Endangered Species Act.

“I found the proposed rule to remove federal protections for gray wolves nationwide did not use the best available science as required by the Endangered Species Act,” said Professor Adrian Treves of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at University of Wisconsin–Madison. “In particular, the government overlooked the essential challenges posed by human-caused mortality, which is preventing wolf population recovery everywhere one looks.”

“It doesn’t make sense to me that we would be reviewing the evidence at the same time as we review a proposed rule about that evidence – as if the political decision had already been made without waiting for peer reviewers to judge if the government had met the legal standard of best available science,” said Treves. “I recommended the government start with peer review of the science, then and only then decide if wolves are ready for delisting, not the other way around.”

The wolf delisting notice was published in the Federal Register and is open for public comment until mid-July, after which the rule can be finalized by the Trump Administration. So far, nearly 1.5 million comments opposing the rule have been submitted by wildlife groups on behalf of their members.

There were once up to 2 million gray wolves living in North America, but the animals had been driven to near-extinction in the lower 48 states by the early 1900s. After passage of the federal Endangered Species Act in 1973 and protection of the wolf as endangered, federal recovery programs resulted in the rebound of wolf populations in limited parts of the country. Gray wolves returned on their own to the Western Great Lakes region and northwest Montana and were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho, where they have made a successful comeback. However, wolves are still struggling in areas of Oregon and Washington, while only a few have made it to California or the southern Rockies, where substantial areas of suitable habitat exist. Roughly 5,500 wolves currently live in the continental United States – a fraction of the species’ historic numbers.

“Without the protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act, gray wolves would never have recovered in the places where they are now,” said Leda Huta, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “By removing protections across the country, the Trump Administration is essentially abandoning all efforts to restore this iconic American species to millions of acres of wild habitat.”

The post Scientific Peer Reviewers Find Flaws in Federal Wolf Delisting Rule appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Will USFWS commit to red wolf recovery?

Mitch Merry — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 17:25:24 +0000

Red wolves are one of the most endangered species on the planet. While they once thrived across the southeastern United States, there are fewer than 45 red wolves alive in the wild today.

Overly aggressive predator management actions drove them to be declared biologically extinct in the wild in 1980. Restoration attempts began later that decade with the release of four pairs of wolves in North Carolina. Those wolves grew the wild population gradually to around 100 in 2014 but political interference has sandbagged recovery efforts and caused that number to drop to fewer than 45 today.

This is a critical time for the future of this species as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) was supposed to release a decision last year regarding its plans for the red wolf program. It has ceased virtually all efforts to save wild red wolves, focusing on wolves in captivity.

This crisis-of-political-creation has generated newfound interest in efforts to save this species. Recently, the Washington Post wrote about the status and challenges of red wolf recovery and WNYC interviewed DeLene Beeland, a science writer and author of The Secret World of Red Wolves.

The USFWS holds the future of this species in its hands. It has committed resources and effort to recover this species previously and if it does so again, the Endangered Species Act can bring red wolves back. It will require that fidelity to its mission from the USFWS. Without that, the red wolf may be relegated to surviving only in captivity and deprived of its own responsibility to balancing its ecosystems that it once roamed.

The post Will USFWS commit to red wolf recovery? appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.