Wolves first started to recolonize the state in 2008 when the first successful breeding pair produced a litter. During the past seventeen years while we have seen an overall increase in numbers their rate of growth has slowed, poaching has increased, and the number of breeding pairs declined from 2022 to 2023.

 We still don’t have any packs or breeding pairs in the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast recovery zone the largest of the state’s three recovery zone.

During 2023 and 2024 the Endangered Species Coalition and our allies successfully helped defeat a proposal from the Department of Fish and Wildlife that would have down listed protections of wolves from endangered to sensitive under the state Endangered Species Act. This was especially important as the wolves in the eastern third of the state are not protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Last year the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to deny the department’s request as it did not meet the State’s Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, was based on a scientifically disputed modeling study, and didn’t focus on the recovery of wolves throughout the state.

This year’s Washington House Bill 1311 would have overturned the commission’s decision.  Our staff lobbied and testified against the bill and our Washington State members inundated the legislature with comments against the bill which helped kill it.

The post Anti-Wolf Bills in Washington Legislature Defeated appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has lost its way on wolf protection. The agency recently announced that it was joining with the National Rifle Association and a trophy-hunting lobbyist group in going to court once again to defend the Trump Administration’s nationwide delisting of gray wolves.

Make a tax-deductible gift today to hold the USFWS responsible for doing the work.

This whiplash decision after they announced a year ago they will create a national wolf recovery plan is troubling. And the Administration’s partnership with groups who routinely oppose conservation and wildlife protections is a grave concern.

The path that the agency is choosing would give up on what has been one of the world’s greatest conservation successes. We should all beam with pride at bringing wolves back from the edge of extinction.We began to right a wrong and have made real progress. But that work is nowhere near complete.

Wolves have been restored to a fraction of their former range. By the most forgiving interpretation, wolves occupy less than 10% of their former habitat.¹ That success rate would not be acceptable in any other place in any other job and it is not acceptable here. The agency can’t just move on because they do not want to do the work.

What the USFWS is saying is that wolves no longer need the protections of the Endangered Species Act, now that they believe that they have recovered in three states: Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. While we question their assertion that wolves in those states should be without protections (and have fought to restore them), the suggestion that we can call this job done everywhere else is ridiculous. And they are making that argument in court, with the NRA and trophy hunting lobbyists, in defense of a Trump Administration rule that another court already overturned.

Keep the Endangered Species Coalition fighting for wolves until the job is finished with your gift today.

This Administration has made a number of curious and sometimes troubling decisions around endangered species protections. This decision is among the worst. By defending the Trump delisting rule that a court already rejected and overturned, the agency is paving the way for more wolf killing–wolves will die by bullet, trap, and brutal neck snares if the USFWS, NRA, and trophy hunters succeed.

Unlike the USFWS, we won’t quit on wolves. We hope you won’t either.Please make a gift today to keep the pressure on this once-proud agency to do the work.

Thank you for your commitment to wildlife and wild places.

Sincerely,

Susan Holmes
Executive Director
Endangered Species Coalition
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PS. Links not working? Please support our wolf-saving work at this URL: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wolfusfws

1. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/gray_wolves/

The post The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is siding with the NRA and trophy hunters appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Idaho Fish and Game brochure distributed to sport shops ignores grizzly bear protections 

Boise, Idaho—The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) distributed a brochure that misleads the public about a binding legal order limiting recreational wolf trapping in the state’s grizzly bear habitat when the bears are active on the landscape. In March 2024, Federal Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale issued an order prohibiting Idaho from authorizing wolf trapping and snaring in Idaho’s Panhandle, Clearwater, Salmon, and Upper Snake regions between March 1 and November 30 on public and private lands to prevent the unlawful harm or killing of Endangered Species Act-protected grizzly bears. 

The post Idaho Wolf-Trapping Brochure Misleads Public About Judge’s Binding Order  appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Help the Endangered Species Coalition work on the ground in Montana to establish new protections for wolves around Yellowstone National Park. Your gift today to keep wolves safe will be matched by a generous donor.

Wyoming and Idaho have rightfully received much of the recent attention for their gruesome wolf killing programs. The number of wolves in Idaho dropped by more than 10 percent last year–and the state intends to kill as many as 60 percent of its wolves–leaving just 500 in the whole state.

In Wyoming, wolves can be killed without limit in 85 percent of the state. These pro-killing policies encouraged the recent torture and killing of a wolf in that state. Her brutal death at the hands of a snowmobile rider who paraded her around a local pub before killing her behind the establishment may finally lead to a ban on intentionally killing animals with snowmobiles. But there is an enormous amount of resistance to that change and work to be done to achieve it.

Montana has done little to discourage similar intolerance and killing and is proposing allowing up to 334 wolves to be killed in the coming year, an increase of two dozen over last year.

Help us fight to stop the wolf killing regimes with a gift during our Summer Match Campaign. Your gift will be matched by a generous donor giving you twice the wolf-saving impact.

Our Montana Representative is working to protect wolves everywhere but the immediate need is keeping wolves safe around Yellowstone National Park. Last winter, 13 wolves were killed and three of Yellowstone’s 11 packs were torn apart.These wolves are national treasures who draw visitors from around the globe.

The Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park recently asked¹ the state of Montana to do more to keep wolves safe when they cross the invisible border and step out of the park. We are asking Montana to do even more to keep Yellowstone wolves safe and organizing supporters to pressure Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission to act. Yellowstone’s wolves–all wolves–deserve to live wild lives free of the gruesome threats of neck snares, indiscriminate traps, and trophy hunters.

Please make a gift today to help us continue to work to protect wolves and a generous donor will match it dollar for dollar doubling your impact up to our campaign goal of $30,000. We are almost halfway there and need your help to close that gap.

Thank you for your commitment to wildlife and wild places.

Sincerely,

Susan Holmes
Executive Director
Endangered Species Coalition
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PS. Are the links not working? Please make your gift at this URL: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/wolfmatch2024

1. https://wyofile.com/yellowstone-superintendent-seeks-hunting-relief-for-wolves-after-another-deadly-winter/

The post We can stop the killing of Yellowstone’s wolves appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

The post Your support saves wolves and other endangered species appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Endangered Species Coalition staff and our Washington State volunteers led the grassroots efforts in opposition to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s proposed downlisting of the wolf’s status from endangered to sensitive.  

State protection for wolves is important as wolves are only protected in the western two-thirds of the state under the Endangered Species Act.

Wolves returned to Washington in 2008 but still only number approximately 250 animals.

In 2011, Washington Developed a Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, a nearly 300-page document subjected to peer review and analyzed through an Environmental Impact Statement. 

The Plan sets standards before wolves can be delisted or downlisted, and Washington’s wolf population has not met these benchmarks.   

The Plan established three wolf recovery zones: Eastern Washington, Northern Cascades, and the Southern Cascades and Northwest Coast. To downlist to threatened, the Plan requires at least two successful breeding pairs in each of the three recovery regions. To downlist to sensitive, the Plan requires at least four successful breeding pairs in each of the three recovery regions. 

There are no successful breeding pairs in the South Cascades and Northwest Coast recovery zone, the largest recovery zone with the most wolf habitat. 

Under pressure from special interests, the department chose to ignore the conservation and management plan and proposed downlisting wolves to sensitive status. This would have decreased the penalties for poaching wolves from $5,000 and/or up to a year in jail to $1,000 and/or up to 90 days in jail when wolf poaching incidents are on the rise.   It would have also eliminated the requirement that foresters avoid tree harvesting and road construction within 1 mile of known wolf den sites, a rule that will become increasingly important as the wolf population moves west. 

When the department proposed the downlisting in February 2023, 681 of our Washington members commented opposing it. When the final draft proposal was released this year in March, ESC testified against it, and 423 Washington residents and 8,851 members from across the country submitted comments.

The commission decided to vote on the proposal at its July meeting. In response, the Endangered Species Coalition turned out over 40 of our members to testify at their June meeting.And on the weekend before the July vote we were able to get over 100 of our Washington State members to write personal letters to the commissioners opposing the proposal.Along with other environmental organizations, we intensely lobbied commissioners until the last moment. 

The outcome of the vote was unknown and only decided once the votes were cast. One commissioner switched his vote to keep wolves listed as endangered, giving wolves a 5 to 4 victory.

The post WIN in Washington state! Wolves to remain protected as endangered appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Make a gift to protect wolves and it will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

As the Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition, I am reaching out to you today with both a sense of urgency and hope. After years of conservation efforts, wolves have begun to return to their former homes. The first litter of pups has been born to the wolves reintroduced in Colorado and California has seven confirmed wolf packs. Yet, even as we celebrate this progress, their kin faces dire challenges in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies, where threats loom.

That is why this summer, with your support, we are ramping up our efforts. We have initiated a new national campaign to stop the epidemic of cruelty and killing and to advocate for a strong National Gray Wolf Recovery Plan that will ensure wolves return to their rightful place on the American landscape.

Like me, you know that protecting and recovering wolves is more than just a cause–it’s a testament to our commitment to preserving the rich tapestry of life on our planet. That’s why I’m excited to share our Summer Matching Campaign for Wolves with you. Thanks to a generous donor, every gift you make will be matched, doubling your impact in our fight to safeguard wolves and other endangered species.

Donate now and have your gift matched to protect wolves!

But our work to save wolves cannot succeed without your generous support. Your gift today will fuel our advocacy and help to ensure wolves can thrive in their natural habitats without the shadow of extinction.

Join other supporters in making a stand for wolves. Imagine a future where the howls of wolves in the wild are not just echoes of the past but a living, breathing part of our natural world. With your donation, we can turn this vision into reality.

Make a gift now, and it will be matched dollar-for-dollar doubling your impact to save wolves.

By supporting the Endangered Species Coalition, you’re not just giving to an organization; you’re joining a community dedicated to making a lasting difference. Together, we can begin to overcome the challenges wolves face and ensure they remain a symbol of wilderness for future generations.

Thank you for your support and for standing with us in our campaign to protect and restore gray wolves.

With gratitude,

Susan Holmes
Executive Director
Endangered Species Coalition

P.S. Remember, your gift will be matched during our Summer Matching Campaign, amplifying your impact for wolves in Colorado and beyond. Don’t wait – act now to protect these incredible animals. (Make your matched donation here!)

The post Help save wolves and your gift will be matched appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

Along with this exciting development, we are excited to announce the completion of our new short film celebrating the success of  Colorado wolf reintroduction efforts. The film by Director Alan Lacy is titled “Welcome Home” and we are excited to share it with you! This 20 minute film will premiere in Denver on Thursday July, 18th at 6pm. Stay tuned for details on how to view the film online. 

Along with creating an amazing new film. We have been advocating for Colorado wolves at the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission meetings. We’ve been asking for patience from ranchers, CPW and all folks learning to live with wolves. Thankfully, the Commission heard us and they have decided to assemble a working group to determine questions about what constitutes “chronic depredation.” We have also been asking the Commission to do all they can to protect wolves on the border with Wyoming where they are not only without protections, they are often brutally killed there as part of the culture of disdain and abuse of wildlife there. 

We need to continue to give ourselves and our wolves room to learn what life together is like again while keeping in mind that Colorado can do this and do this right. We need to choose restraint and thoughtfulness even in the face of provocateurs who are cynically spreading lies and generating fears about wolves. 

As we enter summer let’s look at the hope and promise that wolf pups bring. Let’s remember to speak up for the wolves who need advocates like you to ensure they have a chance to thrive. 

The post Update: Colorado has wolf pups! appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

By now, you have likely read or heard about the heartbreaking torture and killing of a wolf in Wyoming.¹ The details are horrific. This yearling wolf–who some have named Theia–was run down by a 700-pound snowmobile and incapacitated, her mouth was taped shut, and she was paraded, clinging to life, around a local bar, before being killed out back. This was torture.

Support our fight to protect wolves from torture and brutal hunting and trapping with your gift today.

The attacker–Cody Roberts, of Wyoming–was able to legally crush the young wolf with a snowmobile and ultimately kill and skin her because gray wolves in Wyoming are not protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and have nearly no protections in the state.

Without the protections of the ESA, wolves can be killed on sight in 85 percent of the state of Wyoming. That means that a wolf can be trapped, shot, or crushed by a snowmobile, and that state and federal animal cruelty and conservation laws do not apply.

The attacker’s only infraction, as far as Wyoming is concerned, was not killing her faster.

These wolves need protection, friend. We are working with our partners on the ground in Wyoming to support change at the state level and we are leading the charge in pushing Congress and the Administration to finally protect gray wolves under federal law.

Make a gift today to help protect wolves in Wyoming and throughout the country where they lack safeguards from torturous hunting and trapping.

In the Interior Department’s February 2nd decision not to protect wolves in Wyoming and the region, the agency quoted the current Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, in saying, “I am committed to ensuring that wolves have the conservation they need to survive and thrive in the wild based on science and law…”

A mere 26 days later, Theia was tortured and killed. While Secretary Haaland may not have envisioned the brutality that would follow her agency’s decision, Wyoming’s intolerance for wolves was and is well known. And if her commitment is sincere, it is time to act and protect wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

Make a gift to keep us in the fight to save wolves in the Western United States and beyond.

The Endangered Species Coalition is a leader in the fight to regain Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the Western United States and everywhere else they face unbearable threats.

• We have organized Congressional letters-of-support for protection and brought experts to Washington, DC to make the case for saving these wolves.
• We bring hundreds of conservation organizations together around the shared goal of fighting for wolves.
• We mobilize hundreds of thousands of activists to pressure decision-makers to act. Our request of the Administration has not wavered. And we are not going anywhere.

Please make a gift today to support our ongoing campaign to protect wolves in the Western United states and everywhere they are in peril.

The fight for justice for Theia and for change to protect wolves will not be easy. While there is widespread condemnation of the attacker’s actions–so far, no state or federal officials have committed to change. When this moment fades from the spotlight, we need to have made real progress in protecting wolves from future attacks and to allow them to recover. I hope that you will join us in this fight with a gift of any amount today.

Thank you for your commitment to wolves and wildlife. .

Sincerely,

Susan Holmes
Executive Director
Endangered Species Coalition
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PS. Are the links not working? Please support our work to save wolves at this URL: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/save-wolves-nationally2

1. https://www.endangered.org/wyoming-wolf-tortured-and-killed-usfws-must-act/

The post Stop the Torture and Killing of Wolves appeared first on Endangered Species Coalition.

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,

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.