- by Rachel Tilseth, the founder of the Wolves of Doublas County
- on December 20, 2015
This
year in review for the Great Lakes wolf has seen it all from being federally
protected, to threats of delisting, and anti- wolf riders being rejected. The
year 2015 started out on a positive note for wolf advocates, because a federal
Judge had ordered the Great Lakes Wolf back on the ESA on December 19, 2014.
This positive news didn’t last long and wolf advocates began to brace
themselves against the possibility that the Great Lakes wolf could be delisted
at any given moment. Anti-wolf factions were angered by the decision that
returned the wolf back under federal protections. These anti-wolf factions
began to work with special interests groups to undermine the endangered species
act by attaching riders on legislation that would prevent any judicial review
and return wolves back into the hands of states. Thus began the battle to save
the great Lakes wolf.
On
Friday December 19, 2014, the news broke that Great Lakes wolves were returned
to the Federal Endangered Species Act immediately.Several organizations challenged a rule that had removed the Great Lakes wolf from the Endangered Species Act. The humane society of the United States, the Center for Biological Diversity, Help Our Wolves Live, Friends of Animals and their Environment, and Born Free USA were the organizations that successfully sued to have the Great Lakes wolf put back on the ESA. The following is a press release from HSUS:
“Sport
hunting and trapping of wolves in the Great Lakes region must end immediately,
a federal District Court has ruled. The court overturned a U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service decision that removed Endangered Species Act protections for
gray wolves living in the western Great Lakes region, which includes Michigan,
Minnesota, and Wisconsin.” Citation: HSUS
The
following is excerpts from the ruling:
“In
its 111-page ruling, the court chided the USFWS for failing to explain why it
ignored the potential for further recovery of wolves into areas of its historic
range that remain viable habitat for the species. The court also noted that the
USFWS has failed to explain how the “virtually unregulated” killing of wolves
by states in the Great Lakes region does not constitute a continued threat to
the species.” Citation: HSUS
Young
wolf killed in Wisconsin’s third wolf hunt. Wisconsin is the only state that
allows unregulated wolf hound hunting.
Great
Lakes states were not willing to protect an endangered species. The following
are some examples of unregulated sport hunting of wolves that took place while
they were off the ESA list.
1. Wisconsin rushed to hunt wolves with the aid of hound hunting dogs.
Out of all the states that hunt wolves, only Wisconsin allows hound hunters to
use unleashed packs of dogs to hunt wolves. Wisconsin, quite literally, throws
“dogs to the wolves.” Citation: Wolves of Douglas County
Wisconsin’s blog, ‘Fact sheet’
2. Minnesota
used snares to kill wolves. Can it get any more violent? Wolves were killed in
Minnesota using these snare traps. Minnesota hunting regulations MDNR use of
snare for trapping begins. Citation: WODCW blog
In
other news, Michigan citizens worked hard to overturn any and all bids to hunt wolves and
to keep wolves protected. For more information on this fight visit Keep Michigan Wolves Protected.
Returning
wolves to the ESA was the best news of the year for wolf advocates in the Great
Lakes region. Shortly after this good news broke, anti-wolf legislators began
designing legislation calling for the delisting of wolves without any judicial
review. In response to this anti-wolf legislation, several pro wolf organizations
called for a compromise:
“…
a petition from 22 regional and national conservation and wolf advocacy
organizations, to keep protections in place – asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to reclassify wolves from “endangered” to “threatened.” The proposal
would ensure federal oversight of wolves, encourage the development of a
national recovery plan, and keep funding in place for wolf recovery while
permitting states to address specific wolf conflicts.” Citation: WODCW blog
The
fight to keep Wolves on the endangered species list continued in June, as the US Fish and Wildlife Service
denied the threatened status for the gray wolf. Science was ignored by Wisconsin and
Minnesota and trophy hunting became the only acceptable tool used to manage the
Great Lakes wolf. It was no wonder a federal judge ordered them back on
the ESA on December 19th after three years of unregulated trophy
hunting in the Great Lakes region.
In
Wisconsin news, it was determined that a trophy hunt on wolves did not increase
tolerance of wolves and that state residents needed wolf education in order to
increase their tolerance of wolves.
In
addition, Scientists began to speak out against trophy hunts on wolves:
“There
was a notion held widely in the scientific literature and said at public
meetings that a public hunting season would increase acceptance of wolves,”
says Adrian Treves, professor in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies
and co-author of the study. In fact, the Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources cited “maintaining social tolerance” as a goal of the wolf harvest in
a statement in 2013… While wolf hunting is again illegal — the animals were
relisted as a federally endangered species in 2014 — study lead author Jamie
Hogberg, a researcher at the Nelson Institute, suggests policymakers and
wildlife managers might consider other ways to improve social tolerance and
reduce conflict between the animals and people going forward.” Citation: Tolerance
of wolves in Wisconsin continues to decline, UW-Madison news.
In
an attempt to satisfy anti-wolf special interests, several members of congress
began to push legislation to delist the Great Lakes wolf:
“Johnson’s
bill would mirror H.R. 884, a bill introduced last month by U.S. Rep. Reid
Ribble that would again remove wolves in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan from
the Endangered Species List. The bills would override a December federal court
ruling that outlawed wolf hunts. Cited from Wisconsin Public Radio, Sen.
Johnson Plans To Introduce Bill Delisting Wolf Under Endangered Species Act,
Legislation Would Mirror Rep. Ribble’s Bill In House,” Friday,
March 6, 2015, Glen Moberg.
Conditions
worsened for the Great Lakes wolf, as anti-wolf legislation took the form of a rider
attached to a federal budget that called to delist wolves without any judicial
review. Great Lakes wolf advocates rushed to defend the endangered species Act
from being undermined. Advocates used tweetstorms, letter writing, and email
campaigns to stop anti-wolf legislation.
The most recent news on the delisting question took place in November 2015…
However,
a greater debate broke out between scientists. There were many who advocated
delisting, but there were even more who did not believe wolves should be
delisted. The following is an account of the pro-wolf listing scientists:
“In
recent weeks, scientists and researchers have been speaking up. Adrian Treves,
a University of Wisconsin-Madison environmental studies professor, has
co-authored a paper in the journal Biological Reviews that says by allowing
hunters to shoot and trap wolves, Wisconsin legislators violated the Public
Trust Doctrine that says governments must maintain natural resources for the
use of current and future generations of the general public… This week, Treves
joined 28 other scientists in arguing that Endangered Species Act protection
for the wolves should be kept. Treves contends a different group of scientists
that released a pro-delisting letter last week misunderstood the finer points
of law, public attitudes and scientific evidence.” Citation: http://bit.ly/21h1be4
The
following information concerns scientists who asked that wolves be delisted:
“Former
DNR wolf biologist Adrian Wydeven, now coordinator of the Timber Wolf Alliance
at Northland College in Ashland, said the group has a message for Congress:
“Just want to let them know that many of us feel wolves have recovered and they
should be a state-managed species at this point,” Wydeven said.” Citation:
http://bit.ly/21h1be4
I
even weighed in on the debate in the same post…
“Various
advocates are lining up behind the two groups of scientists. Rachel Tilseth, of
Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin, disagreed with Wydeven…”Can states be
trusted to manage wolves? I think not, and many other scientists agree that
individual states cannot be trusted,” Tilseth said.”
And
also in my own blog…
Wolves
must remain under federal protection until individual states in the Great
Lakes, can learn how to protect an iconic species. Scientists have just begun
to understand how essential wolves are to maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Hunting wolves as a management tool only serves special interest groups bent on
eradication. Citation: WODCW blog
Since
the Great Lakes wolves were returned to the endangered Species Act on December,
19, 2014, Washington DC has issued a steady stream of anti-wolf legislation.
Keeping the Great Lakes wolf under federal protection has been the biggest
battle of the year.
A welcomed bit of hope for the wolf came out in April
2015 in the form of a documentary, Medicine
of the Wolf, a film made in Minnesota. This film features wolf advocates,
such as renowned National Geographic photographer Jim Brandenburg and Michigan
Scientist John Vucetich. This film was produced and directed by Julia
Huffman. I recommend you purchase this film available for sale now.
The following link will take you to the film’s website: http://bit.ly/1fufXDP
At
last, a victory came for the Great Lakes wolves, almost one year after they
were ordered back under federal protections. The rider ordering the delisting
of our wolves was removed from the omnibus budget bill:
“A proposal that would have taken gray wolves
in the western Great Lakes region and Wyoming off the endangered list did not
make it into a massive year-end congressional tax and spending package, an
omission that surprised its backers but was welcomed Wednesday by groups that
support maintaining federal protections for the predators… Cooler heads
prevailed in Congress,” said Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the Humane Society of the
United States. He said a letter written by Sens. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and
Barbara Boxer, D-California, and signed by 23 other senators including Gary
Peters, D-Michigan, helped make the difference. Citation: WODCW
blog
Although
this is good news for Great Lakes wolves, they are not out of the woods yet;
read on:
“The
Obama administration, Michigan, Wisconsin and Wyoming are appealing the two
decisions. Minnesota is not formally a party to the Midwest case, but the state
attorney general’s office filed an amicus brief Tuesday supporting a reversal.”
The brief states that Minnesota’s wolf management plan will ensure the animals
continue to thrive in the state and that Minnesota’s wolf population and range
have expanded to the point of saturating the habitat in the state since the
animals went on the endangered list in 1973, thus creating human-wolf conflict
that is unique in its cost and prevalence. Citation: http://goo.gl/y7mVNq
There
are still several anti-wolf bills in congress that would delist the wolf in the
Great Lakes region, but at the end of this year, the Great Lakes wolf is still federally
protected by the endangered species act. The question I ask for the coming year
is this: will the president and congress protect iconic and endangered
species? We must constantly remind both that they should do exactly that.
For
more information on how to help keep the Great Lakes wolf listed, click on the
following links:
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