Press Release: Howling For Wolves joins 150+ conservation groups, 92 U.S. House members, and 25 U.S. Senators to #VetoExtinction

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2015

CONTACT: Dr. Maureen Hackett, Howling For Wolves, 612.250.5915 or Leslie Rosedahl, LWRosedahl@locklaw.com, 651.353.1818.

Howling For Wolves joins 150+ conservation groups, 92 U.S. House members, and 25 U.S. Senators to #VetoExtinction
Letters asks President Obama to reject attacks on the Endangered Species Act

(St. Paul, Minn) – Minnesota-based wolf advocacy organization Howling For Wolves, along with 150+ conservation groups, sent a letter to President Obama asking him to #VetoExtinction, and oppose anti-Endangered Species Act policy riders during negotiations on final funding legislation for Fiscal Year 2016.

Congressional attacks on the Endangered Species Act and other critical environmental protections have increased with alarming frequency in recent years, and both the Senate and the House of Representatives included a record number of riders that weaken the Endangered Species Act in appropriations bills to fund the Department of the Interior for Fiscal Year 2016. These riders would remove vital protections for species at risk of extinction, prevent future protection for imperiled species, and otherwise dramatically undermine the Endangered Species Act.

This letter follows two recent letters from both the House and the Senate in which 92 members of the House and 25 U.S. senators, respectively, urged the president to steadfastly reject all riders that undermine the Endangered Species Act in Fiscal Year 2016 spending legislation.

From the conservation groups’ letter:
“The conservation challenges America faces today are far greater and more complex than they were when the Endangered Species Act was enacted over four decades ago.  We face the reality of climate change and other enormous threats to our planet’s biodiversity—which in turn threaten our own survival as a species. Scientists predict that as many as 30 to 50 percent of all species could be heading toward extinction by mid-century. Clearly, now is not the time to weaken the best tool our nation has to combat the planet’s sixth great wave of extinction.”

“As your Administration works with Congress to negotiate the Fiscal Year 2016 omnibus appropriations bill, we urge you to flatly reject all riders that undermine the Endangered Species Act in any way, including weakening or preventing protection for specific species. These harmful measures have no place in the appropriations context and only serve to chip away at one of America’s most popular and effective environmental laws. We look forward to working with your Administration to uphold the Endangered Species Act, continuing the legacy of conservation for which this great country is known.”

Saturday, November 7 would have been the first day of the fourth consecutive trophy wolf hunt in Minnesota but for a federal court ruling last December placing Minnesota (and Great Lakes) wolves back on the federal Endangered Species List. Today, Minnesota wolves have federal protection and may not be hunted. They are listed as a “threatened” species, and may be killed in the defense of human life or by government agents for livestock predation. This change in status happened December 19, 2014 in a federal court decision overturning a 2011 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to delist Great Lakes wolves. Minnesota  has had three consecutive wolf hunting and trapping seasons. During the three years of a state-sponsored trophy hunts, 1700 wolves have been killed or found dead.

“Wolf trophy hunting is reckless, unpopular, and unnecessary. Howling For Wolves, together with the majority of Minnesotans, celebrate wolves living this year without a wolf trophy hunt. We ask state and federal policymakers to continue to support the Endangered Species Act and allow wolves to exist in the wild,” said Howling For Wolves Founder and President Dr. Maureen Hackett.

“While the wolf trophy hunt has been stopped by the federal courts for the time being, it’s important for us to make sure people – and policymakers – know of the continued support for effective, science-based, and nonlethal strategies so communities and wolves can coexist. We have the largest and only remaining original wolf population in the lower 48 states that never went extinct, and we want to protect them for future generations,” said Hackett.

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Howling For Wolves (HFW) is a wolf advocacy organization that aims to educate the public and policy-makers about wolves to foster understanding and tolerance, and to ensure their long-term survival in Minnesota. HFW seeks innovative non-lethal solutions for conflict prevention and coexistence where wolves are perceived to be a threat. We oppose the random killing of non-problem wolves for trophies and the cruel methods utilized. HFW’s current efforts focus on the Minnesota’s gray wolves, which is the largest and only original wolf population (never went extinct) remaining in the lower 48 states.