PRESS RELEASE: Howling For Wolves opposes removing Endangered Species Act protections for wolves

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 29, 2020

CONTACT: Dr. Maureen Hackett, Howling For Wolves, 612.250.5915 or Leslie Rosedahl, Respond@HowlingForWolves.org, 651.353.1818

Howling For Wolves opposes removing Endangered Species Act protections for wolves

(St. Paul, Minn.) – Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a federal rule removing Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states, including in Minnesota. The rule was proposed earlier last year.

Current state law allows the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to decide on a hunting and trapping season for wolves, if they are removed from the federal Endangered Species List. In all states where wolves previously lost federal protections, hunting and trapping were previously implemented and wolf persecution and poaching immediately resumed. However, Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan have indicated their opposition to sport hunting of wolves.

Dr. Maureen Hackett, founder and president of Howling For Wolves, a Minnesota-based wolf advocacy organization, said in response:

“The vast majority of Minnesotans, Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan, and many lawmakers, want the wolf protected for future generations. Howling For Wolves works to ensure the survival of the wolf and is adamant in our opposition to wolf trophy hunting and trapping. We have witnessed how wolf hunting and trapping harms the wolf population. Human wolf killing destroys the individual wolf, which is a magnificent and social animal, and these killings cause other secondary wolf deaths. Research shows that human wolf killing disrupts wolf packs, causing unstable and unpredictable effects including increased wolf-livestock conflicts.

This political decision to remove federal Endangered Species Act protections for the wolf is against public sentiment, sound science, and will destroy our nation’s endangered species. 

This rule puts the wolf on the path to extinction. Instead of stripping their protections, we should put more effort into coexistence with wolves. We need a nonlethal wolf plan and continued funding for prevention methods for farmers and ranchers to ensure an intact and healthy wolf population, because the wolf is vital for our ecology and the legacy of future Minnesotans.”

CURRENT STATUS:

Until today, Minnesota’s wolves were listed as a “threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act, and may be killed for concerns of human safety and by government agents for livestock predation. This change in status last happened December 19, 2014 in a federal court ruling overturning a 2011 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to delist the Great Lakes’ wolf.

PAST MINNESOTA WOLF HUNTS:

Minnesota held three consecutive wolf hunting and trapping seasons in the fall of 2012, 2013 and 2014. The first wolf hunt was held even without a baseline population estimate after 38 years of protections and no wolf hunting. Later estimates indicate that the wolf population decreased by 25 percent after the 2012 hunting season. As each hunt was held, wolves were killed rapidly, and the seasons were closed early. This was an indication that as the packs were disrupted, younger wolves were vulnerable and thus killed quickly. Currently, the total Minnesota wolf population trends are the lowest since 1988, with a potentially massive decrease in the genetic diversity needed for their survivability in stressful changing environments.

RULE COMMENTS AND OPPOSITION:

Approximately 1.8 million comments were submitted by the public opposing delisting. Howling For Wolves’ official comment letter on the delisting can be found here. Additionally, 86 members of Congress (in both the House and Senate), 100 scientists, 230 businesses, and 367 veterinary professionals submitted letters opposing the wolf delisting plan. Even the scientific peer reviews commissioned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that the agency’s proposal contained numerous errors and came to predetermined conclusions, lacking scientific support. Despite this public and scientific outcry, the rule issued today removes all federal protections from gray wolves.

CURRENT WOLF KILLING IN MINNESOTA:

Even though the wolf was on the federal Endangered Species list, they were still killed legally by government agents for suspected livestock predation. Hundreds of wolves are killed each year:

Annual known wolf mortality

The table below lists known wolf mortality for the indicated year. Totals are compiled annually after April 1 each year.

Citation: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/wolves/index.html

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 ****Howling For Wolves Founder and President Dr. Maureen Hackett is available for individual media interviews to highlight:

• What this federal action means for the gray wolf in Minnesota
• Details and history surrounding Minnesota’s wolf hunt from 2012 to 2015.
• Ongoing wolf and wildlife legislation under consideration at the Minnesota State Legislature
• Why the gray wolf is vital to Minnesota’s ecology and how the trophy hunt is detrimental to our state because of unpredictable effects.

The organization is urging the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and state and federal policymakers to:

• Implement nonlethal wolf policies that protect wolves and nonlethal conflict prevention methods for farmers’ livestock.
• End the cruel and indiscriminate methods of baiting, trapping, and snaring.
• Suspend the recreational wolf trophy hunt in Minnesota.

Howling For Wolves educates the public about the wild wolf to foster tolerance and to ensure the wolf’s long-term survival. Howling For Wolves opposes wolf hunting and trapping and all wildlife snaring. We advocate for nonlethal prevention methods that reduce wolf-livestock conflicts and support current federal protections for the wolf. www.HowlingForWolves.org.