Wolves in Northern Rockies One Step Closer to Endangered Species Protection

VICTOR, Idaho – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that wolves in the west may be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The decision comes in response to an urgent petition from the Center for Biodiversity, the Humane Society of the United States, the Humane Society Legislative Fund, and the Sierra Club.

With today’s decision, a formal status review of gray wolves in the western United States begins. While the Fish and Wildlife Service declined to immediately restore wolf protection in an emergency, as requested in the petition, the agency noted that conservation of the species in the northern Rocky Mountains or the western United States is largely based on new laws in Idaho and Montana could be justified in authorizing the widespread killing of wolves.

Numerous tribal nations are also calling for the Gray Wolves Emergency Department and Biden Administration to meet contractual and fiduciary obligations that require tribal consultation on the protection and management of gray wolves.

“I hope wolves eventually get the protection they deserve, but the Fish and Wildlife Service should have stopped killing wolves now,” said Andrea Zaccardi, a senior lawyer at the Center for Biodiversity. “Anti-wolf policies in Idaho and Montana could wipe out wolves and undo decades of wolf recovery. We’re glad federal officials started a review, but wolves are now under guns so they need protection right away. “

“We’re glad the service took this important first step in restoring state protection that the Idaho and Montana wolves desperately need, but it’s not enough,” said Nicholas Arrivo, senior wildlife advocate for the Humane Society of the United States. “Wolves simply cannot afford to face months of gruesome and wanton slaughter while the service finishes its review. Without a new emergency listing, there may not be much of the population to protect after the process is complete. “

“Today’s decision by the service is a step in identifying serious new threats to wolves from hostile government management policies, but it is not enough to provide the emergency protection wolves need now,” said Bonnie Rice, Senior Representative for Our Wild America in the Sierra Club campaign. “The goal of the extreme new laws of Montana and Idaho is to decimate wolf populations in the northern Rocky Mountains. It makes no sense to allow wolves to be driven back to the brink of extinction and to undo over 40 years of efforts to recover wolves. “

Idaho’s new laws went into effect July 1st. Today begins the general wolf hunting season in Montana. Catching wolves in Montana will begin two weeks earlier this year on November 29th and will extend two weeks later to March 15th due to the new law.

Idaho’s new law could wipe out up to 90% of the state’s wolf population. It encourages private contractors to kill wolves, allows hunters and trappers to kill an unlimited number of wolves, and allows fishing on private land across the state year-round. You can also hunt wolves with dogs or run over them with all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles.

Montana’s new laws risk killing approximately 85% of the state’s wolf population. They allow the use of strangulation snares, night hunting and bait for hunting and catching wolves. Hunters and trappers can each kill up to 10 wolves and can have their cost of killing wolves reimbursed through a new bounty program. While Montana had previously set strict quotas outside of Yellowstone National Park to limit the killing of Yellowstone wolves, those quotas have been lifted.

The Endangered Species Act requires the service to make a final decision within one year of the petition dated May 26, 2021.