The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) is encouraging more public comment on the proposal to remove the gray wolf from the Threatened and Endangered Species list.
The US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) has extended the period for comment to Oct. 28 on two proposed rules that would accomplish delisting of the gray wolf, while protecting and expanding recovery efforts for the Mexican wolf, RMEF said in a news release.
“It is imperative that we as conservationists, outdoorsmen and women let our government know that wolves are no longer threatened or endangered,” said David Allen, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation president and CEO.” wolves surpassed minimum recovery objectives more than a decade ago in the Northern Rockies, thrive in the Great Lakes, and thousands in Canada and Alaska.”
According to RMEF, a comprehensive review by USFWS found that the listing for gray wolves was developed 35 years ago, and that it “erroneously included large geographical areas outside the species’ historical range.”
Gray wolf populations are growing in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Michigan, Wyoming and other states.
Recovery programs have been the subject of considerable controversy and legal action over the past few years. Hunters and wildlife managers are concerned that wolf populations will have a deleterious impact on big game herds.
“There are some who claim wolves remain threatened if they do not occupy their entire native range,” Allen said in the press release. “That does not mean they are endangered. The best available scientific research shows the gray wolf is recovered well beyond the point that it needs to be delisted. There are many such species, like elk, that do not cover their historic range. That does not mean they are endangered.”
Public hearings, begin with a Sept. 30 session in Washington, DC. Another is slated Oct. 2 in Sacramento, CA, and on Oct. 4 in Albuquerque, NM.
