Tell U.S. Fish and Wildlife to fix its plan for wolf recovery

In 2015, a federal court ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rewrite its recovery plan for endangered Mexican gray wolves because the existing plan was inadequate to ensure wolf survival.  U.S. Fish and Wildlife is taking public comment now, and this is your chance to urge the agency to follow the law and write a rule that uses the best available science to insure wolf survival and recovery in the wild. 

Please go to this link to submit your comments, which are due June 15. Use your own words so they will carry more weight, but be sure to include that wolves and their recovery are important to you and why. Here are some additional points that will help to secure the future of wild lobos:

The Mexican wolf population must be declared “essential.” The current non-essential designation was found by the court to be arbitrary and capricious. An ‘essential designation means more regulatory protection, livestock operators would have to take proactive measures to reduce conflict and agencies like the Forest Service and BLM would have to consult the Fish and Wildlife Service to include Mexican wolves in their planning.

There should be no cap on the number of wolves in the wild. Wolves are self limiting, they once roamed all across the southwest and there is empty habitat waiting for wolves to again take their rightful  place in the biotic community. No other endangered species has an upper limit imposed on its numbers. 

Wolves need freedom from boundaries too.  They should never be removed from the wild for crossing a line on a map.

Removing lobos from wild by either killing them or placing them in permanent captivity must be a last resort. Wolves should never be penalized for eating elk and deer, their natural prey. Killing wolves should be restricted to cases where they pose a threat to human health or safety. A very high bar should be required of livestock owners on public land to protect their stock before removing wolves for preying on cattle.

More wolves need to be released into the wild from captivity to diversify the severely inbred genes of the wild population. Cross fostering pups is not enough, well bonded adults with pups need to be released also.

For more information, please visit the Mexican wolves coalition website here.

Thank you for speaking up for Mexican wolves!

Mary Katherine Ray

Wildlife Chair, Rio Grande Chapter Sierra Club