NWF Takes Legal Action to Ensure Wolf Recovery in the Northeast
From National Wildlife Federation
Thursday, December 18, 2003
MONTPELIER, VT – Charging that the Bush administration’s decision to
abandon wolf recovery efforts in the Northeast violates the Endangered
Species Act (ESA), the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and four
coalition partners filed a lawsuit today in federal district court in
Vermont. In the complaint, NWF and the other groups explain that the final
Wolf Reclassification Rule that was issued in April effectively terminates
federal wolf recovery efforts in the Northeast, where suitable wolf
habitat exists and wolves are apparently beginning to return.
The rule changes the status of wolves from endangered to threatened in the
Northern Rockies and the Great Lakes where wolves have begun to thrive,
but terminates recovery planning for wolves in states like Maine, New
Hampshire and Vermont, where no wolf recovery efforts have taken place to
date. NWF asserts in the complaint that the administration declared
victory for gray wolf recovery based solely on the Northern Rockies and
Great Lakes wolf populations, which is in direct violation of its ESA
obligation to prevent extinction across a “significant portion” of the
wolf’s range.
“Although the thriving wolf populations in the Great Lakes and Northern
Rockies are indeed wildlife success stories, they cannot be used as an
excuse for abandoning the goal of wolf recovery in the Northeast,” said
Eric Palola, Director of NWF’s Northeast Natural Resource Center in
Montpelier, Vermont. “Lumping the Northeast into the successful wolf
recovery efforts in the Great Lakes and Northern Rockies is analogous to a
presidential candidate claiming victory in New Hampshire after winning in
Iowa.”
Today, the wolf can be found on just three percent of its historic range
in the lower 48 states while millions of acres of former habitat remain
potentially available for wolf restoration. There have been several
reports of wolves from Canada crossing the frozen St. Lawrence Seaway into
Maine, and just north of New Hampshire in recent years. By terminating the
federal recovery program in the Northeast, NWF asserts that the
administration reduces the likelihood that wolves migrating southward from
Canada will be able to establish a viable population in the sparsely
populated regions of Maine, despite suitable habitat and availability of
prey.
“Rather than walk away from pursuing wolf recovery in the Northeast, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should be educating people about how wolves
contribute to a healthy environment for the Northern forests and working
to establish agreements with Canada and among the states where habitat
exists,” says Palola.
In a proposed rule issued in 2000 during the Clinton administration, the
Fish and Wildlife Service called for recovery of the Northeast wolf
population, explaining that “a population of gray wolves in [the
Northeast] is significant and will contribute to the overall restoration
of the species.” Scientific peer reviewers uniformly supported this
proposal. However, in the final rule, the Bush administration abandoned
Northeast wolf recovery without addressing these earlier statements.
“The administration’s plan is illegal and contrary to what all scientific
experts recommend for wolf recovery,” said John Kostyack, NWF Senior
Counsel for Wildlife Conservation and lead counsel in the forthcoming
lawsuit. “The Fish and Wildlife Service has an obligation under the ESA to
recover wolves in a significant portion of their historic range, and this
includes the forests of the Northeast states.”
“The Fish and Wildlife Service should build on its successful wolf
recovery efforts to date in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes region to
form partnerships for recovery on suitable landscapes in the Northeastern
states where recovery is feasible,” said Ann MacMichael of the Maine Wolf
Coalition, one of the groups joining the legal action.
“NWF’s legal action targets the Northeast because wolf recovery in this
region doesn’t stand a chance without a reversal of this portion of the
administration’s rule,” said Peggy Struhsacker, Program Coordinator for
Wolf Recovery in NWF’s Montpelier, Vermont office. “The howl of the wolf
has been missing too long from the Northern forests and our national wolf
recovery efforts cannot be declared complete while that gap remains.”
A recent poll conducted by Henry P. Kendall Foundation showed that 63
percent of northern New Englanders believe it is important to have wolves
for the balance of nature.
Joining NWF in the lawsuit are: Maine Wolf Coalition, Maine Audubon
Society, Vermont Natural Resources Council and Environmental Advocates of
New York. A copy of the complaint can be found on NWF’s web site at
www.nwf.org/newsroom. The coalition will be represented by attorneys John
Kostyack and Randy Sargent of the National Wildlife Federation and Patrick
Parenteau and Julia LeMense Huff of Vermont Law School’s Environmental and
Natural Resources Law Clinic.
A member-supported conservation education and advocacy group, the National
Wildlife Federation unites people from all walks of life to protect
nature, wildlife and the world we all share. The Federation has educated
and inspired families to uphold America’s conservation tradition since
1936.
For more information, contact:
John Kostyack
Senior Counsel
National Wildlife Federation