Wolf Decision Upsets Northeast Wildlife Advocates
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided not to develop a recovery plan for wolves in the Northeast, saying there’s no breeding population in the region to protect.
Wildlife advocates in the Northeast are reacting with dismay to a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not to develop a recovery plan for wolves in the region.
In response to a citizens’ petition, the agency found that there is not currently a breeding population of wolves in the region to be protected. But advocates say a recovery plan could change that.
“There is extensive habitat for wolves in the Northeast,” says Mollie Matteson of the Vermont-based Center for Biological Diversity. “The only obstacle to the return of the wolf in the Northeast is leadership and a clear plan for their recovery.”
Individual wolves have been found in the Northeast, and are protected under the Endangered Species Act, but Matteson says it will require a regional recovery plan to restore breeding populations of the animals here.
Matteson says that kind of regional approach has helped restore populations of other endangered animals, such as bald eagles and peregrine falcons. She says wolves play a key role in the ecosystem, helping to control deer populations to the benefit of moose, bear and other species.