Public Comments Wanted for Wyoming Wolf Plan

From: WildEarth Guardians

First delisting, then hunting. Now the Wyoming wolf plan is the latest threat to Northern Rockies wolves.

Let’s stop this disastrous plan from taking effect

When Congress delisted the Northern Rockies wolves from the Endangered Species Act last spring, it excluded Wyoming for failing to produce a viable management plan. No state has been more antagonistic to wolves than the “Cowboy State.” The Wyoming wolf plan would allow wolves to be killed without a license for most of the year throughout most of the state.

But now Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has opened the door to delisting in Wyoming. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced this summer that it would accept Wyoming’s plan for the purpose of delisting wolves in that state, and is currently accepting public comment on that decision.

Please join WildEarth Guardians in opposing the plan and the federal government’s proposal to delist wolves in Wyoming.

As drafted, the Wyoming wolf plan would:

• Permit hunting in an important dispersal corridor, foreclosing wolf migration to Utah and Colorado.

• Threaten wolf packs in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks that venture outside those protected areas.

• Isolate Wyoming wolf packs from other wolves in Idaho and Montana.

• Reduce the current population—estimated at 343 wolves—by almost half.

The federal government has spent 16 years and millions of dollars to reintroduce wolves in the West. The vast majority of the public supports wolf restoration. Wyoming’s wolf plan would squander this investment.

Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service to retain federal protection for Wyoming wolves until that state produces a plan that supports full recovery for the species.