Bush administration revokes endangered species protection for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies

[Amerigo Vespucci]

http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/nrdc-action-fund-press-room.html

Current Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Craig Noble, NRDC Action Fund, [e-mail], 415/875-6100 (office) or 415/601-8235 (mobile)

Bush Decision Jeopardizes Wolves, Thwarts Will of Americans

Legal action means fight not over to protect iconic animal, says NRDC Action Fund

New York (February 21, 2008) – The Bush administration has turned a deaf ear to sound science and the will of millions of Americans once again with a misguided decision announced today to revoke endangered species protection for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, according to the NRDC Action Fund.

"Hunting, trapping, poisoning, even killing wolf pups in their dens could all be allowed again if the wolf killing machine is put back into action," said Louisa Willcox of the NRDC Action Fund. "Wolf extermination was the name of the game before the Endangered Species Act, and this delisting plan could put the species right back to the brink of extinction."

NRDC Action Fund supporters sent more than 150,000 comments and emails to the Bush administration, urging it to maintain strong protections for the wolves under the Endangered Species Act. But today's action shows that the administration is unresponsive to the will of Americans and the expertise of independent scientists.

The Action Fund's partner organization, the Natural Resources Defense Council, is expected to file a lawsuit challenging the delisting decision on the grounds that it is too soon to remove protections because the wolves have not fully recovered.

About 1,500 wolves currently live in the Northern Rockies. All but 300 could be the killed, and the government would still consider them officially recovered. Independent scientists say there should be at least 2,500 to 5,000 wolves to ensure the species' long term health and survival.

Conservationists say delisting wolves and allowing their slaughter will reverse more than a decade of wolf recovery progress, which began in 1995 when the federal government reintroduced wolves in the wild in central Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. Since then, the wolves have thrived, grown in numbers and spread outside the park, restoring a natural balance that had been altered after their extermination during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

[MaryCeleste]

1. M$M said the wolves were at least 200% of threshold for delisting

Is that addressed anywhere?