Wolves and Delisting: Carnivores Need National Protection

Since many wolves lost federal protection under the ESA in 2010 after a rider attached to an omnibus bill delisted them,  America’s wolves are once again being systematically and ruthlessly  slaughtered. The USFWS would have us believe that wolf recovery is a success but nothing is further from the truth.  Americans see wolves as a national treasure and we have spent millions of dollars restoring wolves to the western states after they were driven to extinction in the late 1800’s. Instead of being able to enjoy wolves on our public lands, the states that now manage them hunt them down as villains; entire packs are shot down using helicopters on our public lands and in wilderness areas, they are trapped in steel leghold traps while they wait for hunters to arrive and shoot or stomp them to death to preserve the fur, or caught in snares that choke them to death. Wolves are now hunted for sport as trophies with no regard for their unique sociality and pack structure. Wolves are blamed and scapegoated  by ranchers and  disgruntled separatists that hate federal agencies. There is no species, save perhaps coyotes,  that have been so ruthlessly persecuted. Yet there are few other species that have proven to be so beneficial to their habitats as wolves. There are few animals as intelligent, magnificent and iconic as the wolf. Wolves need protection and our help, now. To learn about wolves and their plight please visit some of the websites listed and we invite you to read the articles listed below. Stay tuned for posts on how to help.

By George Wuerthner  on wolf hunting

George Wuerthner is an ecologist and expert on wildlife. He is a prolific author on forest management issues and has written 35 books on national parks, conservation issues, wilderness areas, mountain ranges and wildlife issues. He is known for being a critic of the hunting of wolves. (Wolves are now being killed by the hundreds in Montana and Idaho.) George is a wonderful writer and advocate for wolves.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/09/01/the-moral-corruption-of-wolf-hunting/

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2013/10/14/north-american-model-of-wildlife-conservation-and-wolves/

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2014/04/17/a-response-to-paul-clarks-editorial-on-wolves-in-herald-news/

http://yeoldeconsciousnessshoppe.com/art74.html

http://www.westernwatersheds.org/wolves/lessons_from_west.html

http://mtprnews.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/george-wuerthner-commentary-wolf-hunting-and-trapping/

http://newwest.net/2013/06/14/wolf-delisting-premature-wuethner/

http://howlcolorado.org/tag/george-wuerthner/

Wild Earth Guardian’s Report on How Two Groups Hijacked Wolf Recovery 

http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/DocServer/Wolf_Report_20120503.pdf?docID=5202

One of the best written essays I have read on why killing wolves is wrong. Thanks Sadie Parr and Marc Bekoff

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-bekoff/saving-wolves-with-compas_b_8271088.html