Action Alert: #TWEETSTORM at Congress #KeepWolvesListed and Protect the ESA -- Click here for more information from The Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin!

BREAKING NEWS: On 9 June 2015, the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee released their draft bill for FY2016. Included in the legislation is a rider which would (among other things) require the Secretary of the Interior to delist gray wolves in Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan from the list of endangered species. This rider, Section 121 of the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, provides for the delisting of gray wolves and would prohibit that rule from being subjected to future judicial review.

UPDATE: (7/24/15) -- INTERIOR AND ENVIRONMENT APPROPRIATIONS BILL DID NOT PASS THE HOUSE, DUE TO OTHER MORE PRESSING ISSUES. THE SENATE HAS NO PLANS TO BRING THE BILL TO THE FLOOR! You can read more about the "poison pill" riders to the appropriations bill here..

Fortunately, Representatives Grijalva and Hanna will offer an amendment that would remove the harmful ivory rider, and Representative Tsongas will offer an amendment to remove the wolf rider.

      Please call your U.S. Representative, your two U.S. Senators (plese see link below to Find your US Congressmen). Ask them to OPPOSE this rider, Section 121 of the Interior and Environment Appropriations bill, as well as any other bill or rider seeking to remove wolves once again from the protection of the Endangered Species Act!

      ASK THEM TO "Please vote “yes” on the Grijalva-Hanna ivory amendment and Tsongas wolf amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill."

     Ask them NOT to delist wolves through Congressional intervention - science not politics should dictate wildlife management. Policy decisions should be argued on their own merits and should not be included in appropriations.

    Find your US Congressmen   

    More Details on the Rider   

RIBBLE, KLINE, AND NEWHOUSE BILLS SEEK TO DELIST WOLVES FROM THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT ONCE AND FOR ALL!

      THE GOOD NEWS: On Friday, 19 December 2014, Federal District Court for the District of Columbia handed down a decision returning wolves in the Great Lakes Region, including Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, to the Federal Endangered Species List. (You can read Judge Beryl A. Howell's decision in its entirety here.) This meant NO "wolf harvest" (hunting) season, and of course, NO use of dogs to track and train in wolves (by federal law)

     THE BAD NEWS: Wisconsin Representative Reid Ribble (H.R.884), Representative John Kline of Minnesota (H.R843), and Rep. Dan Newhouse (H. R. 1985) have all introduced legislation to remove wolves from the protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) once and for all. If passed, these laws would allow the resumption of aggressive state-based population reduction programs (trapping, hunting, and, in WI, hounding) -- and proposed bills include the phrase "shall not be subject to judicial review," which means there would be NO legal recourse!

     WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT: PHONE AND WRITE TO your U. S Congressmen in Washington DC (the Representative of your district and BOTH of your Senators), inform them of the dangerous bills once again seeking to delist wolves from the protection of the ESA and ask them to:

1. OPPOSE H.R843, H.R.884, H.R. 1985, and any other bill or rider to remove wolves once again from the protection of the Endangered Species Act.

2. SUPPORT the January 27, 2015 petition to US Fish & Wildlife Service which down-lists wolves from "endangered" to "threatened" status under the ESA (thus allowing for "lethal control" of specific problem wolves to control depredation of livestock, if deemed necessary). Click here for more information on the petition and/or Read entire petition here.

3. SUPPORT a National Wolf Recovery Plan based on science, not emotion or lobbying by special interest groups.

    Find your US Congressmen   

     Many US Congressmen would prefer that you contact them by email. You will find an email form or address on their websites. Click here to find out how to contact your US Congressmen

      Please see below for additional information and talking points that will give you a starting point for your own letters. PLEASE NOTE: it is very important that you write your own unique letter, in your own "voice" and from your own "perspective."

     Try to keep your message brief, and be sure to give your name, address, and phone number. Please, ALWAYS be polite and respectful. Name-calling, and rude or abusive letters or emails will hurt, rather than help, our cause.

    Sample Message Format      Talking Points      Find your US Congressmen   

     MI Senator Gary Peters letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (pdf)   

    Open Letter to Members of Congress from Scientists on Federal Wolf Delisting (pdf)   

    Letter to Secretary Jewell on Gray Wolves March 4 2015 (pdf)   

    WI Wolf Hunt in Brief      "Media/Articles" page    

    Wolf Hunting in Wisconsin: Mainstream Hunters Speak Out   

   Sample Message Format:

       Below is a sample message format to give you a starting point for your own sentiments regarding the passage of a Federal law removing wolves from the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Feel free to put any of the Talking Points or other resources provided on this website into your own words as a starting point for your own sentiments and experiences. Remember, PLEASE always be respectful and courteous! Name-calling, and rude or abusive letters will hurt, rather than help, our cause.

     NOTE: On 4 March 2015, Natural Resources Minority Leader Juan Grijalva and 78 other members of Congress sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, urging her support of the petition to downlist gray wolves to protected. Please take a minute to read the Letter to Secretary Jewell on Gray Wolves March 4 2015 (pdf). If your US Congressman is one of the signers, PLEASE thank him/her!.

    Find your US Congressmen   

   Talking Points:

1. Background

• Wisconsin Representative Reid Ribble, Minnesota Representative John Kline, and Washington Represenative Dan Newhouse are leading the effort for legislation to remove wolves from the protection of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) once and for all. If passed, these laws would allow the resumption of aggressive state-based population reduction programs (trapping, hunting, and, in WI, hounding) -- and proposed bills include the phrase "shall not be subject to judicial review," which means there would be NO legal recourse! We feel that there will likely be even more bills of the same type coming up.

  • The Kline bill is H.R.843, the Western Great Lakes Wolf Management Act of 2015 and seeks "To prohibit treatment of gray wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan as endangered species, and for other purposes." It was introduced on 10 February 2015, and was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. The text of the bill states, in part, "Any wolf in Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan shall not be treated under any status of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), including as an endangered species, a threatened species, an essential experimental population, or a nonessential experimental population." . You can read more about H.R.843, including ful text, committee assignments and cosigners, here.

  • The Newhouse bill , H.R. 1985, the Pacific Northwest Gray Wolf Management Act of 2015, is a companion bill to H.R.843, seeking "To prohibit treatment of gray wolves in Washington, Oregon, and Utah as endangered species, and for other purposes. ." It was introduced on 23 April 2015, and was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. The text of the bill asks, in part, "Any wolf in a covered State shall not be treated under any status of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), including as an endangered species, a threatened species, an essential experimental population, or a nonessential experimental population. " .You can read more about H.R.1985, including the full text, committee assignments and cosigners, here.

  • The Ribble bill is H.R.884, "To direct the Secretary of the Interior to reissue final rules relating to listing of the gray wolf in the Western Great Lakes and Wyoming under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes." It was introduced on 11 February 2015, and was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. The text of the bill asks that the former delisting provisions for gray wolves in the Great Lakes and Wyoming be reinstated, "without regard to any other provision of statute or regulation that applies to issuance of such rule. Such reissuance shall not be subject to judicial review." According to Rep. Ribble, the bill would simply "allow the decision of the Fish & Wildlife Service to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act to stand. It does not alter the Endangered Species Act in any way, nor does it impede the Fish & Wildlife Service from relisting the gray wolf again in the future." .You can read more about H.R.884, including the full text, committee assignments and cosigners, here.

  • Delisting wolves in this manner sets a bad precedent and threatens all species protected under the Endangered Species Act. If congressmen can get wolves delisted, there might be no stopping other delisting efforts for far less beloved and notable species. Federal oversight could be removed, one species at a time, and the law entirely dismantled.

  • Survey results in Wisconsin and voter response in the 2014 election in Michigan show that an overwhelming majority of residents of these states are AGAINST the trophy hunting and trapping of wolves. So, why are Rep. Ribble and other congressmen ignoring the wishes of the majority of their constituents and pressing the issue on a Federal level at the behest of small special interest groups? (Keep Michigan Wolves Protected Declares Victory for Wolves and Voter Rights)

  • Livestock depredation is given as the main reason wolves should be hunted -- but the percentage of livestock actually killed by wolves is relatively small. (Wisconsin Ag Groups Push Congress to Delist Wolves) We concede that in some cases, livestock depredation is a valid concern. However, according to the 2014 Wolf Depredation Report, WI DNR, the actual numbers of confirmed or probable kills in Wisconsin in 2014 are relatively small: around 28 cattle, mostly calves, killed and 2 injured; 2 pet dogs killed, and 22 hunting dogs killed -- 21 hounds and one bird dog -- and 7 hounds injured). In addition, the report shows about a dozen reports "verified wolf harassment or threats" to livestock/livestock herds, and 4 reports of threats to Health & Safety.
         Previous Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Wolf Management Plan contained effective measures for "controlling nuisance wolves and reimbursing landowners for losses caused by wolves" without the use of hunting. See 2014 Wolf Depredation Report, WI DNR for numbers and types of livestock, hunting dogs, pets, etc. killed and injured during the past year, as well as verified harrasment or threats and unconfirmed complaints. Note that Wisconsin has a program for reimbursing livestock and dog owners who have documented cases of death or injury of domestic animals/ livestock by wolves UNLESS it's a dog either training for or actually hunting wolves.
         The depredation in MI has been exaggerated; please see Michigan's wolf hunt: How half truths, falsehoods and one farmer distorted reasons for historic hunt and The Michigan myth: How lawmakers turned this true wolf story into fiction for details.

  • Some legislators claim that wolves are a major threat to humans, but reports show that since 2000, only TWO human deaths have been attributed to wild wolves in North America. Wolves are essentially shy around humans and try to avoid them. See Wolf Attacks More Myth Than Reality for details.

  • Delisting wolves through legislation such as Rep. Ribble and Rep. Kline propose, with the phrase "shall not be subject to judicial review," is just plain wrong. It can potentially weaken the Endangered Species Act as a whole, and, in Rep. Ribble's case, is disrespectful to the majority of folks who put him into office.

• On January 27, 2015, 22 state and national organizations filed a petition with the US Fish & Wildlife Service to down-list wolves to "threatened" status under the ESA (thus allowing for "lethal control" of wolves to control depredation of livestock, if deemed necessary). If adopted, the proposal would continue federal oversight and funding of wolf recovery efforts and encourage development of a national science-based recovery plan for the species, while still allowing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service the flexibility to permit state and local wildlife managers to address specific wolf conflicts. "Lethal control" means the targeting of specific "problem" wolves, not state-wide indiscriminate hunting. In our view, the Petition offers a balanced and intelligent compromise to wolf management concerns. (More information on the petition) and (Read entire petition here)

• On 18 February 2015, more than 50 world-renowned wildlife biologists and scientists, many of whom have devoted their entire professional careers toward understanding the social and biological issues surrounding wolves in North America, sent a letter to Congress urging members to oppose any efforts to strip federal protections for wolves in the contiguous 48 states. Please take a minute to read An Open Letter to Members of Congress from Scientists on Federal Wolf Delisting.

• On 4 March 2015, Natural Resources Minority Leader Juan Grijalva and 78 other members of Congress sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, urging her support of the petition to downlist gray wolves to protected. Please take a minute to read the Letter to Secretary Jewell on Gray Wolves March 4 2015 (pdf).

2. The Hunt

• Wolf management programs that include hunting seem to be governed predominantly by special interests and not best available science. Please see Wisconsin's Proposed Wolf Reduction Worries Scientists, Journal Sentinal: Even insiders did not know who wrote the WI wolf hunt bill, and Republicans in Haste to “Harvest” Wolves.

• It's NOT a "hunter's rights" issue -- we're hearing from more and more hunters who are AGAINST trophy hunting and trapping of wolves. A lifelong waterfowl hunter tells us, "I have been a hunter since my dad took me hunting. I am an avid and ethical waterfowl hunter who took both sons and taught them to hunt watervowl based on the ethics that I was brought up on. I am opposed to the wolf hunt in general.... [C]hange starts with one person, an ethical hunter who is appalled with the wolf situation." We've found that many "mainstream" hunters agree. The idea of "trophy hunting" doesn't set well with most of the people we've heard from, and on 13 November 2012, a group of mainstream Wisconsin hunters received permission to file a legal brief with the Court voicing their opposition, as life-long hunters and land-owners, to the unrestricted use of dogs for hunting wolves and training for such hunting. Please see: Mainstream Hunters Speak Out.

• The majority of the 528 wolves "harvested" in the three Wisconsin hunts have been killed using steel-jawed leghold traps. We, as well as many hunters, consider these traps "unsporting" and cruel, as well as dangerous for curious bird dogs. Trapped wolves struggle and suffer -- often for hours -- until the trapper returns to kill them. Many other unsuspecting animals find themselves ensnared in these painful and deadly traps, also (including the occasional pet dog enjoying the great outdoors with its family).

• To our shame, Wisconsin is the ONLY state in the country to allow the use of dogs to track and trail wolves, with nearly unrestrained in-the-wild training of these dogs. This is NOT the type of leadership that reflects well on our state! In the hunt, and during training, GPS- equipped hounds are routinely sent to pursue wolves, often out of sight of, and miles away from, the actual hunters -- definitely out of their control. We have read documented accounts of the results of wolf/dog conflicts, with dogs grievously injured, terribly maimed, and horribly killed. Some have even expressed the fear that retrievers -- and pet dogs enjoying the outdoors with their owners -- may be put at risk as wolves come to see ALL dogs as a threat.

• Traps and dog packs may endanger other users of public lands. We have also heard from hikers, bird-watchers, property-owners, and even mainstream hunters who see this type of "hunting" and "training" as a year-round threat to both private property rights and safe use and enjoyment of public lands by everyone. It is even possible that Wisconsin has lost tourist dollars from out-of-state outdoor enthusiasts who just didn't want to take a chance on encountering a steel-jaw wolf trap or a pack of training/hunting hounds. Please see Sen. Fred Risser: Curtail hunting and trapping in state parks and Mainstream Hunters Speak Out,

3. The Ecology

• Gray wolves are highly intelligent and social animals, and have their place in the ecological balance. The Endangered Species Act has brought the gray wolf back from the danger of extinction from previous extermination efforts driven by fear, hatred, and excessive hunting, but recovery is still at risk. See Wisconsin's Proposed Wolf Reduction Worries Scientists for more information.

• Results of a 4-year study by a partnership of the Department of Natural Resources and University of Wisconsin show that the deer populations are NOT being overly depleted by wolves. According to Study Sheds Light on Top Causes of Deer Mortality, the rates of mortality were: human hunting 43% (higher, if you count 8% poaching), starvation 9%, coyote 7%, wolf 6% and roadkill 6%.

• Studies are showing that when hunters have broken up traditional wolf packs ("families"), the survivors are more likely to increase depredations just to survive.

• In legitimate cases of danger to dogs, livestock, and humans, the petition for downlisting to "threatened" status will allow for the "lethal removal" of wolves if deemed necessary. This balanced and intelligent proposal offers an excellent compromise for legitimate concerns while protecting both wolves as a species and the Endangered Species Act as a whole.

    Wisconsin Wolf Hunt in Brief   

    WI Wolf Hunt Overview      WI Wolf Hunt In the Media   

    Wolf Hunting in Wisconsin: Mainstream Hunters Speak Out   

     Some Wolf Photos on this page from All-About-Wolves.com