War on Wolves

A Senate bill, S.1514, called “War on Wolves” Rider, was introduced June 29 and it includes a damaging anti-wolf amendment. The legislation proposes to permanently remove federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Wyoming and to allow trophy hunting of wolves to immediately resume within these states. The bill prohibits its judicial review which means that a legal challenge in the future would be prevented. If the War on Wolves legislation is passed into law, wolves will die at the hands of trophy hunters.

The bill is co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators: Senators Barrasso (R-WY), Boozman (R-AR), Capito (R-WV), Cardin (D-MD), Baldwin (D-WI), and Klobuchar (D-MN) have signed onto this legislation that would put these wolves in the crosshairs of hunters and weaken the ESA.

"The Endangered Species Act (ESA) was passed in 1973 because Americans believed that protecting our wildlife was an obligation to future generations, our nation’s environmental health, our fellow creatures, and the heart of the American way of life. It included wildlife ranges and habitats irrespective of political boundaries because these habitats, which are vital to species survival, cross arbitrary lines. Today, many politicians have forgotten the values Congress embraced four decades ago as they now attempt to undermine one of most successful bipartisan pieces of legislation our country has ever adopted. The ESA requires the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to follow the best available science, not politics, in recovery planning and implementation for an endangered species. The War on Wolves Rider blatantly ignores this federal mandate, and thus undermines the integrity of our nation’s most significant environmental law." (Source: SENATE COMMITTEE ADVANCES BILL S. 1514 – GROWS THREATS TO WOLVES AND ESA)

You can read the bill here: S.1514 - HELP for Wildlife Act


Please urge your representatives to ensure that any anti-wolf riders, which undermine the Endangered Species Act and its scientific process, are NOT included in the Senate Sportsmen’s bill, S. 1514: OPPOSE the War on Wolves Rider

John Vucetich, Michigan Tech professor in the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science was in Washington, DC, where he testified before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at the July 19 Legislative Hearing on S. 1514, the Hunting Heritage and Environmental Legacy Preservation (HELP) for Wildlife Act. In his well documented written statement to the committee, Vucetich has satted that wolf conservation in the United States is vital and not only for the health of ecosystems but also for what they represent.

"It includes some positive provisions, but its most important effect would be to undermine the Endangered Species Act and subvert the conservation of wolves. Wolves are valuable to ecosystems and most people recognize that wildlife -- including wolves -- possess value in their own right. Public support for wolves and wolf conservation, in particular, is very high. Public support for the Endangered Species Act is also high -- among both liberal and conservative constituents."
In a July 26 press release the Center for Biological Diversity also stated reasons for opposing Senate Bill S. 1514.

"The bill weakens the Endangered Species Act by blocking any further judicial review of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2011 decision to end federal protections for wolves. Since they were driven to near-extinction by hunters and trappers in the early 20th century, gray wolves still occupy only 15 percent of their historical range in the contiguous United States. And between 2011, when their protection was removed, and 2014, when a federal court restored that protection, more than 1,500 animals were killed."

You can read the full article here: Wolf scientist testifies against Senate Bill 1514

You can read Vuchetich's full testimony here: https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/f/b/fba506f0-cc6a-4bf7-8c76-ba532169c0f3/2BAAC8A1DE0502E60EAC7EC146B9CD49.vucetich-testimony-07.19.2017.pdf



There are also a few petitions on Change.org you can sign:

To eradicate the "War On Wolves" and continue the protection of endangered gray wolves

Save Wolves in Wisconsin

Stop Congress from Sentencing Wolves to Death

SAVE THE WOLVES!!!

STOP HR 424-It will remove federal protection for gray wolves in MN, WI, MI and WY!

Protect the Endangered Species Act

Tell policy makers to SAVE THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT