Following legal action by environmentalists, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is now obligated to draft a new federal recovery plan for gray wolves. The agency has two years to draft the plan, unless it determines earlier that a plan is unnecessary to promote the conservation of the species.
The Center for Biological Diversity led the effort to gain new wolf protections.
“We’ve long pushed for a new, comprehensive plan to guide gray wolf recovery, so this win is a big deal for us and the wolves,” said Collette Adkins of Center for Biological Diversity. “We’re hopeful that the Fish and Wildlife Service will finally analyze what’s needed for real wolf recovery in this country, rather than once again try to illegally and prematurely delist wolves.”
Last summer, a district court ruled that USFWS must create a recovery plan and cannot rely on subspecies recovery plans that “straightforwardly do not satisfy” the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
In a Dec. 13 agreement, USFWS agreed to develop a draft plan within two years and create a final recovery plan within a year after posting the draft plan.
“Plaintiff reserves its right to challenge any final recovery plan or any finding that a recovery plan will not promote the conservation of the species,” according to the agreement.
In response to the agreement, USFWS is launching a “national dialogue” on working landscapes and gray wolves to prevent conflict and ensure long-term stability and community security. The agency is hiring an outside third-party to lead the conversation, Francine Madden with Constructive Conflict LLC.
“By engaging Ms. Madden and her team, the Service intends to participate as one among equals with citizens, Tribes, states, environmental groups, livestock producers, hunters and other contributors in this national dialogue,” USFWS said. “Ms. Madden’s team will work with people from all sides to convene and guide the conversation.”
Background
In 2020, USFWS decided to remove ESA protections from most gray wolves.. A federal court vacated the rule in February 2022 and restored the wolf’s protections in the lower 48 states, with the exception of wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains.
The environmental group alleged that because of “government-sponsored killing programs,” wolf numbers have decreased to fewer than 1,000 head, mostly residing in northeastern Minnesota.
“Federal protections have allowed the nation’s wolf population to increase slowly, but only to about 1% of their historical numbers and occupying only about 15% of their historical range,” the group claimed. “Despite this the Service has routinely attempted to remove protection from the species.”
USFWS’ recovery plan for the gray wolf was originally adopted in the early ’90s and was last revised in 2012. The plan lists separate management for Minnesota’s eastern timber wolf, wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains and the Southwest’s Mexican gray wolf.
“The Fish and Wildlife Service can no longer rely on its decades-old, piecemeal recovery plans for gray wolves,” Adkins said. “The agency needs to stop neglecting places where wolves live and could recover, like the West Coast, southern Rocky Mountains and northeastern United States.” — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
