A coalition of environmental groups has filed a complaint against the Biden administration for not listing western gray wolves under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The groups argue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) “not warranted” finding ignores threats to the wolves and is against the best available science.
“The current killing regimes in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming put wolves at obvious risk of extinction in the foreseeable future, and this core population is key to wolf survival in the West,” said Erik Molvar, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, a suit plaintiff.
The suit challenges the agency’s February 2024 finding that a western U.S. district population segment of wolves does not warrant listing as endangered or threatened under the ESA.
The suit is led by Western Watersheds Project, Western Environmental Law Center, International Wildlife Coexistence Network, Predator Defense, Protect the Wolves, Trap Free Montana, WildEarth Guardians, Wilderness Watch, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Clearwater and Nimiipuu Protecting the Environment.
Background
The agency prepared a gray wolf species status assessment following petitions from the organizations seeking to reinstate protections for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. USFWS ultimately decided that while the population qualifies as a distinct population segment, the population does not meet the definition of threatened or endangered.
In its finding, USFWS found the western gray wolf population is discrete because it is separated from wolves in the Great Lakes and “coastal wolves” due to genetic and physical factors, and there are cross-border differences in exploitation and regulatory mechanisms in the U.S. and Canada.
The agency’s species status assessment found the primary stressors affecting the gray wolf’s biological status include human-caused mortality, disease and parasites and inbreeding depression.
USFWS developed a density-dependent population growth model to project future population sizes in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington, which found median wolf numbers in 100 years to range between 935-2,161 wolves.
The groups assert the agency’s model is “deeply flawed” and cited 2023 studies that otherwise claim population estimates generated by the models are unreliable.
“Neither the law nor the best available science supports the Service’s finding,” the groups wrote.
The finding follows USFWS’ attempt to delist all gray wolves in the lower 48 states. In 2022, a district court vacated the agency’s 2020 delisting rule and reinstated protections for wolves outside of the northern Rocky Mountains. The court ruled that USFWS’ decision “arbitrarily rejected the importance of wolves outside of core population centers in order to delist gray wolves throughout the lower 48 states in violation of the ESA.”
The suit asserts USFWS violated the ESA in its finding and called on the court to vacate the agency’s “not warranted” finding and remand the matter back to USFWS to comply with the ESA. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
