I have changed the web site to not only deal with preventing wolf slaughter in Alaska but also in the rest of the U.S. Below you will find information on what is going on in Idaho and Wyoming as well as in Alaska. Please let your voice be heard. Singn petitions and let your congressmen know how you feel. Only in the last 10 years have we seen the wolves restored to the west and now the U.S. government and states want to delist wolves as endangered species. This will give the states the right to manage the wolves and several will allow hunters, ranchers and others to slaughter wolves. In Alaska, there is a continued fight to stop slaughter from aerial gunners.
From Defenders of Wildlife
IDAHO and WYOMING
Federal officials are about to make a big mistake -- one that could lead to the killing of hundreds of wolves in the Northern Rockies.
Help save these magnificent animals. Urge the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Dale Hall, to maintain federal protections for gray wolves.
Sometime this month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to release a proposal to strip wolves of crucial Endangered Species Act protections across most of Wyoming and de-list wolves in Idaho, where the state is poised to kill up to 75% of the wolves living in the Lolo district of the Clearwater National Forest.
This proposal could allow the use of aerial gunning and other lethal control methods to kill as many as two-thirds of the wolves in Wyoming and as many as 54 of Idaho’s 65 wolf packs!
Help us prevent the worst massacre of wolves to occur in the lower 48 states in decades. Take action now.
In the last century, America’s wolves were nearly hunted, trapped, poisoned and harassed to extinction. Yet neither Wyoming nor Idaho has addressed the core issues that once brought these magnificent animals to the brink of extinction.
Until Wyoming and Idaho take decisive action to promote conservation, maintain adequate range for the wolves and reduce conflicts between ranchers and wolves, removing federal protections is a recipe for disaster.
Since last week, more than $85,000 has been donated to support our work to save wolves in the Northern Rockies. We’ve already begun putting these resources to good use, preparing our legal challenge to the federal proposal and rushing new radio ads and other educational materials into production.
Now we need to ensure our voices our heard. Plenty of folks motivated by over-blown claims of livestock loss and elk hunting declines are urging federal officials to kill wolves. Will you be a voice for for America’s wolves?
Send your message now, and urge Fish and Wildlife Service chief Dale Hall to protect wolves in the Northern Rockies.
The future of our wolves depends on you.
Best Regards,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife
ALASKA
Anchorage, AK -- In an attempt to prevent the state from issuing new aerial wolf and bear gunning permits and to ban current permittee-holders from acting under the permits already issued, Defenders of Wildlife filed a request for a preliminary injunction with the State Superior Court. The injunction comes as the Court is considering Defenders’ lawsuit, which was filed in August and challenges Alaska's aerial gunning programs that cover more than 40 million acres of Alaska's interior and could result in the killing of more than 75 percent of the wolves in several areas.
"Defenders is trying to make sure that no wolves or bears are killed before the judge rules on the lawsuit," declared Rodger Schlickeisen, President, Defenders of Wildlife. "We think it only fair that all the facts be presented and sorted through by a judge. Until that happens, it makes sense to halt the permitting process."
Under the current predator control programs the Alaska Board of Game has adopted, private individuals may obtain permits to hunt wolves and bears using aircraft. Permittees may chase wolves to exhaustion using airplanes and then land and shoot them, or shoot them from the air. The suit alleges that the Board of Game adopted regulations that are inconsistent with Alaska statutes governing game management.
The Board of Game changed the rules for adoption of predator control programs after the Superior Court shut down the programs last winter. The Board removed restrictions on the programs, such as following the publicly reviewed and adopted "Wolf Management Plan" and requiring the Board to use the best available science in making its decisions. The Board also expanded bear control and is allowing baiting of wolves and bears in some areas.
"Not only is the predator control program itself very controversial, but the state has now drastically reduced the requirements for such programs and made these changes without including the public," said Valerie Brown, an attorney representing Defenders of Wildlife. "We're asking the Court to halt the programs and require the state, at a minimum, to adopt science-based programs in compliance with the law."
The request for a preliminary injunction says that the state changed the regulations without public notice. Alaska law also requires that any predator control program be part of a comprehensive game management plan, which the Board of Game has failed to adopt.
The use of aircraft to kill wolves was banned by Alaskans in statewide ballot measures in 1996 and 2000, but the Alaska Legislature overturned those bans. In the three years since Alaska has begun issuing permits to pilots and gunners to conduct aerial-based wolf killing more than 550 wolves have been killed. In 2006 alone, more than 150 wolves were killed.
The state has 10 days to respond.
Take Action now to prevent the slaughter of Alaskan Wolves.
Defenders of Wildlife is joined in the lawsuit by the Sierra Club and The Alaska Wildlife Alliance. The plaintiffs are represented by Valerie Brown and Mike Frank with Trustees for Alaska.
