The US Fish and Wildlife Service are considering a new rule that will delist the grey wolf from the Endangered Species Act.
Kate Dylewsky with the Animal Welfare Institute talks about the history of protection for grey wolves in the United States and said a decision to delist grey wolves would fundamentally change how the species is managed.
"If wolves were delisted purely on a policy level what it would mean is that grey wolves would no longer have protection under the Endangered Species Act," she said. "So what we would see is gray wolves return to state management. We have seen in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana that the state agencies are ready and eager to implement some really brutal hunting plans. Plans that would wipe out a fair chunk of the wolves that have returned to these states and bring us back to a place where Endangered Species Act protections are even more necessary."
She also cites low abundance and an important ecosystem role as reasons to protect the species.
"There were an estimated 400,000 wolves just in what is now the lower 48 states of the United States. They have now been reduced to around 5000,” she said. "Wolves are an apex predator, which means they're at the top of the food chain in the ecosystems where they live. They play this pivotal role in maintaining ecosystem function by preying on species that eat the plants, such as elk and deer."
The decision is not yet complete. Dylewsky described the long process that the US Fish and Wildlife Service still has to complete before management of the species is returned to state agencies.
"The Endangered Species Act lays out a listing and delisting process. So what they're going to do is publish a notice in the federal register within the next few days and that will lay out their justifications for why they think wolves should be delisted. They will provide some sort of scientific backing for that. That notice will also open up a public comment period. And then at the end of the process, they will come out with a final rule. From that point on anybody can sue to try to challenge that through the courts."
