To: Dan Ashe, Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Emergency: Protect Wisconsin's Wolves under the Endangered Species Act
I urge that you heed the the cautionary warnings of the scientists that alerted you to the potentially-perilous situation in Wisconsin and immediately direct the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to protect Wisconsin's gray wolves as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Why is this important?
Wolves in Wisconsin may be perilously close to collapse due to aggressive hunting and trapping seasons, poaching, and the unregulated year-round use of dogs to pursue wolves. Worse, the state is likely not accurately counting the number of wolves in its borders. The state of Wisconsin interpreted its wolf census data in secret last winter — for the first time in 25 years.
A group of scientists recently outlined multiple flaws in the state's methods of reporting wolf mortality and reporting the wolf population status. The scientists urged the USFWS to start independent scientific review and emergency relisting. The scientists reported that among radio-collared wolves in 2012, for every 4 wolves legally hunted, another 7 were illegally killed, 8 were killed by the government or vehicles, and 2 died of natural causes.
Following that, the state declared another wolf-hunting season and legally hunted another 257 wolves in October 2013 and 150 wolves in October 2014. The wolf population can not handle more of the same.
Please ask USFWS Director Dan Ashe to listen to these scientists and immediately relist wolves in Wisconsin and to form an independent scientific review panel to monitor any future state recovery plans.