The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is deliberating the proposed removal of nearly all Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states, with the possible exception of the Mexican gray wolf. This delisting would be a conservation nightmare.
Delisting would turn wolf management decisions over to the states, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho -- all states where wolves have been delisted -- have become free-fire zones. Hundreds of wolves have been gunned down or trapped, and as the recent tragic killing of eight collared Yellowstone wolves outside the boundary of the park attests, the sustainability of wolves in the Rockies is in jeopardy.
This proposal represents yet another monumental setback for wolf recovery in the lower 48.