ʕ´ᴥ`ʔ PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE, TY! EMERGENCY: Tell USFWS to Protect Wisconsins Wolves 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 states 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. Dear Director Ashe, 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 Wisconsins gray wolves as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The scientists research shows that the state is likely undercounting wolf mortality by as much as 55 percent. It shows that for every four wolves legally hunted, another 7 were illegally killed, 8 were killed by the government or vehicles, and 2 died of natural causes. This glaring omission in the states legally-required monitoring efforts is damaging to the states ability to set wolf quotas and is in opposition to the requirements for accurate monitoring called for in the Endangered Species Act. The Endangered Species Act says: The Secretary shall implement a system in cooperation with the States to monitor effectively for not less than five years the status of all species which have recovered to the point at which the measures provided pursuant to this Act are no longer necessary. It is the responsibility of the USFWS to require that Wisconsin accurately and effectively monitor the wolf population in the state and take measures to assure a stable population. The research demonstrates that the state is not meeting that responsibility. Further, the unregulated year-round use of dogs on wolves in their training represents an unmonitored and unregulated harassment of gray wolves in the state. There is simply no way to accurately measure the impacts of this on the states wolf population--as required by the Endangered Species Act. For these reasons, I implore you to once again protect gray wolves as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act and to form an independent scientific review panel to monitor any future state recovery plans. Sincerely, ~Bear Hugz~
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 22:43:13 +0000
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