Photo by iStock.com/RamiroMarquezPhotos
Some members of Congress are eager to permanently remove wolves from the federal Endangered Species Act. They want to turn management over to the states, saying that wolves are recovered and touting that management on the state level as a success. Just a few months ago, the House passed the deceptively named "Pet and Livestock Protection Act" (HR 845), which would strip gray wolves of federal protections and leave it up to the states to decide how to manage this species.
But looking at the record of the Northern Rockies states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, that management can only be called one thing – disgraceful. And that model would spread throughout states that are aggressively hostile to restoring these apex predators to our wildlands, places where they belong.
These states have implemented the most unethical methods to kill as many wolves as possible, in an effort to get to a bare minimum number. Those methods include baiting, snaring, night shooting, use of high-tech night vision equipment, large bag limits and bounties. It’s an approach that harkens back to the 1800s, with efforts to eradicate wolves.
In Wyoming, the status of wolves as “predators” throughout 80 percent of the state led two years ago to a wolf being run over with a snowmobile, taken alive into a local bar with its muzzle taped shut, and tortured before it was finally killed. The man who committed the torture is under trial for animal abuse after two years of delay by prosecutors.
Wyoming officials expressed fake outrage over the case. But in truth, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana attribute every aspect of wildlife management to the presence of wolves, and encourage killing as many wolves as possible, through nearly any means. The Roberts case was not a one-off. Running down wolves with motor vehicles happens all the time in Wyoming.
That’s why Sierra Club and our partners are working to maintain federal protections for wolves, to show that state management is not acceptable. Right now in Congress, we’re facing multiple attacks on wolves, including a bill that would strip protections throughout the county for wolves, and another bill specific to Mexican gray wolves in the Southwest. We’ll keep pushing back against those bills, and other efforts in the states that continue the war on wolves. This magnificent animal plays a vital role in the ecosystem and deserves respect, not persecution
We’ve worked too hard for too long to bring back wolves, and they help ensure a functioning ecosystem with healthy herds of deer, elk and other large animals. We’ll keep fighting for the future of wolves in the Northern Rockies, and throughout the nation.