This week, more than 50 scientists, representatives of 5 Native American tribes, 24 business leaders, and 82 organizations sent letters to Members Congress asking them to oppose legislation that seeks to remove federal protections for gray wolves.
The scientists say in their letter that, “The best available science indicates that the gray wolf occupies a mere fraction of its historic range and therefore has not yet recovered from centuries of systematic persecution.”
The letter is signed by 50 world-renowned scientists and biologists including Rolf Peterson and John Vucetich of Michigan Technological University, and Adrian Treves of University of Wisconsin, Madison.
The letter signed by tribal representatives, business leaders, and organizations from around the United States noted that “(W)olves in states that no longer have federal wolf protections have been subjected to increasingly hostile state management practices.” In it, the signers ask Members of Congress to avoid repeating the mistakes made when it passed the 2011 appropriations rider delisting wolves in Idaho, Montana, and parts of Oregon, Washington, and Utah. That 2011 legislation opened the door to aggressive wolf management in the Northern Rockies and weakened the Endangered Species Act by leaving it vulnerable to future attacks such as ones that are up for consideration today.
You can take action by asking your U.S. Congressional Representative and Senators to oppose any legislation that would strip wolves of Endangered Species Act protections.