Tuesday, December 17th was the end of the public comment period around the proposed delisting of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act and the Endangered Species Coalition delivered our message with aplomb.
Along with our member groups the Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Action, and NRDC, we assembled at the park opposite the Department of Interior for a what would become a candlelight vigil observing–what could be if Secretary Jewell doesn’t reverse course–the end of wolf recovery. The current state of wolf ‘”management”in states like Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, Idaho, and Wisconsin are disastrous indicators of what this plan could bring.
In spite of the increasing rain, luminaries were arranged to spell “SAVE WOLVES” on the ground directly opposite Secretary Jewell’s office window.
At 4:40, just before the building was to be closed for the day, a small group made its way across the street to deliver boxes of comments representing the one million comments organized and submitted by the Endangered Species Coalition and our member groups.
As darkness swept across the park, candles were lit for the wolves whose fate lied in the hands of Secretary Jewell and her staff across the street. 
With our boxes marking hundreds of thousands of comments delivered and the candles and luminaries lit, we delivered the message in another way, hoping Secretary Jewell would take notice.
While Journey the wolf led howls of protest, we projected multiple messages onto the Department of Interior to tell Secretary Jewell in the most visible way possible that America supports wolves–and expects her to enact and maintain policies that protect them.
From there, we went to Union Station– one of Washington, D.C.’s busiest transit centers –to make sure everyone knows that the fate of wolf recovery in the United States is now in Secretary Jewell’s hands. With one-million plus voices of opposition to the plan to strip wolves of protections now delivered, she’s got plenty of reasons to protect wolves.
