A proposal in front of the US Senate will exempt wolves from the endangered species act and place the animals into sure extinction, according to activist Robert Dewey, Vice President for Government Relations of the Defenders of Wildlife.

Dewey sent an urgent call to action asking for immediate action or accept a dismal fate for the wolf in various states including Montana, Washington State, Oregon and Idaho. The legislation would transfer the fate of the wolves from federal hands into state hands. Idaho, for example, has refused to cooperate with the federal plan claiming a wolve pack of 150 is all that is required. Hundreds of Grey Wolves are slated for extermination.  After delisting the wolf passed in the House, the future of the wolf now lies in the US Senate.

A new wolf population had been reestablished in Idaho and Montana by 1995. The Fish and Wildlife Service transported 66 additional wolves from Canada to prop up the US species.  By 2009, the packs had grown to about 2000 animals, enough for the species to maintain itself.  Then Idaho and Montana authorized a hunting season which reduced the wolf population by 30%, down to 1650 animals, during a single season, after the wolf was delisted as a protected species.  Some state agencies seek to extinguish the wolf packs under political pressure.  An Additional wolf hunting season was finally blocked by legal action, say the Defenders of Wildlife.

The House law exempts a single species of animal from the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of protected species. That keeps professional wildlife management experts out of the discussion.  Rather, the decision is made for political reasons.   Such action sets the precedence for eliminating other protected species that get in the way of development by merely excepting them from the endangered species list. The matter has been to court before and lost, meaning senators are setting various states up for spending money on law suits instead of on wildlife.

Wolves hunting in packs can take down large animals including domestic buffalo and cattle

Funding cuts will destroy many of the programs used by the Environmental Protection Agency in it’s response to climate change. The budgets are slashed so that protection of wildlife and wilderness is under funded. The funding cuts even hit clean air and clean water programs.

If taking care of the animals is important to you, if insuring clean air and water for the children is important, if protecting against global warming is important, then Dewey asks you to call your senator today!  He says he really means it!