After evaluating two recent petitions asking the Service to remove the northern Rocky Mountain population of the gray wolf from the Federal list of threatened and endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that substantial information exists indicating that delisting of this population may be warranted.
Todays finding is made in response to two petitions - a 2001 petition from the Friends of the Northern Yellowstone Elk Herd , Inc., and a July 19, 2005 petition from the Office of the Governor of the State of Wyoming and the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission.
The Services positive 90-day finding will be followed by a more complete 12-month status review of all available data on the Rocky Mountain population of the gray wolf. The review will consider whether the population meets the criteria for delisting as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act.
This finding does not alter the Services 2003 conclusion that the State of Wyomings existing regulatory mechanisms are inadequate to protect the gray wolf population within its borders in the event that the wolf is delisted. The Service will review this issue during the 12-month status review and continue to work with the State of Wyoming to ensure that the States statutes and wolf management plan contain adequate post-delisting protections for the gray wolf.
Todays finding was not affected by recent litigation involving challenges to the Services 2003 reclassification of gray wolf populations from endangered to threatened throughout much of the species current range in the United States, including the northern Rocky Mountains. The Service is still evaluating its legal options after recent lower court decisions invalidated that reclassification. No decision has been made on whether to appeal those rulings.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the nearly 100-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
visit our home page at http://www.fws.gov
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