Speak out for Red Wolves
- by: Defenders of Wildlife
- recipient: Director Dan Ashe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and Secretary Sally Jewell, U.S. Department of the Interior
Red wolves are dangerously close to extinction in the wild, and they need your help.
Under relentless pressure from special interests in North Carolina, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has all but abandoned its efforts to recover these shy wolves in the wild. Red wolves can still be recovered, but not without a dedicated effort from FWS.
As you read this, there are no more than 60 red wolves in the wild, down from almost 150. That number could reach zero if FWS does not take immediate action to protect and expand the existing wolf population as well as prepare a revised recovery plan that ensures the recovery of red wolves in the wild in the Southeastern U.S.
Insist that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service not abandon red wolf recovery!
Dear Director Ashe and Secretary Jewell,
Subject: Don't give up on the red wolf!
I am writing to express my concern about the dire status of the red wolf and the lack of action by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to proactively recover this critically imperiled species. There are no more than 60 wolves in the wild today, down from almost 150. I respectfully request that the Service resume its duty to recover this species by taking immediate action on the ground to protect and expand the existing population and prepare a revised recovery plan that ensures the recovery of the wolf in the wild in the Southeast. Abandoning red wolf recovery, the direction in which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seems to be headed, is not an option.
The Service has made little obvious effort in recent years to proactively recover the species and has, in fact, taken some steps that have undermined the program. For example, it has repeatedly refused to revisit its existing Section 10(j) rule and regulations and to propose changes that would reduce gunshot and other human-caused mortality of red wolves. It abandoned its scientifically-proven placeholder program to manage coyotes and issued permits to private landowners to kill non-problem wolves while making little attempt to address the issue through other means. And the Service reduced or eliminated critical efforts to collar and track red wolves. The cumulative effects of these actions (or non-actions) have significantly contributed to the decline of red wolves in the wild and, at this point, are well beyond tolerable or acceptable.
Further, the recent Red Wolf Population Viability Analysis (PVA) completed for the Service clearly indicates that the species can survive - and thrive - but not without a dedicated effort from the Service. This scientific report shows a path forward and presents multiple methods by which the red wolf can be recovered. It also demonstrates that the status quo is not sufficient, and that if the Service fails to recommit to the recovery of this species, they are effectively dooming it to extinction.
I respectfully request that the Service resume critical actions to protect this species and recommit to the recovery of red wolves for the future. Along with forming a balanced recovery team with the best interest of the species in mind, the Service should stop taking wolves from the wild and must revisit its outdated and short-sighted 10(j) rule allowing the removal of red wolves from private lands.
The Service must place adequate experienced staff on the ground, resume coyote management efforts and placement of monitoring collars on the wolves, release more wolves and increase law enforcement efforts to reduce gunshot mortality.
Do not sit idly by while red wolves spiral toward extinction when there exists a clear path forward for their recovery.
[Your comments]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
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