Gray wolf recovery in the U.S. is not complete. These wolves face rabid anti-wolf politics, aggressive lethal control, unsustainable hunting, intolerance and other threats across the entire country, and haven't yet returned to suitable habitat in many parts of their historic range. Yet the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to strip them of Endangered Species Act protection, turning their backs on one of the best wildlife conservation stories in U.S. history before it's finished.
When an independent board of scientists reviewed the agency's proposal, their decision was unanimous decision: The Service's justification for delisting gray wolves is not based on the best available science.
Please act now and demand that Secretary Jewell direct the Fish and Wildlife Service to abandon this reckless delisting proposal and allow for the full recovery of gray wolves!
Dear Secretary Jewell,
Subject: Keep Wolves Protected
The results of the independent peer review of FWS's proposed rule to remove the gray wolf from the list of threatened and endangered wildlife are in, and reviewers unanimously agreed that FWS did not use the best available science in its decision to delist wolves. Below are just a couple of the critiques provided by the reviewers:
-Science used by FWS contains significant interpretation errors, key omissions, and a selective use of evidence.
-FWS got the taxonomy and range of wolves all wrong: gray wolves may have lived in the Northeast, wolves of the Pacific Northwest are likely distinct from other populations, and Mexican gray wolves historically had a much larger range than FWS claimed.
In response to questions on the gray wolf delisting you once said "It's about science and you do what the science says". Clearly, the best available science does not provide a basis for saying that wolves need to be delisted. You now have an opportunity to follow through on your stated principles and those set in the Endangered Species Act, to follow the best available science, wherever it might lead, and to maintain protections for gray wolves until they are fully recovered.
I urge you to rescind this proposed rule and allow gray wolves the protection they need to fully recover.
[Your comments]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
