Rendering № 12

The editorial published on August 31 is headlined " Wyoming wolves to lose Endangered Species Act protection”.  The article carries a lot of comments on Gray wolves in Wyoming, the last still federally protected in the northern Rockies which probably will lose endangered species status at the end of next month, opening them to unregulated killing in most of the state.

Speaking about this issue, it is necessary to point out that the planned delisting of Wyoming's estimated 350 wolves caps a steady progression of diminishing federal safeguards for a predator once hunted, trapped and poisoned to the brink of extinction throughout most of the continental United States. It is also interesting to point out some general stuff, such as the fact that Wyoming will officially regain control over the management of its wolf population on September 30, joining Montana and Idaho, where more than 1,500 wolves were removed from the federal endangered list in May of 2011. It Is followed by statistics: About 4,000 wolves in the northern Great Lakes region -- primarily Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota -- lost their status as endangered or threatened last January.

Emphasizing the seriousness of the situation, it is necessary to note that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe on Friday hailed delisting of the last wolf population in the northern Rockies as a victory assured by the Endangered Species Act and cooperation among state and federal partners. Then, the author of the article, Laura Zuckerman, cites Dan Ashe : “The return of the wolf to the Northern Rocky Mountains is a major success story”. Analyzing the situation in details, it is interesting to note that Conservationists decried the move, questioning how an animal could be protected until September 30 only to be subject to "open fire" on October 1, the first day of Wyoming's regulated hunting season. Environmental groups say they fear ending federal safeguards could push wolves back to the brink. To understand situation more deeply, the author compares Wyoming with  Idaho and Montana, all of them are required to maintain a statewide population of at least 150 wolves, including 15 breeding pairs, to prevent a relisting. Wyoming wolves will remain off-limits to hunters inside national wildlife refuges and national parks, including Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, as well as on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

As for the motto “FROM PROTECTION TO BULL'S EYE”, there is general feeling to believe that restricted hunting will be permitted from October through December within zones just outside those parks and refuges in the greater Yellowstone region of northwestern Wyoming, where most of the state's wolves reside. There is also every likelihood that For the rest of the state, wolves would be classified as predatory animals, subjecting them to unlicensed, unregulated killing year-round through methods such as shooting, trapping and pursuit on mechanized vehicles.

There are signs that Under Endangered Species Act protections, wolf numbers rebounded in the northern Rockies, far exceeding the original recovery goals set by the federal government. Efforts in recent years by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove wolves in Idaho and Montana from the endangered species list were reversed by court rulings. It’s an open secret that Wyoming's wolves had remained protected while state and federal officials negotiated what safeguards would sustain a viable population under Wyoming management. The Fish and Wildlife Service's latest estimate puts current numbers in all three states at more than 1,774 adult wolves. The gray wolf originally was classified as an endangered species across the lower 48 states and Mexico, except in Minnesota, where the animal was listed as threatened. The reporter concludes the article with statistics according to which 7,000 to 11,000 wolves roam much of Alaska, but are so abundant they have never been federally protected.

As for me, I think that protection of endangered species is very important because it will be impossible to do anything with it, if we miss the opportunity now. I am sure that all of us can do something to solve or help at least this problem. We should remember that animals are not our enemies; they are living creatures like we are. We should do our best to protect them from extinction and get involved government in it by insisting on enacting laws to help to protect and take care after the species and having national endangered species control agencies.