OH Brother

[Beaker]

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Tens of thousands of gray wolves would be returned to the woods of New England, the mountains of California, the wide open Great Plains and the desert West under a scientific petition filed Tuesday with the federal government.

The predators were poisoned and trapped to near-extermination in the United States last century, but have since clawed their way back to some of the most remote wilderness in the lower 48 states.

That recovery was boosted in the 1990s by the reintroduction of 66 wolves in Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. Yet as those first packs have flourished, increased livestock killings and declining big game herds have drawn sharp backlash from ranchers, hunters and officials in the Northern Rockies.

But biologists with the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity want to expand that recovery across the country. A few isolated pockets of wolves, they say, are not enough.

"If the gray wolf is listed as endangered, it should be recovered in all significant portions of its range, not just fragments," said Michael Robinson, who authored the petition. Robinson said the animals occupy less than 5 percent of their historic range in the lower 48 states.

The federal Administrative Procedure Act allows outside parties to petition the government to act when species are in peril. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Chris Tollefson, whose agency received the petition, said there was no deadline by which the agency must respond to the one filed Tuesday, which was signed by Robinson and another biologist, Noah Greenwald.

Tollefson also said an internal review was under way to figure out where wolves once lived and where they might be returned.

"We need to look at what is realistic and where the suitable habitat would be," Tollefson said.

The review will be completed by late 2010 or early 2011 and will contain recommendations but no final decision on whether to create new wolf populations, Tollefson said.

About 6,000 wolves live in the U.S. outside Alaska, with most of those in the Great Lakes and Northern Rockies, with only a few dozen in Arizona and New Mexico. They are listed as endangered except in Alaska, Idaho and Montana.

In early 2008, a similar petition was lodged by the Natural Resources Defense Council. In its rejection of that petition, the Fish and Wildlife Service said the Great Lakes and Northern Rockies programs had succeeded and any additional recovery efforts would be "discretionary."

The Fish and Wildlife Service faces no deadline to respond to such petitions

Like the Bush administration, the Obama administration has pushed to end federal protections for wolves and return control over the animals to the states.

But both administrations have been rebuffed in the courts. Federal judges have ruled repeatedly that the government failed to prove existing wolf numbers will ensure the population's long-term survival.

Last year, the Interior Department relented to pressure from environmentalists in the Great Lakes. The agency agreed to put wolves back on the endangered list at least temporarily — just months after they had been removed for the second time in recent years.

Wolves are notorious predators with a hunger for livestock, and experts say they could survive in most of the country if they were allowed.

Young adult wolves sometimes travel hundreds of miles when looking to establish a new territory. In the last several years, packs have gained a toehold in parts of Oregon and Washington. Others have been spotted in Colorado, Utah and northern New England.

But with wolves, more than just biology is at play. Politics serves the deciding role in where wolves are allowed, said David Mech, a wolf expert and senior scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey.

"In the areas where they are not acceptable, they will be killed out — illegally if nothing else, Mech said.

The Northern Rockies population has stirred the most rancor, largely because of sheep and cattle killings and wolves preying on big game herds that had swelled when the predators were absent.

Idaho and Montana initiated public wolf hunts last year, and both intend to increase their quotas on the animals this fall. The states want to put a dent in the animal's population growth rate, which has been as high as 30 percent annually.

Wyoming, which has about 525 wolves, was blocked in its efforts to start a hunt after federal officials said state law was too hostile to wolves to ensure their survival. That ruling has been challenged in federal court.

Wyoming House Speaker Colin Simpson said Tuesday it should serve as a warning for other states that are asked to take wolves.

"Be careful," Simpson said. "We don't need more of that in the West."

[Doc Hudson]

If only they'd establish a 20 wolf pack in Central Park, NYC, and other similar packs in the major city parks of Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angles, and Seattle, I'd have fewer objections to their re-introduction elsewhere. After all, those parks were all once part of the natural range of the wolf. And if farmers, ranchers and hunters are forced to cope with wolves, it is only fair that the big city bunny-hugging liberals should have to cope with them as well.

[BigSky56]

I agree every state should have a bunch of them when they start taking pets and scaring kids all the dummies that wanted them brought back can feel the pain that the west is feeling. That outfit the center for bio diversity filed the lawsuits to breach 4 dams on the colombia river and libby dam on the kootenai river and Iam not sure how many other dams to, when farmers and ranchers cant raise crops and meat guess we can buy it from mexico or china and pay double for our electricity. danny

[Ysabel Kid]

If only they'd establish a 20 wolf pack in Central Park, NYC, and other similar packs in the major city parks of Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angles, and Seattle, I'd have fewer objections to their re-introduction elsewhere. After all, those parks were all once part of the natural range of the wolf. And if farmers, ranchers and hunters are forced to cope with wolves, it is only fair that the big city bunny-hugging liberals should have to cope with them as well.

I like that idea!

Hey, the Saber-toothed tiger once roamed a good portion of North America. Since it is now extinct, perhaps these nitwits would like to introduce prides of African lions to the country to roam free? Or maybe modern tigers from Asia? I think both are endangered...

[firefuzz]

What most people fail to comprehend is that a wolf, especially greys and timber wolves, are the land based versions of great white and tiger sharks with one exception to their behavior.....sharks only kill to eat, I've read too many documented cases and heard too many stories of wolves killing for the shear pleasure of killing. Both of my Grandfather's hunted them with a vengence, and neither of them were violent men, throughout their lives 'til the late 60's when they were finally killed out in our area. Both of them had lost livestock and family dogs to wolves.

You yell shark on a crowded beach and everyone run to get OUT of the water, you yell wolf in a campground and people run to see the "cute puppy", which is probably safe as far as a group of people go. But I don't want to get caught unarmed by a pack of wolves while out walking with just me or the kids.

Rob

[COSteve]

If this stupidity passes look on the bright side. The first time a soccer mom finds her precious little Johny or Janie threatened by a re-introduced wolf while jogging or biking and she'll scream bloody murder for wolf control. Then we 'responsible' hunter could be asked to remove the threat.

[Markbo]

If only they'd establish a 20 wolf pack in Central Park, NYC, and other similar packs in the major city parks of Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angles, and Seattle, I'd have fewer objections to their re-introduction elsewhere. After all, those parks were all once part of the natural range of the wolf. And if farmers, ranchers and hunters are forced to cope with wolves, it is only fair that the big city bunny-hugging liberals should have to cope with them as well.

[airedaleman]

If this stupidity passes look on the bright side. The first time a soccer mom finds her precious little Johny or Janie threatened by a re-introduced wolf while jogging or biking and she'll scream bloody murder for wolf control. Then we 'responsible' hunter could be asked to remove the threat.

Dream on. A government "professional" will be detailed to remove the threat...

[Blaine]

Many moons ago, they made dog hunting and traps illegal for hunting bear, cougar, coyote, etc...... The west, populated part of the state is now overrun, they interact poorly with humans, and SURPRISE: they are contracting hunters, at great expense, to hunt them with dogs and trap them...This, when there are hundreds if not thousands of hunters who would gladly pay for the right to do so.....*DumAzzStateGubment*

It's so crazy here that you can't set a mole trap unless it's a live capture one......

[Hobie]

Oh, come on, they are just cute little puppy-dogs...

[Paladin]

If only they'd establish a 20 wolf pack in Central Park, NYC, and other similar packs in the major city parks of Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Los Angles, and Seattle, I'd have fewer objections to their re-introduction elsewhere. After all, those parks were all once part of the natural range of the wolf. And if farmers, ranchers and hunters are forced to cope with wolves, it is only fair that the big city bunny-hugging liberals should have to cope with them as well.

+1