Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America January 15, 2000 - Issue 01

Defenders of Wildlife hailed today's court ruling allowing the Yellowstone wolves to remain in the park as an historic victory not only for the wolf, but also for sound wildlife restoration in the 21st century. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver today overturned a lower court's 1997 ruling that the 1995 and 1996 Yellowstone wolf reintroductions were illegal. The district court's ruling had called for removal of all the wolves and their offspring, an action that pleased the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), which was behind the lawsuit, but that Defenders of Wildlife called a virtual death sentence. "It's a new day for wolves in more ways than one. The Yellowstone wolves have been given a new lease on life and so has the principle that science -- not politics -- should guide wildlife restoration efforts in America," said Rodger Schlickeisen, President of Defenders of Wildlife.

Schlickeisen concluded, "We are very pleased that reason won in this case and that the wolves will be allowed to remain in the park so that future generations may enjoy them." Using the experimental designation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), 66 wolves were released into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995 and 1996. Experimental designation under section 10(j) of the ESA allows ranchers to shoot wolves if caught in the act of killing livestock on private lands. The 1997 ruling, spurred by an American Farm Bureau Federation lawsuit, claimed that such designation was illegal and put any naturally occurring wolf populations at undue risk, since a naturally occurring wolf would be fully protected under the ESA. No naturally occurring wolves are in Yellowstone, and any pre-existing wolves in Idaho are flourishing now only because of the tremendous success of the reintroduction program. Defenders President Schlickeisen noted that "The wolves are doing better than ever expected . They are reproducing, hunting natural prey, and doing their part to return one of America's greatest treasures to its healthy, natural state." More than 300 wolves are now found in the region. Defenders maintains its $200,000 Wolf Compensation Trust to compensate ranchers, at fair market value, for any losses due to wolves. Missing from America's first national park for more than 60 years, the wolves have flourished in the park. The original 66 have grown into more than 300 today. Defenders of Wildlife, a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 380,000 members and supporters is a recognized leader in wolf recovery and restoration in the United States.

Defenders of Wildlife http://www.defenders.org/

Wolfworld http://www.boomerwolf.com/wolfwrld.htm

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