Gray wolves once roamed the United States from Maine to Oregon and down the spine of the Rocky Mountains. But for decades, they were hunted and killed, erasing them from much of the country. Today, wolves are mounting a comeback, but their recovery is far from certain. The federal government has sought to remove wolves in the Rockies from the endangered species list, which would open the door for states to kill hundreds of them. NRDC fights to ensure their survival.
A recent meeting of the Montana Chapter of the Society of Conservation Biology showcased talks by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Western Gray Wolf Recovery Coordinator, Ed Bangs, and the Montana Wolf Project Manager, Carolyn Sime. What struck...continued→
You could pay an outfitter in the Northern Rockies $3,600 or $2,900 for a guided hunt to kill one wolf, or you could come to Montana and illegally poach two wolves for $1,135. And you don't need to worry...continued→
Today Frances Beinecke discussed her new book "Clean Energy Common Sense" on MSNBC's Morning Joe program; a clip of her interview may be posted on the Morning Joe website later this week. Peter Lehner explained in a Good magazine blog...continued→
In Crain's New York Business Kate Sinding detailed some of the many environmental concerns related to drilling for natural gas near New York City's watershed... Noah Horowitz argued that light bulb efficiency labeling could be more detailed in a New...continued→
As I’ve noted, the last couple of weeks have been good ones for the polar bear, with the Obama Administration proposing both the designation of over 200,000 square miles of critical habitat the bear and increased international restrictions on polar...continued→
Wolves matter. They lead to more songbirds. Better trout habitat. More game birds. Less insects. Better soil. Fewer coyotes. Wilder elk. More aspen trees. Wolves, in essence, are key to a healthy landscape. So says biologist Christina Eisenberg in...continued→
While the wolf hunts currently taking place in Idaho and Montana have garnered most of the wolf-world's attention recently, other wolf stories have surfaced in the past few weeks. Discussed below are a few of them: (1) Science Daily...continued→
A news article in today's issue of Science magazine discusses the consequences of the northern Rockies wolf hunts on years of scientific research on some of the most well-studied wolves in North America - those of Yellowstone National Park. Since...continued→
Better late than never, Montana shut down the wolf hunt just north of Yellowstone National Park for the season on Tuesday. The first fair-chase wolf hunt in Montana's history began on September 15th. The problem with the hunt (besides...continued→
Dan Lashof noted in a ClimateWire article carried by the New York Times online that there is some ambiguity surrounding the accuracy of a recent EPA analysis on state energy consumption... In a Reuters article Dan Lashof discussed the importance...continued→
Too many wolves from Yellowstone National Park and the wilderness area immediately north of the Park have already been killed in Montana's first public wolf hunt in decades, which is why Montana temporarily suspended the backcountry wolf hunt just...continued→
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks suspended the backcountry wolf hunt just north of Yellowstone National Park today. That's great news. The famous wolves of Yellowstone can let loose a big howl of relief. I wrote about the ridiculousness of...continued→
In the San Francisco Chronicle Pete Altman discussed how defections from the US Chamber of Commerce have eroded the organization’s credibility… The Outpost blog in the LA Times reported on NRDC’s criticism of Montana’s backcountry wolf hunt, quoting Matt Skoglund...continued→
Several wolves have already been killed by hunters in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness in Montana. Some of the famous wolves in Yellowstone have been killed. And radio-collared wolves that were part of Yellowstone's important wolf studies have even been killed....continued→
For years, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has disregarded empirically based calculations of population size that call for thousands of wolves to maintain a viable population. Instead, they preferred to point to anecdotal "case histories" of small, isolated populations...continued→
There’s an interesting article in Scientific American’s 60-Second Science blog about the influx of wolf-coyote hybrids (known as coywolves) into the Northeast. The new arrivals seem poised to fill a niche left open by the eradication of their wolf cousins...continued→
In an article about the first wolf killed by a hunter in northern Montana, the hunter that killed the wolf, Dan Pettit, offers some surprisingly candid commentary on wolves and elk in the Northern Rockies. One of the most...continued→
On Labor Day, my husband, Doug Honnold, and I drove through the northern part of Yellowstone Park on our way home from a hiking trip in the Beartooths. The hillsides had turned tan, and some willows in the bottoms were...continued→
Like Matt, I was disappointed to find out yesterday that Federal District Judge Donald Molloy will let wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana continue. But I think there’s more good news in the decision than bad. Don’t get me...continued→
Last night, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy denied our request for a preliminary injunction to stop the wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana and restore Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in both states while our underlying lawsuit challenging...continued→
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This telling photo was taken by the Western Watersheds Project in Idaho, where the life of a wolf is worth a mere pizza and a pitcher of a beer. The...continued→
Right now, the NRDC Montana staff (Janet, Matt, and me) is driving back to Livingston from Missoula, after the federal court hearing on our wolf injunction wrapped up in front of Judge Molloy today. Matt's driving, so Janet is trying not to look out the...continued→
Today, Saturday, August 29, is the 17th anniversary of my husband Doug Honnold and I, and what are we doing? We are both in our offices working to stop the wolf hunt, slated to begin in Idaho next Tuesday. In...continued→
I hunt. In fact, I love to hunt. As the days get shorter and the nights cooler here in Montana, I find myself restless, thinking about chasing grouse in the mountains and ducks on the rivers this fall. I...continued→
3,500 wolf tags sold in Idaho in three hours yesterday (that's nearly 20 every second) after the Idaho Fish and Game Department began issuing permits. At $11.75 a pop, that tells volumes about what wolves are worth to the state. ...continued→
I really enjoy reading Rocky Barker's columns and blog at the Idaho Statesman. I don't always agree with what he says, but he is a thoughtful and genuine voice that helps me cut through the shouting on both sides of...continued→
Those of you following NRDC’s battle to prevent the termination of federal protections for the Northern Rocky Mountains population of gray wolves may have recently read about the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, which just set a quota for wolf...continued→
Those of you who have been following the situation with wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains know that NRDC, along with a coalition of groups, has sued the US Fish and Wildlife Service over their flawed plan to remove endangered...continued→
"I coulda been a contenda." I was reminded of this famous Marlon Brando line from the film, On the Waterfront, upon reading that the author of the screenplay, Budd Schulberg, died last week. The line is particularly pertinent to the...continued→
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission voted to approve a wolf hunt on Monday, which is scheduled to begin in less than two weeks on September 1st. The Commission set the quota at 220 wolves for the general hunt...continued→
Numerous notable news stories regarding wildlife in the West have surfaced in the past week regarding various critters that call the Rockies home. Here are a few of them: Requests for bison from Yellowstone National Park, which have been quarantined since...continued→
Montana wildlife commissioners approved yesterday a wolf hunt set to begin this fall. The quota is 75 wolves, which is about 15 percent of Montana's wolf population. NRDC is not against hunting or a future wolf hunt (when the...continued→
I've written before about the saga surrounding the Preble's meadow jumping mouse - from political interference to mixed up lab samples - this little mouse with giant feet and a long tail has had a rough ride. And the final...continued→
On Monday, June 1st, the Billings Gazette published a piece I wrote on the problems of prematurely removing endangered species protections from Northern Rockies gray wolves. I shouldn't have been surprised at the number of comments (28 total) posted in...continued→
Defenders of the short-sighted men who in their greed and selfishness will, if permitted, rob our country of half its charm by their reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things sometimes seek to champion them by saying...continued→
NRDC and other conservation groups, represented by Earthjustice, filed a lawsuit today in the federal district court in Montana challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) decision to remove Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections from wolves in Montana...continued→
The following opinion was published today in the Billings Gazette. It's not fire season yet, but there's enough smoke swirling around the wolf debate to obscure the real issues. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has claimed that the...continued→
In the Northern Rockies, two complaints are often heard from the anti-wolf crowd: (1) wolves are a huge threat to livestock ranchers because they kill so many cows and sheep, and (2) wolves have decimated elk herds to the point...continued→
The wolves of the northern Rockies have been kicked off the endangered species list. NRDC is going to court to fight for them. Join Andrew Wetzler, director of NRDC's endangered species project, for a special live chat at 2 p.m....continued→
Last month, as the Department of the Interior finalized the on-again delisting of wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains, I was out of the office experiencing the delirium of sleep deprivation that comes with the birth of a new child. ...continued→
The film Return to the Wild: A Modern Tale of Wolf and Man offers a refreshing and candid view of wolves and the debate that swirls around their restoration in the Northern Rockies. Irish filmmaker Martin O'Brien tracks the stunning...continued→
Verlyn Klinkenborg, an exceptional writer and a member of the New York Times editorial board, published an editorial on wolves in the Northern Rockies in yesterday's New York Times. In his editorial, Klinkenborg eloquently described something usually missing from the...continued→
Predictably, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent decision to strip wolves of Endangered Species Act protections in Montana and Idaho—but to leave those protections in place in Wyoming—not only angered us, but plenty of folks in Wyoming as well; and...continued→
The gray wolves of Isle Royale in Lake Superior are suffering from backbone malformations caused by genetic inbreeding, wildlife biologists from Michigan and Sweden report in the May 2009 issue of the journal Biological Conservation. While this discovery threatens the...continued→
Joe Romm gives the Waxman-Markey draft energy and climate bill a B+ and calls it a solid bill that boosts the economy and creates green jobs. Read NRDC's response to the draft bill here. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service...continued→
The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has been fairly devoid of madness this year. No Cinderella teams, few upsets, hardly any buzzer-beaters. Yawn. March in the wolf world, however, was full of madness. On March 6th, Department of Interior Secretary Ken...continued→
As expected, today the Secretary of the Interior officially made available the final rule removing the Northern Rocky Mountain population of gray wolves from the list of federally endangered species in Montana and Idaho. The rule will take effect...continued→
It takes some serious guts for a public figure to challenge the anti-wolf lobby in Wyoming. And with the imminent release of the Department of Interior's new wolf rules that remove endangered species protections from the packs in Montana and...continued→
This week, as we await the imminent release by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of its decision to delist wolves in Montana and Idaho, I was reminded by a scar on my hand - the result of a old...continued→
In some extremely disappointing news, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced last Friday his intention to "affirm" the Bush administration's decision to remove Endangered Species Act protections for wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains and Upper Midwest. As...continued→
Today the Secretary of the Interior affirmed a Bush administration push to delist wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains. This decision is obviously a great disappointment to those of us who have worked so hard to make sure that wolves...continued→
In a picture of last weekend's anti-wolf rally in Kalispell, the newspaper showed a guy in hunter orange holding up a placard that said: "Think about the children". Beside him stood a girl, about seven years old, in an orange...continued→
I heard a wolf howl last evening, at dusk, right near our house. Three long, outrageous, unmistakable howls, rolling down from the snow-covered ridge above -- a lone voice that seemed to emanate from a stand of limber pine and...continued→
Some wildlife quick hits: If you have some time, check out these amazing polar bear images captured by John Kazlowski. Last week, the Montana legislature rejected a bill that would have placed management of the state's buffalo population under the...continued→
Yesterday, just after he became President, Barack Obama ordered all federal agencies to withdraw any regulations proposed by the Bush Administration that had not yet been officially published or gone into effect. President Obama's order is similar to one issued...continued→
Yesterday we pointed out that NRDC provided a detailed review of scientific arguments for the need for thousands of wolves in the rocky mountain region - that the Fish and Wildlife Service ignored. What they also ignored were comments that...continued→
When a federal judge returned endangered species protections to wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains last year, one of the deciding issues was the fact that the wolves in the three sub-populations of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana had not achieved...continued→
I just took a quick look at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to strip wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains of Endangered Species Act protections. Our fundamental problem with the decision is that there just aren't enough wolves in...continued→
The Bush Administration has announced that it will remove protections under the Endangered Species Act from wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. Today's decision comes just months after a previous attempt to delist the Northern Rocky Mountain population was struck...continued→
There is a rule in the children's game that when Mr. Wolf calls out "Midnight!" all the players run back to their starting point. Only this midnight rule is no game. With their eyes on the ticking clock, the Fish...continued→
Saturday's Albuquerque Journal ran a story noting the extreme challenges facing the Mexican gray wolf (the common name for the gray wolf population in the Southwest). Unlike their cousins to the north, the reintroduction of gray wolves in the...continued→
In The Wall Street Journal, Karen Wayland calls for Obama's economic stimulus package to include green job creation, and Deron Lovaas tells Congress Daily AM that the package must address problems with the federal highway system... On KQED's Quest, Annie...continued→
As I mail off my last Christmas gifts this week, I'm also waiting anxiously for a last lump of coal from the Bush administration: the decision to delist the Northern Rockies wolf. In a rush to remove endangered species protections...continued→
During Thanksgiving week, it's appropriate to give thanks to important congressional champions for wolves: Nick Joe Rahall (D-WV), George Miller (D-CA), Jim Saxton (R-NJ), and Norm Dicks (D-WA). As they did last year, last week these congressmen once again weighed...continued→
Did you know that a hefty chunk of your tax dollars go to an efficient squad of killers known to employ an array of heavy armaments and poisons to liquidate millions of targets every year? No, it’s not the...continued→
We expected the Bush administration's 11th hour Endangered Species Act rule changes to hit the federal register this morning. They did not. But we did get some classic stuff from the White House when Press Secretary Dana Perino had this odd exchange...continued→
About seven years ago I decided to try something athletic for the first time in my life and set a rather unrealistic goal: train for and run a 26.2-mile-long marathon. My first race was oddly addictive and I continued to...continued→
"Creatures of the night... Shut up!" This Halloween, that most memorable comedic Dracula line might just hold true for two of the holiday's most iconic symbols: Bats The LA Times, Boston Globe, Scientific American, and Reuters all covered a...continued→
Well, you have to give them credit for persistence... The Bush administration has had a string of defeats on wildlife issues lately. But they keep trying. And trying. And trying. They lose on polar bears in Alaska, so they go...continued→
Today we received a plan by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reopening the public comment period on the 2007 proposal to remove endangered species protections from Northern Rockies wolves. This plan fails to make any substantive changes, despite a recent...continued→
Well, here we go again. It was just last week that a judge handed US Fish and Wildlife Service's failed delisting rule back to them and returned endangered species protections to wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. I hoped optimistically that...continued→
The Bush Administration just announced that it was “reopening” the comment period on its proposal to strip Endangered Species Act protections from wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. Wolves were put back on the endangered species list earlier this year,...continued→
Today a federal judge agreed to allow the federal government to withdraw their delisting proposal and reinstate endangered species protections to wolves in the northern Rockies. After evaluating the judge's injunction decision from July, the US Fish and Wildlife Service...continued→
The last few months have been heady ones for wolf advocates. First, a federal judge in Montana issued a preliminary injunction restoring the gray wolf population in the Northern Rocky Mountains to the endangered species list; a move which...continued→
Reflecting a bit on today’s news that the federal government intends, at least for now, to give up on its push to strip northern Rocky Mountain gray wolves of federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, it’s important not to...continued→
The AP is reporting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will voluntarily withdraw its ill-conceived and illegal regulation stripping Northern Rocky Mountains gray wolves of their protections under the Endangered Species Act. If the government does withdraw its wolf...continued→
Last Saturday, I was the guest story teller at the Yaak wilderness festival, an eclectic annual gathering of woodsworkers, back-to-the-landers, local artists, writers, musicians, and conservationists committed to protecting an incredible stretch of wild country that is the Cabinet Yaak...continued→
Yesterday in the mail I received a letter from an 8 year old boy named Ben. He had chosen to study the gray wolf for his school’s endangered species fair only to find out that the wolves in the Rocky...continued→
The phone rang off the hook last night. Friends, colleagues, family, my old boss – calls of congratulations, celebration for wolves and the magnificent ecosystems they represent. Long live wolves, long live the Wild, long live the Honorable Judge Molloy!It...continued→
This case, like a cloud larger than a man’s hand, will hang over the northwest states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming until there has been a final determination of the complex issues presented.Thus begins Federal District Judge Donald Molloy’s much...continued→
Despite the rather depressing fact that federal protections for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains have been stripped away by a misguided (and illegal) federal regulation and that states like Wyoming have responded by dramatically increasing their wolf-killing programs,...continued→
The Bush Administration always manages to top itself. No matter how inured I think I am to the blatant hostility this Administration has for environmental protections in general—and wildlife conservation in particular—they still sometimes manage to surprise me. Today we...continued→
Yup, it sounds like a headline from The Onion, but I suppose that is part of the wacky world of western wildlife…The Montana Stockgrowers Association posted a statement on the Home page of their Web site denouncing efforts by NRDC...continued→
My husband is nervous, and he shows it by being quiet. And hardly eating anything. Right now Doug has the weight of the northern Rockies wolves on his shoulders. Tomorrow a federal court judge may decide the fate of Yellowstone...continued→
NRDC has been shining a bright light on the ugliness in the Northern Rockies since grey wolves were delisted last month. To date the animals are being shot down at the rate of one a day in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana....continued→
NRDC in the News (May 7, 2008)Going green may be all the rage in corporate America, but some are starting to question what it all means. Linda Greer, Director of NRDC’s Health and Toxics Program, tells the Christian Science Monitor...continued→
Last week, NRDC joined with a coalition of partners to challenge the government’s decision to remove federal protections from wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains. We also asked for an injunction to suspend the killing of wolves in this...continued→
His was a very American story. He was a survivor who never let a handicap curb his wanderlust. At his popularity’s peak, an army of photographers and fans followed his every move. But it all came to a tragic end...continued→
The following is a post from NRDC Staff Scientist, Dr. Sylvia Fallon:On Friday, March 28th, the US Fish and Wildlife Service removed federal endangered species protection from gray wolves in the rocky mountain region. Within a few short hours reports...continued→
A new study in the journal Ecology, continues to confirm the remarkable effect that wolves are having on the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. Scientists have long known that wolves kill or chase off coyotes whenever they encounter them, and the effect...continued→
In announcing the decision to remove endangered species protections from wolves in the Northern Rockies last week, Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett emphasized the change in public attitudes toward wolves over the last hundred years. Indeed, attitudes have changed—and far...continued→
Just a quick note that today, despite a mountain of biological evidence that they aren't ready, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would strip wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains of their protection under the Endangered Species...continued→
He could have been the lead singer in a blues band, the lone gray wolf. His voice was wild, tremulous and it filled the valley with the sound of longing. His message was unmistakable: “I want a woman”. His...continued→
Federal wolf recovery coordinator Ed Bangs knows how to disarm an audience. Last Thursday, on a conference call with members of the media announcing the Bush administration’s new rule for managing Northern Rockies wolves, Bangs started out with: “I’ve had...continued→
The wolves were barely visible, with so much snow falling heavy and fast. Across Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, a black wolf was tussling with a pale gray one, on its back, feet in the air. In a flash, the gray rolled...continued→
Der Spiegel online reported last week that Germany's wolf population is growing steadily and now includes some thirty wolves in Saxony, near the Polish boarder. The spread of wolves in Germany mirrors their expanding range elsewhere in Europe and mirrors...continued→
This week the NRDC Action Fund unveiled a new ad aimed at stopping the Bush Administration's plan to strip protections from the Northern Rockies population of grey wolves and, ultimately, to turn wolf management over to the states.Since the reintroduction of...continued→
Today's Casper Star Tribune reports that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is about to release a study (known as an "Environmental Assessment") on its proposal to allow Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana more freedom to kill wolves in the Northern Rockies. ...continued→
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