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Latest Wolfwatcher News...

Wolf Conservation Planning and Resource Bank Documents Created

Posted on July 2, 2021

Photo by Tristan Alder The National Wolfwatcher Coalition is proud to be one of five conservation groups that crafted The Wolf Conservation Planning and Resource Bank documents. The other groups included, Endangered Species Coalition, Humane Society of the United States, … read more

Posted in Front Page News, News
Wolf Delisting Challenges Demonstrate Need for an Improved Framework for Conserving Intraspecific Variation under the Endangered Species Act

Posted on November 30, 2020

If applied generally to other species, the 2019 rule’s approach to ESA implementation would represent a significant scaling back of recovery efforts for widely distributed species that would increase both short term vulnerability and long-term loss of adaptive potential. Recent … read more

Posted in Front Page News, News | Tagged adaptive potential, Canis lupus, conservation genomics, distinct population segment, recovery planning
2020 Mini-Grants Awarded

Posted on November 29, 2020

Thanks to your support, the National Wolfwatcher Coalition awarded two mini grants. The recipients are The Voyageurs Wolf Project and Tundra Speaks. The Voyageurs wolf project is a collaborative effort between the University of Minnesota and Voyageurs National Park. They … read more

Posted in Front Page News, Grants
What is an Endangered Species?

Posted on January 29, 2020

The query “What is an endangered species?” is quickly transformed into a far tougher question: How much loss should a species endure before we agree that the species deserves special protections and concerted effort for its betterment? Judgments about acceptable … read more

Posted in Front Page News | Tagged endangered, species
Petition to Maintain Protections for Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) in the Lower 48 States as Endangered or Threatened “Distinct Population Segments” Under the Endangered Species Act

Posted on December 29, 2018

Photo Credit: Oregon Dept of Fish & Wildlife Image of 72lb Female Minam Pack The Center for Biological Diversity and the Humane Society of the United States petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to maintain protection for gray wolves under the Endangered … read more

Posted in Front Page News, News | Tagged canis, lupus, maintain, petition, protections, wolves
Most Americans support Endangered Species Act despite increasing efforts to curtail it

Posted on August 5, 2018

Political and business interests don’t appear to align with public’s view, study finds. read more

Posted in Front Page News, News | Tagged americans, despite, endangered, increasing, species, support

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Wolfwatcher

4 hours ago

If stability is the goal, Wisconsin failedbit.ly/3r3nXsfThe goal of Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources with regard to the state’s wolf population is stability. More evidence is emerging that it badly failed in that with the wolf hunt this past spring.A trio of researchers, including from the University of Wisconsin, concluded the state’s total wolf population is now somewhere between 695 and 751 animals. In the spring of 2020 it was around 1,034. Assuming a reasonable degree of accuracy with those estimates, Wisconsin has lost between a quarter and a third of all wolves in a single year.To state the obvious, that’s not stabilizing a population.There are questions. Estimates on wild populations are always tough. Wolves aren’t exactly up for a formal census, of course. And it’s difficult to say how the spring’s hunt affected the success of the wolves’ breeding season. We don’t know how many were born this summer, and that’s not an insignificant factor.Other experts have questioned the report’s estimates on “cryptic hunting,” cases in which hunters deliberately hide carcasses or destroy radio collars. It’s also worth noting that some of the losses undoubtedly came from other, non-hunting causes. It’s far rarer to hit a wolf while driving than a deer, for example, but it does happen.But the overarching conclusion backs up what officials knew almost from the moment last season’s hunting began. It was a badly botched effort.Wisconsin hunters officially took 218 wolves during the season. The target was 119. We’ve heard some people try to justify the outcome by saying the overall number the DNR authorized was 200 wolves. That’s true. But the gap between the target and what was authorized were reserved for tribal hunting. Whether the tribes planned to hunt those wolves or not is irrelevant. They simply weren’t for other hunters to take.The study will unquestionably add fuel for those who want the Biden administration to reinstate protections for gray wolves. As with our last editorial on the subject, we’re not going to take a position on whether the administration should yield to those demands.What we’re focused on is Wisconsin, and at this point things need to proceed with the anticipation that a fall hunt will be allowed. Wisconsin law requires the DNR to have one if federal protections are not in place. Even a relatively swift action by Washington standards would quite likely come later than when the hunt would be held.Hunting in Wisconsin is, first and foremost, a means of conserving and preserving the state’s natural resources. Yes, there are those who definitely depend on the animals they hunt for sustenance. But those hunters are in the minority. Most hunt for reasons other than need.We disagree with those who are morally opposed to all hunting. It is a legitimate tool in conservation, one that has a long tradition in Wisconsin. Generations of families can tell stories about hunting with each other or weeks spent in deer camps. Reinforcing those ties while helping manage the state’s deer population, for example, benefits everyone.But uncontrolled hunts that blow past the state’s conservation goals don’t accomplish those same benefits. They bring justifiable criticism. They offer the opportunity to create a caricature of hunters as people who care more about killing than the other aspects of hunting that are, to many, more important. The spring’s DNR debacle failed hunters, conservationists and the species the DNR was trying to manage.As we said in February, hunting must take place in the context of conserving the state’s resources. Obliteration is not conservation. It damages the natural world now, and leaves far fewer opportunities in the future. We cannot repeat the kind of mistakes Americans of past generations made with regard to hunting. We got lucky that we still have bison in our country. But luck isn’t a good strategy.Wisconsin residents depend on the DNR to preserve our shared resources for the future. It is imperative that the DNR do a better job of planning for the upcoming wolf season. It cannot afford to have another one spin out of control in less than a week, the way the spring did.Hunting has its place. It is among the oldest human activities. But there can be no excuses for a repeated failure this fall.photo: Mission: Wolf ... See MoreSee Less

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Wolfwatcher

13 hours ago

About wolves and wolf hunting in Michiganbit.ly/3ATAEKMEWEN—Nancy Warren had never thought much about wolves, until a newspaper article in the early 1990s about Michigan’s then-tiny population captured her attention.Subsequent research into the apex predators — their pack hierarchy, the way they recognize each others’ howls, the “trophic cascade” they trigger in the surrounding environment — drew her into a decades-long mission to advocate for their survival.“People hate them for reasons that just aren’t true,” Warren said as she sat at the kitchen table in her western Upper Peninsula home, surrounded by wolf art and memorabilia. Warren, executive director the National Wolfwatcher Coalition, attributes the prejudice to “a deeply-ingrained fear.”Two-hundred-and-fifty miles across the peninsula in Rudyard, Eric Wallis views the animals with suspicion. Like Warren, the fourth-generation U.P. farmer once paid little attention to the area’s wolf population, he said, until lambs started to go missing from his pastures.Though wildlife officials who have inspected carcasses on Wallis’ property have ruled out wolves as the culprit in those instances, Wallis said he believes wolves are responsible for dozens of missing animals each year from his flock of about 400 adult sheep and 700 lambs. With no carcass, he said, there was nothing to inspect.“There is no other predator of that size or capability around here,” he said, noting wolves are the only animal he has seen jump the electric fence surrounding his pasture. When that happens, Wallis believes he should have a right to shoot them.The two U.P. residents stand on opposing sides of an ongoing debate: With gray wolves newly removed from the federal endangered species list, how should Michigan manage the 700 wolves now roaming the Upper Peninsula?photo: Wolfphotography.com ... See MoreSee Less

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Latest Wolfwatcher News...

Wolf Conservation Planning and Resource Bank Documents Created

Wolf Delisting Challenges Demonstrate Need for an Improved Framework for Conserving Intraspecific Variation under the Endangered Species Act

2020 Mini-Grants Awarded

What is an Endangered Species?

Petition to Maintain Protections for Gray Wolves (Canis lupus) in the Lower 48 States as Endangered or Threatened “Distinct Population Segments” Under the Endangered Species Act

Most Americans support Endangered Species Act despite increasing efforts to curtail it

Subscribe Today

From Facebook

NWC Business Office