Below find background information on two imperiled species that are trying to make a comeback in Cascadia. For more information about species in the region, contact the Cascadia Wildlands Project office 541.434.1463 or info@cascwild.org.
Gray Wolf Recovery
The gray wolf has been extirpated from Oregon for nearly 50 years due to a systematic eradication program of the species. Seen as incompatible with ranching interests and the conversion of the West, the government and private bounty hunters trapped, poisoned and eradicated the grey wolf from Oregon. The species has been listed on both the state and federal Endangered Species Act since the 1970s.
In 1999, three wolves journeyed into Oregon from Idaho; one was shot and killed, one was hit by a car and killed and the third was tranquilized and deported back to Idaho. Because the state has a statutory obligation to recover the species, in 2003 the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife began to convene diverse stakeholders in the effort to generate a wolf recovery plan. During the planning process, the CWP mobilized the public to hearings, testified at meetings, hosted presentations on the gray wolf and submitted official comments on the plan. The historic plan was officially adopted by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission in 2005.
Oregon is relying on wolves from the inter-mountain West (Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming) to disperse here. There are over 1,000 wolves in these three states after a successful re-introduction to both Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995. But on January 29, 2007, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency in charge of recovering threatened and endangered species, issued a Federal Register notice proposing to delist the gray wolf in the inter-mountain West, encompassing Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, northern Utah and the eastern 1/3 of Oregon and Washington. The federal government wants to put management for wolves in the hands of states. Once removed from the federal Endangered Species Act, "open season" on wolves would be permitted. Idaho rancher-turned Governor, Butch Otter, recently publicly stated that he will support public hunts that will kill all but 100 wolves in his state. Both Idaho and Wyoming have wolf recovery plans that would seriously compromise the viability of the species.
The Cascadia Wildlands Project is working with regional allies to ensure grey wolves are given the protections they need to fully recover on the landscapes they historically inhabited.
Update:
July 18: Injunction Halts Gray Wolf Delisting and State-Sanctioned Hunts
On July 18, 2008, federal District Court Judge Donald Malloy in Missoula issued a preliminary injunction halting the gray wolf delisting. This is not a ruling on the merits of our case, rather a placeholder while our attorneys argue our claims. Read the injunction opinion for more information.
April 28: CWP Files Lawsuit Challenging Rocky Mountain Gray Wolf Delisting
Following up on our February 27 notice of intent to sue, the Cascadia Wildlands Project and 11 co-plaintiffs filed a lawsuit and preliminary injunction request to immediately halt killing of gray wolves in Idaho, Montana. Since the delisting occurred in March, dozens of wolves have been killed by sport hunters. We are being represented by Earthjustice in the case.
February 27: 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue Filed Over Gray Wolf Delisting on February 27
Represented by Earthjustice, the Cascadia Wildlands Project and 11 other plaintiffs filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the US Fish and Wildlife Service over the removal of the Northern Rocky Mountains Population of the Gray Wolf from the Endangered Species Act. The delisting will turn over management of the species to states in the inter-mountain West. Montana, Idaho and Wyoming all have management plans in place that would permit killing of wolves and even authorize open season hunts. The delisting would have a drastic effect on recovery in Oregon as we are relying on wolves from the Rockies to migrate west. Recall, we helped pass a stakeholder-approved plan in 2005 that set gray wolf recovery goals in both eastern and western Oregon.
Papers and documents of interest:
1. "Wolves and the Ecology of Fear: Can Predation Risk Structure Ecosystems?" By William Ripple and Robert Beschta. This article details the impacts wolves have had on a number of species in Yellowstone since their reintroduction in 1995, including elk and riparian vegetation.
2. "Is the Return of the Wolf, Wolverine, and Grizzly Bear to Oregon and California Biologically Feasible?" By Carlos Carrol, Reed Noss, et al.
3. "Modeling Gray Wolf Habitat in Oregon Using a Geographic Information System." Abstract of thesis by Tad Larsen.
4. Article on the Potential for Wolf Recovery in Oregon. By George Wuerthner.
5. Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management Plan
Northern Spotted Owl Recovery
The northern spotted owl, an endangered species that relies on older, complex forested habitat for its survival, continues to decline across its range (western Washington, western Oregon and northern California). According to a recent government-sponsored study, the bird continues to decline at approximately 3.7% each year across its range.
Yet the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency in charge of its recovery, has recently issued a draft Recovery Plan that would seriously weaken protection for the species. Many believe the draft plan was edited heavily by Bush administration operatives in DC before it was released for public comment during summer 2007. In September, the Society for Conservation Biology and the American Ornithologists' Union, both hired by the Bush administration for the peer review process, said the government did not consider the best available science when drafting the plan.
Interestingly, a new watered-down owl Recovery Plan is a mandatory component to facilitate the implementation of the Bureau of Land Management's recently released draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Western Oregon Plan Revision, which is proposing a three-fold increase in logging in western Oregon. The plan calls for logging over 140,000 acres of older forests (spotted owl habitat) over the next 10 years and remains a priority for the Cascadia Wildlands Project's conservation efforts.
Papers of interest:
1. "The Status of Mature and Old-growth Forests in the Pacific Northwest." By Dominick DellaSala, Jim Strittholt, et al.
