November 29, 2023 — Today, after more than 20 years of advocacy by wildlife conservation groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) found that wolverines warrant federal protections as a threatened species. Numbering only about 300 in the contiguous U.S., snow-dependent wolverine populations have suffered from climate change, habitat loss, trapping, and other anthropogenic pressures.
December 14, 2020 — Today, a coalition of wildlife advocates challenged the Trump Fish and Wildlife Service’s (the Service’s) decision to deny protections to imperiled wolverines under the Endangered Species Act. This is the second time the Service has prioritized politics over science for wolverines, which number about 300 in the contiguous U.S.
April 4, 2015 — Today, the federal district court for Montana rejected a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) to deny protections for wolverines in the contiguous U.S. The court ruled the Service improperly ignored science and violated the Endangered Species Act. A broad coalition of conservation organizations challenged the Service’s refusal to protect imperiled wolverines by listing them under the ESA.
October 20, 2014 — Cascadia Wildlands, along with a broad coalition of conservation groups, has filed suit over the Fish and Wildlife Service’s failure to list the wolverine on the Endangered Species Act list. The Fish and Wildlife Service officially withdrew its proposal to list the species after applied political pressure from a handful of western states. Only 250-300 wolverines call the contiguous United States home, living in small populations scattered across the west. A unanimous panel of Fish and Wildilfe scientists had previously recognized serious threats to the wolverine’s continued existence, acknowledging that the greatest threat to the species’ survival in the United States is habitat loss due to climate change.
August 12, 2014 — Bowing to political pressure, today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) formally withdrew its proposal to list wolverines under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), despite the species’ small
population and serious threats to its continued existence. Only 250 to 300 wolverines call the contiguous U.S. home, living in small populations scattered across the West. Scientists unanimously acknowledge the greatest threat to the species’ survival in the U.S. is habitat loss resulting from climate change.
