Several years ago, the Department of Interior sold
its program to reintroduce wolves into Yellowstone and central
Idaho by assuring ranchers they could shoot wolves that got into
their herds without fear of penalty under the Endangered Species
Act. Now, with introduced wolves thriving in both areas, a federal
judge has ruled that the agency made an illegal
promise.
On Dec. 12, Judge William Downes found
that the less-protective “experimental and non-essential” status
given the wolves undercut protections for other wolves that might
naturally migrate into those areas. “The introduction of an
experimental population cannot operate as a defacto delisting of
naturally occurring wolves,” he wrote. Downes ordered Interior
officials to remove the reintroduced wolves, but not until they get
a decision on an expected appeal from the federal
government.
The ruling, which stemmed from a
lawsuit brought by Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming farm bureaus and a
separate suit by several environmental groups, is “very
discouraging, given the success of this program,” says Tom France,
an attorney with the National Wildlife Federation. “I think this
will be reversed, if not by the courts, then by Congress.” Since
the reintroduction program began in 1995, the Yellowstone wolf
population has grown from 41 to about 90. The central Idaho group
has grown from 25 to approximately
73.
Ironically, other environmentalists viewed
the order as misguided, but some of the judge’s reasoning correct.
“Using the experimental designation where there are naturally
occurring wolves was wrong from the get go,” says Doug Honnold, an
attorney with Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund. Honnold says he is
encouraging his clients, including the National Audubon Society, to
appeal the decision in hopes of giving introduced wolves in Idaho
the full protection of the law.
*Paul
Larmer
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Judge says wolf reintroduction was illegal.
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