Great Lakes wolves retain endangered species protections

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wrongly removed Endangered Species Act protections from gray wolves in the western Great Lakes states.

The decision protects more than 3,000 wolves and ensures hundreds in the region will not be killed each year.

In a unanimous decision, the court upheld a 2014 ruling by the U.S. District Court that concluded FWS prematurely removed protections for wolves. The court said FWS put on "blinders" when it removed protections for wolves because the agency ignored the negative impacts on the recovery of wolves in other areas, such as New England and the Dakotas.

The decision is at least the eighth time a federal court has ruled that the federal service wrongly ended protections for gray wolves.

"The second highest court in the nation reaffirmed that we must do much more to recover gray wolves before declaring the mission accomplished," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

He continued, "Wolves are still missing from more than 90 percent of their historic range in the lower 48 states and both the Endangered Species Act and common sense tell us we can’t ignore that loss."

In its ruling the appeals court said the FWS does not have the power "to delist an already-protected species by balkanization."

The agency "cannot circumvent the Endangered Species Act’s explicit delisting standards by driving an existing listing into a recovered sub-group and a leftover group that becomes an orphan to the law."

By designating a "distinct population segment" of wolves in the western Great Lakes region in 2011, the service made this precise error, effectively turning wolves in other portions of the nation into legal orphans.

In 2013 the service used this "orphan" legal status to then propose removing protections for gray wolves in the rest of the country, including California, Oregon and Washington, where small populations are still recovering, as well as the southern Rockies and Adirondacks, where there is suitable wolf habitat but no wolves.

The service used a similar approach this year with grizzly bears by designating a Greater Yellowstone distinct population segment and removing federal protections from bears within that region.

In ending protections for grizzly bears in Yellowstone, the service created a legal orphan status for grizzly bears outside the delisted area.

"Wolves and grizzlies are symbols of America’s wild places. We’re lucky the Endangered Species Act requires us to restore these magnificent animals and not declare victory when just one small population is stabilized," said Greenwald.

Since the 2014 District Court ruling, members of Congress, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., have introduced multiple pieces of legislation, including riders on appropriations bills, to overturn the 2014 decision.

Their legislation would have reinstated the 2011 delisting decision and curtailed all further judicial review by ordinary citizens.

"Sen. Klobuchar’s cynical legislation to end protections for wolves not only harms this amazing species but also undermines the fundamental right of every citizen to go to court and hold the government accountable under the law," said Greenwald. "Given Klobuchar’s background as an attorney, she should know just how dangerous it is to slam the courthouse door on ordinary people."