Defenders of Wildlife for immediate release
Date: February 8, 2016
WASHINGTON – Defenders is demanding an immediate and indefinite stop to Wildlife Services’ killing of wolves and other top predators in national forests in Idaho to inflate game populations.
In response to confirmation that Idaho officials are working with Wildlife Services on an aerial gunning operation to kill wolves in the Clearwater National Forest, Defenders is submitting a petition to U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Secretary Vilsack. Defenders is requesting Vilsack issue a Secretarial Order prohibiting Wildlife Services from controlling native predators to increase game populations and demanding that the Forest Service, responsible for safeguarding America’s national forests, exercise its jurisdiction to prevent wolf killing.
Suzanne Stone, Defenders of Wildlife Northwest Representative, issued the following statement:
“Killing wolves in the Lolo District of the Clearwater National Forest is a decision based almost entirely on Idaho’s extreme anti-wolf politics and not sound science. Aerial gunning of wolves is an expensive waste of precious taxpayer dollars.
“Killing wolves isn’t going to bring back the elk, and it doesn’t address the real issues causing the decline. Scientists point to a significant change in habitat conditions in the Clearwater National Forest – due to invasive species and fire suppression — causing elk populations to drop naturally. Killing wolves is simply a scapegoat for these much bigger issues.”
Contacts:
Melanie Gade: mgade@defenders.org; 202-772-0288
Suzanne Stone: sstone@defeders.org; 208-861-4655
EMERGENCY – Take Action
HELP IDAHO WOLVES
Stop the Idaho wolf slaughter
The state government with the highest body count of wolves in the West has unleashed a new round of aerial killing. Once again, the purpose is to artificially inflate elk numbers for sport hunters and boost the sale of elk hunting licenses. And once again, the killing is happening on public land.
The deeply disturbing actions by the Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services agency working on behalf of the state of Idaho must stop. And the U.S. Forest Service is letting it happen on its land! It’s now up to the federal government to put the brakes on Idaho’s vendetta against wolves.
Since Congress prematurely forced Idaho’s wolves off the endangered species list in 2011, more than 1,900 wolves have been killed in that state.
Tell Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack to rein in Idaho’s wolf killing! Click here
So disappointing, so sad, no hope for wolves, only your voice are heard in the abyss of atrocious treatment by subhumans.