Conservation Groups Urge Interior Secretary Jewell Not to Strip Wolf Protections Across United States

The leaders of six of the nation’s most prominent conservation groups today called on the U.S. Department of the Interior to cancel plans by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove federal Endangered Species Act protections for wolves across nearly the entire lower 48 states, stating the plan would be disastrous for gray wolf recovery in the United States. The letter, addressed to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, is signed by the chief executives of the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Endangered Species Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club. The letter urges Jewell to reverse course on the planned delisting because dropping federal protections at this point would be premature and notes that there are still few, if any, wolves in the vast majority of their former range, where scientists have determined much suitable habitat remains...more