At its winter meetings in Tuscon, Arizona, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies voted 17-0, with Montana abstaining (don’t know why yet), to draft a letter and a resolution to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar requesting management of wolves be turned over to the states.

Below is a copy of the letter (find a full copy of the letter here.), and a copy of the resolution (a full copy of the original document found here.)

January 21, 2011

The Honorable Kenneth L. Salazar, Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C. Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20240

Dear Secretary Salazar:

At its recent mid-winter meeting in Tucson, the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ (Association) directors discussed – at length – the current situation involving gray wolf delisting. Those discussions led to the development and eventual passage (17-0, with Montana abstaining) of the attached resolution titled Delist the Gray Wolf and Restore Management to the States. The language of the resolution expresses the collective view of member agencies. At its core, the resolution – without ambiguity – clearly states the Association’s support for and endorsement of immediate delisting of gray wolves in the WAFWA member states from the Endangered Species Act, “…….either through legislative or
administrative means, and that this species be managed by the respective State wildlife agencies”.

Founded in 1922, the Association represents 23 states and Canadian provinces, spanning from Alaska to Saskatchewan to Texas to Hawaii. The Association is a strong advocate of the rights of states and provinces to manage fish and wildlife within their borders. The Association has been a key organization in promoting the principles of sound resource management and the building of partnerships at the regional, national and international levels in order to enhance wildlife conservation efforts and the protection of associated habitats in the public interest. Our mission statement reads, “Delivering Conservation Through Information Exchange and Working Partnerships.”

Given the Association’s long history and stellar conservation record, the resolution – in sum – reflects the all too common and unacceptable level of frustration that directors are currently experiencing when it comes to the status of the gray wolf in the West. It is the sincere hope of our member agencies that a way forward can be found, and found very soon – one that removes ESA protection for the gray wolf and returns management to the respective States.

We appreciate your serious consideration of the Association’s position on this important resource issue. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Joe Maurier
WAFWA President

~~~~~~~~

WESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE AGENCIES

Resolution

DELIST THE GRAY WOLF AND RESTORE MANAGEMENT TO THE STATES

WHEREAS, the northern Rocky Mountain distinct population segment of gray wolves exceeded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery level of thirty or more breeding pairs in 2002; and

WHEREAS, population estimates as of 2009 include at least 1,700 animals well distributed among Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming; and

WHEREAS, the remarkable increase in gray wolf populations was only possible because of the historic management and stewardship of ungulates by state fish and wildlife agencies; and

WHEREAS, a primary purpose of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is to “provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved, to provide a program for the conservation of such endangered species and threatened species, and to take such steps as may be appropriate to achieve the purposes of the treaties and conventions set forth in subsection (a) of this section.”; and

WHEREAS, the primary purpose of the ESA has clearly been achieved for the gray wolf, and gray wolves have recovered in the States of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming; and

WHEREAS, a lack of delisting, given the species has met recovery goals, can result in an erosion of public acceptance of wolves and the ESA; and

WHEREAS, State wildlife agencies are the competent authorities to manage resident species for their sustained use and enjoyment; and

WHEREAS, the overall aim of the ESA is to recover species such that the species can be managed by the appropriate entity. State wildlife agencies are the appropriate entities to assume management of the gray wolf as a resident species; and

WHEREAS, delays in federal decision-making, induced partly by citizen-suit litigation over virtually all aspects of Mexican gray wolf recovery, have, after 34 years of protection under the ESA, including 12 years of reintroduction efforts, resulted in failure to recover the Mexican gray wolf; and

WHEREAS, the States of Arizona and New Mexico, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, various local governments and local stakeholders are willing and able to use incentives and interdiction measures without being encumbered by the gridlock resulting from federal listing, to increase the Mexican gray wolf population to levels in both states that, coupled with conservation efforts in Mexico, would establish and maintain a rangewide population of Mexican gray wolves that is self-sustaining and managed at levels sufficient to meet scientifically-valid population objectives.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies supports and endorses immediate delisting of gray wolves in the WAFWA member states from the ESA, either through legislative or administrative means, and that this species be managed by the respective State wildlife agencies.

Adopted in Convention
Tucson, Arizona
January 9, 2011

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