Should the PNW Gray Wolves be Listed?

Population Status – Amelia

According to The Wolf Conservation Center, there is a Gray Wolf population of 359 individuals in the Pacific Northwest. In the United States and in addition to the Pacific Northwest population, there are five gray wolf populations in total. The Northern Rocky Mountain area has a population of around 2,716 individuals, the southwest has a population of 186, the Western Great Lake states have a population of 4,460, and Alaska has a population of 7000 to 11000. In examining the Pacific Northwest population, of the 359 individuals, most are concentrated in Oregon and Washington (these states’ populations are about equal) and although introduced to the state, tend to occupy northeastern areas close to the larger Northern Rocky Mountain population. In California, the population of 8 (made up of a single pack with 5 wolves, a pair of wolves, and a single wolf) is classified as state endangered. In Oregon, the population of 173 wolves is state-managed by ODFW, and on November 9, 2015, wolves in Oregon were removed from the state Endangered Species Act list. In Western Oregon, wolves lost federal protections in January 2021. In Washington, the population of 178 individuals is state and tribe managed. There are areas in which 132 wolves inhabit that are managed by WDFW and 46 wolves that inhabit areas that are managed by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (Wolf Conservation Center).

Habitat Status – Amelia Heitz

In California, the population is low as wolves are returning to distribution from source populations in separate states by their own will, and have not been purposely reintroduced by the state. The approximate area of Gray Wolf activity (not including dispersed wolves) in California as of January 2021 is a small distribution that spans across the border of Lassen and Plumas counties (Gray Wolf). The northeastern corner of Oregon, as of 2019, was where most of the state’s gray wolf population was concentrated. Places such as south of Crater Lake, east of Mt. Hood, and eastern Douglas County are pack areas, as well as, areas they are not federally listed in. The Oregon Department of Fisheries and Wildlife expected that in the next several years the wolves would expand westward to Central Oregon mountain ranges and eventually the Coast Range (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service). In Washington, most packs are concentrated across several countries in the northeast corner, the northcentral areas are increasing in abundance, and southeast Washington (Washington). The Wolf Conservation Center states that grey wolves “occupy only about two-thirds of their former range worldwide, and about 10 percent of their historic range in the continental 48 United States” (Wolf Conservation Center). Grey wolves historically occupy mountainous forested habitats as well as grasslands that are at high risk from deforestation, agriculture, and climate change (Endangered).

Primary Threats – Yuanchun Cao

In Oregon, the main threat to the Gray Wolf comes from humans. Human activities highly affect this species, for example, habitat loss. Centuries of industrialization, fragmentation, and deforestation have deprived wolves of their homes and made it harder to hunt prey. In the early 20th century, wolves got extirpation by predator-control programs which include poison action until to (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service). Hunters are also the reason that makes wolves decline since in 2011 the federal government removed protections of the wolves from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and turned management over to the states (Predator Defense). After that, more than 8,000 wolves have been killed by hunters in just seven states in the Pacific Northwest (Predator Defense).  Luckily, people took the population of wolves. However in 2019, the U.S. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced the removal of the gray wolf from the Endangered species list, making a new argument from residents (Peterson). Since the conflict between wolves and humans has not been resolved, it remains a debatable topic. Also, the population of wolves has not completely recovered. We still need to protect the gray wolf. It’s a complex problem, but reducing conflict between wolves and humans is key.

Options for Recovery – Lehua Rowland

The options for recovery of Gray Wolves can differ depending on the region. For example, Washington was split into recovery regions, where the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife had authority in the Eastern region, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had authority in the rest of the state. Currently, the WDFW manages Gray Wolves as a state endangered species, since the species was delisted from the Endangered Species Act (Washington). In addition to regional management, human conflict has to be taken into account as well. Something that needs to be taken into consideration is the relationship between ranchers and wolves. Wolves can be seen as pests by some people since they can prey on livestock. This issue would need to be addressed in a way that takes into account the perspectives of different groups, such as indigenous people and ranchers. In order to reduce conflict, there are multiple possible options. These include compensating ranchers for potential property damage caused by wolves, creating protected habitat further away from livestock, livestock management changes, and overall non-lethal measures to lessen conflict (Non-lethal). These measures can help lessen the interactions between ranchers and wolves since it can be a point of conflict. In addition to being protected from hunting, captive breeding programs are another option that can be used for the recovery of Gray Wolves. This kind of program raises animals with the goal of releasing them into the wild and tracking them, in order to increase the population. In addition to wolves raised in captivity, wild wolves are also tracked using technology such as collars. In order to do this, demographic population viability analysis is used in order to keep track of individuals and their offspring. 

Outlook for Recovery – Lehua Rowland

The potential for recovery of the Gray Wolf species is likely high. Since the management of wolves is such a contentious topic, the populations are highly monitored. Utilizing the many options for recovery listed above (Non-lethal), the recovery of wolves seems likely. Since the Gray Wolf population has increased enough for them to be delisted from the Endangered Species Act (Treves), the measures being taken are positively affecting the Gray Wolf population. As long as these options continue to be employed and the protection of wolves remains steady, the Gray Wolf population would likely increase. Of course, the population of Gray Wolves would need to be monitored and additional protective measures might need to be implemented.

What is the evidence to support or to oppose species listing? – Lauren Dale

There are some pieces of evidence for the support and the opposition for the listing of Gray Wolves. While the Gray Wolves have recovered from what they once were, that doesn’t mean that the same things affecting them won’t come back. So to begin, here is evidence to support the listing of the Gray Wolves. The first major piece of evidence to support this is due to humans and their tendency to kill wolves for just the fun of it and with no real reason as to why. If the wolves are still listed it gives them protection from unnecessary killing. The only time is circumstances such as the defense of human life, scientific or conservation purposes, and special regulations intended to reduce wolf depredations of livestock or other domestic animals (Fish and Wildlife Service). These circumstances are the only reason for the slight increase in the wolf population. If that protection is taken away there is no telling what could potentially happen to their population again. The legal killings have also made an impact on their population here in Oregon. In 2020 there were nine killings of wolves, four of those killings were done illegally while the other three remain under investigation ( Oregon Wolf Population). When the Trump administration decided to transfer authority to states and tribes to oversee the protection of these animals it gave them a lot less protection within the lower 48 states since they are no longer federally protected.

On the other hand, there is some but not much evidence to suggest the opposition to keeping wolves listed. The only major piece of evidence is the fact that since they were listed their population has increased which means that they may no longer need protection. In Oregon, the population has been growing 9.5 percent each year (Oregon Wolf Population). According to the five-factor analysis done on these wolves, they have recovered enough to be delisted (Treves). There’s evidence to suggest that they have been recovered just enough to be taken off the list but their recovery seems to be far from over. From analyzing the supporting and opposing evidence to list these species, I think that it has been found that there is more evidence to suggest that these animals should remain listed. The protections taken off these animals have given people the ability to kill them for no good reason. The killing of these animals due to livestock reasons has not helped in the growth of their population.  They should remain under federal protection even when their population becomes more abundant than it is because of the selfishness of humans.

References

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing the Gray

Wolf (Canis lupus)  From the List of Endangered and Threatened

Wildlife, 2020, 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/03/2020-24171/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-removing-the-gray-wolf-canis-lupus-from-the-list-of.

“Gray Wolf.” CDFW, 2021, 

https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf#559682743-wolf-distribution-maps.

“Non-lethal measures to minimize wolf-livestock conflict.”, Oregon Department of

Fish and Wildlife (n.d.),

https://www.dfw.state.or.us/wolves/non-lethal_methods.asp

“Oregon Wolf Population Grows by 15, Packs Remain at 22.” AP NEWS, Associated

Press, 22 Apr. 2021,

https://apnews.com/article/oregon-a888c8b412b8d86cda87ac6db8d2380e.

Peterson, Christine. “Gray Wolves Taken off U.S. Endangered Species List in

Controversial Move.” Animals, National Geographic, 3 May 2021,

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/gray-wolves-taken-off-endangered-species-list-in-controversial-move.

“Predator Defense.” Predator Defense – a National Nonprofit Helping People & Wildlife

Coexist since 1990, 2021,

http://www.predatordefense.org/.

Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife. “Ofwo – Gray Wolf.” U.S. Fish & Wildlife

Service, 2019, 

https://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/articles.cfm?id=149489434.

Treves A; Santiago-Ávila FJ; Putrevu. “Quantifying the Effects of Delisting Wolves

after the First State Began Lethal Management.” PeerJ, U.S. National Library of

Medicine, 2021,

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34268009/.

“Washington Gray Wolf Conservation and Management 2020 Annual

Report.” Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, 2021, 

https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/02256.