update on the Wolves




Dear Richard,


Here is the latest news on our case to protect the gray wolves of the northern Rockies.


Early this week, our legal team was in a Missoula federal court seeking an injunction to stop the wolf hunts in Idaho and Montana. Idaho's hunt began Tuesday, and Montana's is scheduled to begin September 15.

Our lead attorney on the case, Doug Honnold, made the strongest case possible for immediately halting the hunts: arguing for a population level of 2,000-5,000 wolves to ensure essential connectivity among wolves throughout the northern Rockies, and to create a legal safety net for wolves that prevents states from killing hundreds of wolves. This is occurring because of the decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service to remove northern wolves from the protections of the Endangered Species Act.

As of this afternoon, the judge continues to deliberate our request, and we aren't sure when he will rule.

What we do know is that when we previously asked this judge for an injunction to stop wolf hunts, he took a while to decide ... and issued a deliberative, thoughtful opinion that granted our injunction.

Regardless of the outcome, this case is just one part of our larger legal effort to fully reinstate federal protections for the gray wolves of the northern Rockies.

On this point, our goal is clear. We want to see the wolves come off of the endangered species list, but only under conditions that ensure the long-term survival of the species.

We are grateful to all of you who have stood by us during our long battle to save the wolves, and I hope we can continue to count on your support.

__________________
"If the wolf is to survive, the wolf haters must be outnumbered. They must be outshouted, out financed, and out voted. Their narrow and biased attitude must be outweighed by an attitude based on an understanding of natural processes."
L David Mech

We have doomed the Wolf not for what it is, but for what we have deliberately and mistakenly perceived it to be..the mythologized epitome of a savage, ruthless killer..which is, in reality no more than a reflexed images of ourself." -Farley Mowat