Secretary Salazar Affirms Decision to Delist Gray Wolves
in Western Great Lakes, Portion of Northern Rockies
March 06, 2009
Music/Announcer: This is a podcast from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Ron Tull: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar held a “pen and pad” press conference today to announce the decision by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to remove gray wolves from the list of threatened and endangered species in the Western Great Lakes, Northern Rocky Mountain states of Idaho and Montana, and parts of Washington, Oregon, and Utah. Here are his opening remarks at that press conference.
Ken Salazar: Today I’m pleased to announce that we have reviewed the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to delist the wolf in the Western Great Lakes and in Idaho and Montana in the Northern Rocky Mountains. We are going forward with this delisting of the gray wolf. In my view, the decision here of the Fish and Wildlife Service is a supportable one and the cornerstones of support for that decision are first that the scientists have concluded that recovery, in fact, has occurred in the Northern Rocky Mountain region and in the Great Plains areas.
We now have approximately 5,500 gray wolves in the lower 48 states. And it is a great example of how the Endangered Species Act can, in fact, work when you have the right partnerships between the Fish and Wildlife Service, the states affected here, as well as the tribes and private landowners.
I am also announcing today that we will not delist the gray wolf in the state of Wyoming. And we will not delist the gray wolf in the state of Wyoming because they have not put together the kind of recovery program or the kind of protection for the gray wolf that gives us a confidence that recovery can be completed within Wyoming.
The successful recovery of this species is a stunning example of how the Act can work to keep imperiled animals from sliding into extinction. It has not been the work of the Department of Interior and the Fish and Wildlife Service alone.
Rather, it has been a long and active partnership that has included the states, tribes, landowners, academic researchers, researchers, sportsmen, and other conservation organizations. Indeed, it has been an international effort that has involved the nation of Canada in this effort as well.
Ron Tull: This has been a podcast from the United States Department of the Interior Radio News Service. I’m Ron Tull, Washington.