Courtney Bourgoin, courtney.bourgoin@sierraclub.org
DENVER, CO (April 29, 2019) − Community members of Denver and the surrounding areas will gather on Monday, April 29, to give verbal testimony in opposition to the proposed delisting of the gray wolf. Expert panelists representing the scientific and recreational communities will be in attendance.
In March 2019, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) announced a 60-day public comment period associated with their proposal to strip federal Endangered Species Act protections for northern gray wolves across the lower-48 states [Docket ID: FWS-HQ-ES-2018-0097]. The restoration of wolves has been hailed as one of the biggest successes of the Endangered Species Act. But the important work of wolf recovery is unfinished. Delisting the gray wolf will halt four decades of progress and could expose America's wolves to unwarranted and unsustainable killing.
Congressional staff, wildlife experts, and members of the community are invited and speaking up against the Trump administration’s ongoing assaults to America’s iconic wildlife.
What: Community Hearing to Protect the Gray Wolf
When: Monday, April 29, 2019 at 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM MT
Where: The Alliance Center, 1536 Wynkoop St, Unit 100, Denver, CO, 80202
Who: Expert panelists include Carter Niemeyer, author and former wolf recovery coordinator for FWS; Karin Vardaman, predator-livestock conflict reduction expert; Colby Brokvist, long-time expedition leader in locations including Yellowstone National Park; and Delia Malone, ecologist.
Why: Members of the community will have a special opportunity to give verbal testimony concerning the proposed delisting, which will be submitted to FWS as an official comment in the Federal Register. Wolves can’t talk, but our community can.
Thanks to the Endangered Species Act, wolves have now started to recover in the continental United States after human persecution brought them to the brink of extinction. But wolves are still functionally extinct in the vast majority of places where they used to live and are only found in about 10% of their historic range.
At one time, wolves inhabited every state in the continental US and their populations numbered in the millions. Now, they only occur in about 10 states with numbers less than 6,000. In Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, where wolves have already lost federal protections, trophy hunters, trappers, and others have killed nearly 3,500 wolves just since 2011.
FWS has yet to announce any official hearings associated with the public comment period, despite multiple requests from organizations, as well as members of Congress. This is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to diminish opportunities for public engagement in the decision-making process. That’s why communities in Denver, CO, Portland, OR, Sacramento, CA, and Chicago, IL and taking matters into their own hands and holding community hearings.
This event is sponsored by the Endangered Species Coalition, Defenders of Wildlife, WildEarth Guardians, Sierra Club, Humane Society of the United States, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
For more information, please contact: Courtney.Bourgoin@sierraclub.org, 248-214-6682
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.