No wolves persisted in vast wild areas such as the NRM and the desert southwest. Extensive predator control programs, magnified by the use of bounties, and combined with habitat degradation and a declining prey base, resulted in the extirpation of wolves from most of the lower 48 states early in the 20th century, with the exception of only a few hundred remaining wolves in northern Minnesota and Isle Royale in Michigan. As human populations across America grew so did fears of wolves and other predators and the perceived risks they posed to personal safety, livestock, pets, and game species. When Europeans began to colonize America in the 1600s, wolves were widely distributed and could be found in each of what are now the lower 48 states. Wolves were once found across the northern hemisphere of the planet, including most of North America. In his essay titled, “Thinking Like a Mountain,” the great American conservationist Aldo Leopold described the cascading effects of losing wolves in a forested mountain ecosystem - the resulting increase of deer, followed by overgrazing, deforestation and erosion, and then the collapse of deer after having eaten themselves out of house and home. The wide range of habitats in which wolves can thrive reflects their adaptability as a species. Throughout their range, wolves are keystone predators and have a profound effect on the ecosystems they inhabit. When a species is designated as threatened or endangered – or “listed” under the ESA – it is in dire need of help. The Service uses the best available scientific and commercial information to determine whether species need to be listed, to identify and address the threats to the species, and to facilitate the recovery of the species. The ESA provides a safety net for species that are at risk of going extinct.
The law’s stated purpose is to provide a program and means for the conservation of threatened and endangered species and the ecosystems upon which they depend. It is implemented jointly by the Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The ESA is one of the nation’s most important conservation laws. Our goal, consistent with our legal mandates, is to recover wolves-so that they are no longer threatened or endangered-and return management of those recovered wolves to the States. These starkly different circumstances reflect both the successes and the challenges associated with restoring a charismatic large predator to the landscape. In the Southwest and Southeast, however, wolves exist in the wild only as reintroduced experimental populations and continue to be highly endangered. They are reestablished in large landscapes where only decades ago they had been effectively exterminated, and have recently expanded their range into the Pacific Northwest and northern California. Because of years of sustained and cooperative efforts of Federal and State agencies, Tribes, and non-governmental entities, wolves have made an impressive recovery in the western Great Lakes (WGL) and the northern Rocky Mountains (NRM).
The wolf is an iconic yet controversial example of the Endangered Species Act’s (ESA) success in preventing extinction and promoting recovery. My name is Stephen Guertin and I am the Deputy Director for Policy for the Service. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) work to recover wolves across the lower 48 United States. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND INVESTIGATIONS REGARDING “THE STATUS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S MANAGEMENT OF WOLVES”Ĭhairman Gohmert, Ranking Member Dingell, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to testify on the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE U.S. TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN GUERTIN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR POLICY,
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