Online Messenger #286
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Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) has abandoned it’s plan to kill wolves in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in the winter of 2014-2015. This comes in response to an upcoming hearing for the lawsuit brought last winter by Earthjustice and attorney Tim Preso on behalf of Western Watersheds Project, WWP Board member Ralph Maughan, Defenders of Wildlife, Wilderness Watch and the Center for Biological Diversity. The lawsuit already halted last winter’s operations in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, but the agencies had intended to resume this year.
In a sworn statement to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the IDFG said that the agency will not conduct any control activities for wolves before November 1, 2015. The Forest Service provided a statement vowing to notify plaintiffs of any plans for next year by August 5, 2015. This means that the integrity of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness won’t be violated by state’s hunting and trapping of these top predators in the coming year, and that conservation organizations will have plenty of notice about any future plans to do so.
The hired killing of wolves is inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the Wilderness Act, and WWP and our allies will continue to pressure the National Forest Service to permanently stop facilitating IDFG’s slaughtering scheme on protected public lands.
Thank you Tim andEarthjustice for continuing to win for the wolves!
