Wolverine stays off protection list

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday it would not list the wolverine for protection under the Endangered Species Act, but an environmental group is already claiming the feds are trumping politics over science.

The Service, in making its decision, decided that the U.S. population is not “distinct” from Canadian populations.

“After reviewing the best available scientific and commercial information, the Service has determined that the wolverine population in the contiguous United States is not discrete, because it is not separated from wolverine populations in Canada, and is likely dependent on them to some degree for maintaining genetic diversity,” the Service claimed in a prepared release.

The Service also determined that the contiguous United States population of wolverines does not significantly contribute to the Canadian and Alaskan wolverine populations’ ability to maintain their genetic diversity and viability and, therefore, does not warrant further listing consideration.

That argument doesn’t hold water, claims David Gaillard, Rocky Mountain Representative for Defenders of Wildlife.

“It’s quite a leap of logic that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service takes to not list this species,” he said Monday.

He likened it to saying because grizzly bears or bald eagles were doing well in Canada and Alaska, they shouldn’t be listed here. Both species were nearly wiped out of the lower 48 states before they were listed under the ESA. The eagle, after years of recovery efforts, was taken off the Endangered Species List in 2007.

But Gaillard also points to other studies as well. Research done by Jeff Copeland and Rick Yates in Glacier National Park certainly does indicate that the lower 48 has a distinct population, Gaillard argues.

In fact, a Copeland study from 2006 looks at genetics of wolverines in Glacier and notes that “DNA analysis for 20 individuals suggests less genetic structure than expected with relatedness contained by two distinct genotypic groups within our population study.”

The problem with Glacier’s wolverines, Gaillard claims, is many end up dead if they leave the Park. And the wolverines are known to move great distances for their size. One wolverine for example, went from Glacier to Libby, where it was caught and killed in a trap.

In 2007, according to Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, there was a quota of 10 wolverines for the entire state. Nine animals were trapped, including four animals in this region.

That might not seem like much, but scientists have a way of measuring an animal population. There is the total population and then there is the effective population — the population that breeds and creates new offspring.

The estimate is that there’s about 500 wolverines in the lower 48, but the effective population is only about 39 animals.

In short, Gaillard claims, the “wolverine is on the ropes.”

So what’s next? Defenders took the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to court just to get it to look at the wolverine. It may have to do so again to attempt to have the animal listed.

“We’re prepared to do what we need to,” Gaillard said. “This could go to legal action.”

Gaillard said on the plus side, the wolverine isn’t really hard to manage. It lives in remote mountainous terrain that doesn’t need much protection because it is already protected or simply too rugged for many people to get to. One concern is about helicopter skiing which can impact denning animals.

But in a place like Glacier, that isn’t going to happen.

The wolverine is the largest member of the weasel family, weighing from 26 to 40 pounds for males and 17 to 26 pounds for females. Wolverines have an excellent sense of smell that enables them to find food beneath deep snow. In Glacier, they dine on carrion of dead mountain goats and sheep in the winter and in the summer will prey on rodents, such as marmots.

Glacier is a person’s best bet to see a live wolverine. Sightings in the summer time around Logan Pass are not uncommon.