Groups file suit to get wolverine on Endangered Species List
As promised, a host of environmental groups announced Monday they have filed suit in federal court challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent decision to not list the wolverine under the Endangered Species Act.
At issue is whether the wolverine in the Lower 48 is considered a “distinct population segment.”
The Service in October claimed it wasn’t and there was evidence that the rare mammal travels back and forth from the U.S. to Canada, where they are more common.
“Wolverines in the Lower 48 states do not qualify as a distinct population segment and they are instead an extension of the population of wolverines found further north,” the Service said when it made the announcement.
But the environmental groups strongly disagreed, pointing to the law and the intent of Congress when it created the ESA
Congress recognized “that there may be instances in which the Service should provide for different levels of protection for populations of the same species. For instance, the U.S. population of an animal should not necessarily be permitted to become extinct because the animal is more abundant elsewhere in the world,” the groups claimed.
They also say that climate change threatens wolverines, as they den under deep snows, some of which no longer exists or don’t last as long into the spring due to climate change.
Research done by renowned wolverine biologist Jeff Copeland found that of the more than 560 wolverine dens he was able to locate, all of them were under deep snows, where presumably, they den to keep young safer from predators and extreme cold temperatures.
The environmental groups also claim that while there’s an estimated 300 wolverines in the Lower 48, the “effective population” — the population that is actually reproducing — is far lower, about 35 individuals.
Northwest Montana is home to wolverines and Glacier National Park is actually the best place to see one. Though rare, a sighting of a wolverine near Logan Pass, particularly early in the year, is not uncommon for frequent visitors.
The legal battle over the wolverine has dragged on for years and various presidential administrations.
In April 2016, a federal judge sided with environmental groups, agreeing that the Service’s previous August 2014 decision not to list wolverine as threatened was arbitrary and contrary to the scientific literature.
The court held: “[T]he Service’s decision against listing the wolverine as threatened under the ESA is arbitrary and capricious. No greater level of cious. No greater level of certainty is needed to see the writing on the wall for this snow-dependent species standing squarely in the path of global climate change. It has taken us 20 years to get to this point. It is the [court’s] view that if there is one thing required of the Service under the ESA, it is to take action at the earliest possible, defensible point in time to protect against the loss of biodiversity within our reach as a nation. For the wolverine, that time is now.”
This suit asks the court to reverse the Service’s October ruling that did not list the wolverine in the Lower 48 and to give the species protection within six months under the ESA.
The suit was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Northwest, Defenders of Wildlife, Friends of the Clearwater, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Idaho Conservation League, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and Rocky Mountain Wild.