PRESS RELEASE: Wolf still needs federal protections
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 26, 2018
CONTACT: Dr. Maureen Hackett, Howling For Wolves, 612.250.5915
Howling For Wolves: Wolf still needs federal protections
(St. Paul, Minn) – The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources today advanced H.R. 6784, a proposal to remove federal protections for the gray wolf in the 48 contiguous states, on a 19-15 vote. This latest attack on the Endangered Species Act now awaits action by the full U.S. House of Representatives.
Howling For Wolves is grateful for those members of the committee who spoke in opposition and gave the wolf a voice in this critical debate on the future of the species. Maureen Hackett, MD, founder and president of Howling For Wolves, released the following statement:
“No matter how hard we worked to find reasonable and rational ways to allow the wolf to exist within Minnesota, following the previous removal of federal endangered species protections, state officials rushed to sponsor three consecutive wolf hunting and trapping seasons. Delisting the wolf now will be a death sentence and means that future generations of Minnesotans will not hear the howl of the wolf in the wild. We still know very little about the genetic diversity and the health of wild wolves, but we do know—following delisting—the state of Minnesota will push the wolf toward extinction with trophy wolf hunting, trapping, and baiting, along with drastically reduced restrictions on wolf killing in general.”
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Howling For Wolves is a Minnesota-based wolf advocacy organization working to educate the public and policy-makers about wolves, to foster understanding and tolerance, and to ensure their long-term survival in the wild. HFW supports effective, science-based, and nonlethal wolf plans to support and promote human and gray wolf coexistence into the future.
September 27, 2018