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1. WOLVES I: Alaska Wolves Under Fire The Alaska Board of Game has authorized a wolf control program in an area west of Denali National Park and is considering another north of Anchorage. Both programs are likely to permit aerial wolf shooting and are designed to increase artificially the number of moose and caribou available to be killed by hunters. However, each must be approved by Alaska Governor Tony Knowles (D), who has stated that he would not approve any predator-control program unless it is scientifically sound, cost-effective and publicly acceptable. Neither proposal has broad public support and both downplay non-wolf factors affecting moose and caribou populations such as weather, the carrying capacity of the habitat, bear predation and a high local hunter success rate. These wolf control proposals come just four months after the state legislature overrode Governor Knowles' veto and passed legislation that made it easier for the state to use aircraft in predator-control programs. The legislation repealed a key element of a ballot initiative approved by nearly 60 percent of Alaska voters in 1996. Defenders is mobilizing Alaska citizens to urge the governor to stop both wolf control proposals. 2. WOLVES II: Southwest Wolf Recovery in Jeopardy Anti-wolf interests are mobilizing against a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposal to move previously released endangered gray wolves into the Gila Wilderness and adjacent roadless habitat along the New Mexico-Arizona border. The Gila was the first federal wilderness area designated in the United States and provides the safest and best habitat for wolves in the southwest far from roads, guns and livestock. Representative Joe Skeen (R-NM) issued a press release this week attacking the wolf recovery program, and wolf opponents are organizing a rally tomorrow in Glenwood, NM, opposing future reintroductions. The FWS' proposed action will significantly reduce conflicts with people and livestock, avoid wolf losses and expose wolves to abundant native prey. The ability to translocate or move wolves is a valuable management option that allows for quick responses to conflicts that have resulted in the death of livestock and wolves. Only eight wild Mexican wolves currently run free in the American Southwest. To help ensure that the most critically endangered wolf in the world stays on the road to recovery visit the DEN Action Center or click here for more information on the proposed Mexican Wolf action. 3. ENDANGERED SPECIES: Legal Victory for Piping Plovers A U. S. District Court judge ruled this month that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) must move forward to protect critical habitat for two endangered populations of piping plovers in the Great Lakes and Great Plains regions. The decision came in response to a 1996 lawsuit filed by Defenders of Wildlife, charging that FWS violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to recover populations of the small migratory shorebird. The piping plover, named for its flute-like "peeplo" song, was first listed under the ESA in 1985 after its numbers declined sharply. The major threat to the plover is habitat degradation by human activities including lakeshore development, dredging of tidal flats and increasing human use of beaches. Despite the legal victory, conservationists remain concerned about important plover breeding habitat located in Canada, where no habitat protections exist. 4. BIRDS: DEN Helps Protect Migratory Shorebirds After receiving hundreds of e-mails from DEN activists, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission took a crucial first step in stopping the destructive exploitation of horseshoe crabs. Their actions will benefit the imperiled crab and the millions of migratory shorebirds that depend upon them and their eggs as a food source during their annual migration. The significant public response undoubtedly played a critical role in forcing the commission to implement several of the conservation-oriented options. It voted to close federal waters in the Delaware Bay to crab harvest, prevent states from transferring unfilled crab-harvest quotas to other states, and develop a strategy to implement alternative bait and trap designs to reduce the number of crabs used for conch and eel bait. The commission also approved a 25 percent reduction in the number of crabs each state can harvest. Thanks to all of you who sent in comments. You definitely made a difference! 5. WILDLIFE CALENDAR: Manatees Keep Warm in Winter For much of the year endangered West Indian manatees, also known as "sea cows," feed on the sea grass meadows in the Gulf of Mexico. In October, as water temperatures begin to fall, manatees begin their annual migration to the warmer inlets, lagoons and estuaries of coastal Florida. When the water temperature drops below 60 degrees F, manatees become sluggish, stop eating and will die unless they move to warmer water. They can easily adapt from salt to fresh water environments, changing their diet to freshwater plants in streams and rivers. Winter months are the best and most predictable times to see manatees. Florida's natural springs keep streams at roughly 72 degrees F year round. The large marine mammals congregate to pass the winter in places like Blue Springs State Park, Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park and Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. Areas near power plants, which discharge warm water into local streams, are also a common gathering place. Manatees stay by the source of the warm water in the morning or on cold days, waiting for the temperature to rise. In the afternoon or on warmer days they venture out into cooler waters to feed. For more information on manatees see our fact sheet at KidsPlanet.org. 6. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Jane Goodall on the New Millennium "So let us move into the next millennium with hope, for without it all we can do is eat and drink the last of our resources as we watch our planet slowly die. Instead, let us have faith in ourselves, in our intellect, in our staunch spirit. Let us develop respect for all living things."
--Jane Goodall is a world-renowned research
scientist who has studied chimpanzees for more than 35 years.
DENlines is a bi-weekly publication of Defenders of Wildlife, a leading national conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. It is known for its effective leadership on endangered species issues, particularly predators such as brown bears and gray wolves. Defenders also advocates new approaches to wildlife conservation that protect species before they become endangered. Founded in 1947, Defenders is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with more than 380,000 members and supporters.
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