Your voice is needed to help protect wolves in California!
Project Coyote and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) have petitioned the California Fish and Game Commission to better protect wolves recolonizing California from night-hunting and lethal trapping. Our petition will be considered by the Commission at the upcoming Santa Rosa Commission meeting on Thursday, April 14 and we need your support! You can help by taking any or all of the three simple actions below:
- Submit comments to the Commission (talking points below). Address your letters to: California Fish and Game Commission
P.O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
Please email your comments to info@projectcoyote.org and we will submit them directly to the Commission.
- Join us at the upcoming Fish and Game Commission meeting where these issues will be considered. More information and agenda to be posted here; (public testimony is limited to 3 min.):
What: California Fish and Game Commission mtg.
When: Thursday, April 14th (Agenda not yet posted)
Where: Flamingo Conference Resort & Spa, 2777 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95405
- Help keep these issues in the public eye by submitting Letters to the Editor to your local paper(s). Use the talking points below and our tips and tools for writing LTE’s.
BACKGROUND:
In June 2014, the Commission listed wolves under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), providing wolves recolonizing their historic range in California with the extra protections needed for recovery (wolves in California are also still listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act though those protections are tenuous as the Fish and Wildlife Service debates delisting wolves from the ESA). While these regulatory mechanisms render both the intentional and accidental taking of gray wolves in California illegal, specific regulations are necessary to protect wolves in the state from one of the greatest threats to their recovery: the accidental killing of gray wolves mistaken for other species, particularly coyotes, in night-time hunting and lethal trapping currently permitted in occupied and potential wolf territory.
Mistaken killings of grey wolves as a non-target species pose an immediate risk to the Shasta Pack and overall grey wolf recovery in California. By prohibiting night-time coyote hunting and lethal trapping within the wolf recovery zone, the Fish and Game Commission would significantly reduce the likelihood of grey wolves being accidentally killed, thereby advancing wolf recovery and greatly reducing the risk of future takings of wolves in violation of the ESA and CESA.
Talking points (please personalize & include your complete contact information to ensure that your letter is counted in the official record):
- Let the Commission know that you want to see wolves fully recovered in California and therefore support regulations banning night-time hunting and lethal trapping of nongame and furbearer species within the range of the grey wolf.
- Mistaken killings of gray wolves recolonizing California pose an immediate risk to the Shasta Pack and gray wolf recovery in general in California. Well-documented cases across the United States show that wolves are frequently killed by hunters targeting coyotes (particularly at night) and and lethal traps and snares set for coyotes and other animals capture, injure and kill wolves.
- While wolf recovery and management in California will be a multifaceted and long-term endeavor engaging myriad stakeholders, the most immediate risks to the species can and must be addressed by the Commission. As the current California gray wolf population consists of only seven known wolves, it is indisputable that the wolves’ very survival in the state is precarious, thus warranting expeditious action to minimize risks of their illegal take. The requested regulations are an essential step in this effort.
- The Commission previously enacted prohibitions on night-time hunting and the use of lethal traps within the range of the endangered San Joaquin kit fox and Sierra Nevada red fox—protections identical to those we now seek on behalf of the gray wolf. The Commission should afford equal protective treatment to the endangered gray wolf population.
- Night-hunting poses a threat to people as well. In 2014, a coyote hunter shooting at night in El Dorado County seriously wounded a Department law enforcement officer.
- The Commission’s adoption of a ban against such activities serves to greatly reduce the likelihood of ESA and CESA violations by hunters and trappers, as well as the Commission’s and Department’s own potential legal liability under these statutes.
Thank you for speaking out for wildlife and we hope to see you at the Commission meeting on April 14th!
