"Although wolf restoration can never compensate for all the environmental havoc wreaked by our own species, it is a heartening symbol of a new public vision."
"We need a process for resolving endangered species issues that brings people together instead of dividing them. We need leaders who will promote cooperation rather than confrontation. And we need interest groups—both industry and environmental—that truly want to find answers."
"Taking our cue from the philosophy of the great conservationist Aldo Leopold, we must change from exploiters and conquerors to partners of nature."
Rodger Schlickeisen
President, Defenders of Wildlife
"…Yellowstone…is again feeling the footsteps of wolf packs, again resounding with their soulful howls. In this protected space the wolf will prove himself a survivor extraordinaire, one that will hopefully remain a part of this wonderful web of life for centuries to come."
Douglas W. Smith, Gary Ferguson
"Decade of the Wolf, Returning the Wild to Yellowstone"
"Where else might wolf recovery make sense? One place attractive to many are the long, broad sweeps of forest comprising northern New England. Though most of these lands are privately owned by paper companies, that fact would hardly trouble wolves, since healthy populations can certainly be supported in a working forest. Assuming there exists some form of protection from human exploitation, the same habitats that support whitetail deer and moose would also support wolves."
Douglas W. Smith, Gary Ferguson
"Decade of the Wolf, Returning the Wild to Yellowstone"
"…let us ensure that the …Yellowstone Park wolf population signifies not just a new appreciation for one species but also a greater resolve to respect and nourish all parts of our environment."
All photos courtesy of Dan and Cindy Hartman
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 THE MAINE WOLF COALITION
was founded in 1994 with the mission of Northeast wolf recovery through research, education, and protection.
To promote a better understanding of the importance of wolves, the MWC has a comprehensive education program with community meetings, adult education classes, slide shows, live wolf programs, classroom activities, discussions, and displays throughout the state.
State and federal laws protect wolves, but they are still killed illegally. In 1993, a 67 pound female wolf was killed in northern Maine. In 1996, an 81 pound "probable wolf" was killed east of Bangor. Law enforcement and on-going education is crucial for wolf recovery.
 WHY WOLF RECOVERY?
Bounties, over-harvesting and loss of habitat resulted in the disappearance of wolves from Maine about a century ago.
Researchers have determined that Maine has approximately 18,000 miles of suitable wolf habitat and that our deer population is the largest in a century. Predators do not control prey; the amount of prey determines the number of predators. The deer herd in Wisconsin has increased as the wolf recovery numbers have increased.
Maine’s estimated number of deer is 331,000 animals; moose-35,000; and beavers-in the tens of thousands.
These animals have all lost their natural predator - the wolf.
The coyote population in Maine is an estimated 12-16,000 animals. Studies in Yellowstone have indicated that within two years, with the presence of wolves, coyote populations decreased by approximately 50% until a balance was reached.
Wolves strengthen the biodiversity of a region by bringing into balance species with large populations and bolstering species under stress. Wolf kills provide food for scavengers like bears, ravens, and eagles. Fewer coyotes means more rodents for smaller predators. Plant species flourish with fewer large ungulates overgrazing plants and small trees.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
You can help restore a healthy forest ecosystem in Maine by supporting wolf recovery in the Northeast.
HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS:
- BE A MEMBER OF THE MWC: Simply fill out our membership form and send it in. We’ll send you a membership card and our quarterly newsletter.
- VOLUNTEER: We always need people to help with our education and fundraising programs. Call the MWC at 207-474-7828 or send e-mail to mainwolf@localnet.com
- KNOW WOLVES: Read about wolves and wolf recovery issues. Get to know the opposition. Share what you learn with others.
- COMMUNICATE: Find out how to contact your legislators at http://janus.state.me.us/house/. Write letters, call, contact them frequently.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Please take a few minutes to explore our Web site. Your questions and comments are always welcome at mainwolf@localnet.com.
And why not take a few minutes to e-mail Governor John Baldacci to remind him of the importance of wolves to a healthy ecosystem and that the acceptance of wolves in Maine would potentially give a great financial boost to our economy through ecotourism.
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Ruling Brightens Possibilities for
Wolf Recovery in Northeast
A federal judge has ordered the Bush administration to proceed with the business of restoring the wolf to the Northeast. Judge J. Garvan Murtha, in the US District Court for Vermont, found the Department of the Interior in violation of federal law in 2003 when it issued a rule saying no further efforts to restore the wolf were needed.
After successful restoration in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and the Northern Rockies, the Fish and Wildlife Service was ready to sit back and consider their job done. At the court hearing in Vermont, a representative of the Service was quoted as saying "…there’s nothing in the law that says that the Service has the responsibility to recover a species everywhere it once occurred, only rather that we bring a species back from the brink of extinction and restore them in enough places that they’re no longer facing an imminent threat to extinction. And we did that, or felt we did that, with the three recovering populations that are ongoing now." Although wolves are now living in but a small fraction of their historic range throughout the lower 48 States, the federal plan was to lump the upper Midwest states together with the Northeast in a large, 21 state eastern region and declare that they had done enough to bring back wolf populations from the brink of extinction. The plan included delisting the wolf in the eastern part of the country meaning that it would no longer be protected by the Endangered Species Act.
In his decision, Judge Murtha ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service "simply cannot downlist or delist an area that it previously determined warrants an endangered listing because it ‘lumps together’ a core population with a low to nonexistent population outside the core area." Environmental groups including the National Wildlife Federation, Vermont Natural Resources Council, Maine Wolf Coalition, Environmental Advocates of New York, and Maine Audubon Society joined in a lawsuit against the federal plan, represented by Patrick Parenteau, director of the environmental law clinic at Vermont Law School.
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s complacency, punctuated by the attitude that "there is nothing in the law that says the Service has the responsibility to recover a species everywhere it once occurred…", indicates a certain penchant for mediocrity in the execution of its duties. There is no possibility for restoring the wolf to every area in which it once occurred, as the range of the wolf at one time extended throughout the entire lower 48 States. Other than the few existing areas where there has been successful wolf recovery, the Northeast is probably the last remaining place that can even entertain the thought of restoring wolves to their former range. The Northeast still has sufficient habitat and prey base to support a viable wolf population, characteristics that are long gone throughout most of the rest of the country. It would seem that the Service’s responsibility to the wildlife that they are charged with preserving and protecting should extend beyond just "bringing a species back from the brink of extinction."
The Northeast—Maine in particular—touts its reputation as "the way life should be." The promotion of that fact has succeeded in luring an influx of tourists, vacationers, retirees, and city dwellers to pack up their belongings and relocate to the Northeast, more often than not, bringing a piece of suburbia with them. The face of the Northeast is rapidly changing. The "way life should be" is becoming a clone of the lives that were left behind. Huge tracts of once pristine forested lands are currently mapped out on blueprints for development. Urban sprawl has found the Northeast and is spreading and thriving here. The opportunities that now present themselves in the Northeast to stay, in Governor Percival Baxter’s sage words, "forever wild" will potentially in the next few decades be lost forever. Loss of forests to development and pavement is permanent.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has now been nudged to shake themselves out of their doldrums, hit the "refresh" button, and take action on their responsibility for the Northeast. Judges Robert Jones in Oregon and J. Garvan Murtha in Vermont have done their homework, seen the forest through the trees, and ruled admirably, not just for wolf restoration in the Northeast, but for the preservation of its precious commodities for future generations.
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