Analysis: Public Overwhelmingly Opposes Feds’ Plan to Nearly Wipe Out Wild Red Wolves in North Carolina

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to remove protections from the nation’s only wild population of endangered Red Wolves has been met with near unanimous opposition from the public. Out of 108,124 comments submitted, 107,988 comments (99.9 percent) favored the need for strong federal protections for Red Wolves.

In June, the Service solicited public comments on its proposal for managing the Red Wolf, which has been reduced to a single wild population in eastern North Carolina consisting of as few as 30 individuals. The Service proposed to reduce the Red Wolf recovery area by more than 90 percent, with the revised recovery area only expected to provide sufficient space for 10 to 15 Red Wolves to safely roam. The proposal would eliminate protections for any Red Wolves that wander off Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge and Dare County Bombing Range, effectively allowing anyone to kill Red Wolves on private lands, for any reason.

"Once again, the American public has expressed overwhelming support for the Red Wolf. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must heed this call, recommit to proven management strategies and work to prevent the extinction of the world's most endangered canine," said Ben Prater, Southeast Program Director for Defenders of Wildlife.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s shameful hostility toward Red Wolves has been met with the strongest possible condemnation by the citizens of this country,” said Perrin de Jong, staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity in Asheville, North Carolina. “The verdict is in, and citizens from across this country, this state and the Red Wolf recovery area want the feds to do more, not less, to protect and recover this critically endangered species.”

"Many of us have long wondered why Americans of previous generations didn't rise up to save the ivory-billed woodpecker, the passenger pigeon, or the Carolina parakeet,” said Dr. Ron Sutherland, conservation scientist for Wildlands Network. “Well, here we are in 2018, and the American people have spoken with a strong and virtually unanimous voice that the Red Wolf must be saved from extinction and kept in the wild where the species belongs. Will Congress and the Service listen?"

“Every voice raised in support of wildlife can make a difference, and Americans overwhelmingly support the Red Wolf Recovery Program,” said Maggie Howell, Executive Director of the Wolf Conservation Center. “We’re counting on the Service to take notice and follow the best available science to ensure that the world’s most endangered wolves remain a living, breathing part of the landscape in eastern North Carolina.”

“Wildlife, including Red Wolves, are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in trust for the American people,” noted DJ Schubert, Wildlife Biologist at the Animal Welfare Institute. “The people have now spoken loud and clear of their support for the protection and recovery of the Red Wolf in the wild and it is time the government starts to listen and comply with the public’s clear message.”

People living in the areas most directly affected by Red Wolves also expressed overwhelming support for their conservation. Out of 2,923 comments submitted by North Carolinians, 2,898 comments (99.1 percent) spoke out in favor of Red Wolf protection. From the current five-county recovery area in eastern North Carolina where the wolves live, 75 out of 95 comments submitted (78.9 percent) were also pro-wolf.

North Carolina’s governor also spoke out against the Service’s proposal and expressed support for Red Wolf recovery. “There is a viable path forward for North Carolina’s Red Wolves living in the wild, and I have directed relevant departments in my administration to work with USFWS to continue the recovery program and build upon its success to date,” said Governor Roy Cooper in a comment submitted to the Service on July 30.

Only 19 comments explicitly supported the agency’s plan to eliminate Red Wolf protections and shrink the recovery area. Thirty additional comments, with 13 of these coming from one real estate developer, expressed general opposition to Red Wolf recovery.

Volunteers from Wildlands Network, the Wolf Conservation Center, the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Animal Welfare Institute reviewed each of the thousands of comments submitted to produce this analysis. The exercise was motivated by the need to provide the most accurate accounting of public sentiment as the Service regularly dismisses comments received on petitions or those compiled by conservation organizations. For example, in 2017 during the initial scoping period for the current proposal, the agency reported only receiving 12,000 comments when approximately 55,000 were submitted, ignoring the vast majority of comments received in support of Red Wolves.