Wolves around the United States consistently draw attention from the government, specifically the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, in charge of denoting endangered species. The most recent wolf species to bring consideration for protection is the Southeastern Alaska wolf, Alaska Public reported.
"We determined that there was substantial information presented, enough to make us think we probably should do a real status review," said Steve Brockmann is Southeast Alaska coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Two agencies, the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenpeace, campaigned for the wolf's listing back in 2011. Their proposal finally gained a "positive 90 day finding" earlier this month, the impetus for a greater review, according to the Alaska Public.
"Well we're thrilled to finally have the finding. It's come over two years late but we knew there was a strong case for pursuing a listing and we're glad to see that the agency's decided that our petition had merit," said Larry Edwards, a forest campaigner with Greenpeace in Sitka (also the site of the Michael Chabon novel, "The Yiddish Policeman's Union").
Since funding limits could delay an actual review for another few years, both federal and local services hope to enact conservation policies in the meantime to increase the wolf's numbers and avoid the beaurocracy if an investigation finds in favor of their protection.
"Recently that has been several years before we get that funding so we do have an opportunity here to well really take advantage of the time lag to get some conservation in place so we don't have to list the wolf," Brockmann said. "Honestly the Fish and Wildlife Service would prefer to leave management of the wolf with the state of Alaska where it belongs. We do have a responsibility to list it if it needs to be listed. We intend to work with our partners with the state and the Forest Service to make sure we don't have to do that when the time comes."
