Wolf Weekly Wrap-Up

We Reached Our Goal! Running Billboards in Spokane, Washington: We did it! Thanks to the support of our members and a wonderful partnership with local Washington State wolf advocates, we’ve achieved our goal to run a coordinated media and public education campaign in Spokane, Washington – beginning with a series of nine billboards in the City of Spokane. We’re launching this campaign in response to a hostile anti-wolf billboard campaign that went up earlier this month in the same area. Our opponents’ billboards do nothing but spread lies and myths about wolves and we were not willing to let this misinformation go unchecked. Public support for wolf recovery in Washington State is critical; residents of Spokane need to know the real facts about wolves, not the fairytales. Check out our billboard design below and see our website at WolfRealityCheck.com!

Idaho Predator Derby Could Still Take Place; Montana Predator Derby Canceled: We know you’ve heard about the Idaho-based hunters’ rights organization which proposed to hold an egregious predator derby this January over a period of three days outside of Salmon, Idaho. While our public opposition and threat of legal challenge have stopped the derby from occurring on BLM-managed lands outside of Salmon, even with this victory, the derby could still proceed on National Forest lands within the Salmon-Challis National Forest unless the U.S. Forest Service takes immediate action to stop it.

But while we continue to protest this killing contest in Idaho, this week we learned that this fever may be spreading East across state lines to Montana. A local hotel and resort announced the “1st Annual Great Montana Coyote and Wolf Hunt” which was scheduled to take place January 16th to 18th in Sanders County, Montana. But, just as quickly as this derby was announced, it was canceled later this week after the organizer reported threats of violence. Defenders of Wildlife does not condone any threats of violence. But, Defenders does support this derby cancellation and we will continue to look for collaborative opportunities to support wolf recovery in Montana.

©Didier Lindsey

Has The Grand Canyon Wolf Been Killed? This week news surfaced that a collared three-year-old female wolf was shot and killed near Beaver, Utah. Tragically, we suspect that it may be the wandering wolf that captured our imaginations by showing up on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon a few weeks ago – the wolf that some in the Southwest called, Echo. But whether this is the Grand Canyon wolf or not it still is unfortunate that this wolf was killed and demonstrates what would happen if the Fish and Wildlife Service finalizes its delisting proposal. We’ll keep you updated here as we learn more.