Del Benes reply
Thank you for contacting my office regarding the management of gray wolves. I appreciate hearing your views on this issue.
For hundreds of years, gray wolves have played an important role in sustaining a healthy ecosystem throughout the United States and, in particular, the Northwest. At one point, scientists estimated that over 2 million gray wolves once freely roamed throughout most of the country. Unfortunately, the gray wolf population nearly became extinct during the past century due to bounties, exterminations, and expansive human settlement. Today, the population has begun to recover under the protection of the Endangered Species Act, though the population and ranging area are still a fraction of its previous size.
As you know, upon determining the grey wolf population in the United States to no longer be in danger of extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) decided to delist gray wolves as an endangered species, thereby removing federal protection for wolves in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and parts of Washington, Oregon, and Utah. The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife recently approved the state's Wolf Conservation and Management Plan, which addresses the impact of delisting on livestock and other wildlife populations. Rest assured that I recognize the importance of wildlife conservation and I will certainly keep your views in mind going forward.
Again, thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts and concerns. I invite you to stay connected with me by signing up for my e-newsletter at
http://delbene.house.gov/contact-me/newsletter. Through this newsletter, I will periodically ask for your opinion on votes and will notify you on issues affecting the district. I can also be reached on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/RepDelbene and on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/RepDelBene. My office is here to serve you, so please do not hesitate to contact us.
Regards,
Suzan DelBene
Member of Congress
