Conservation Groups Allege New FWS Rule Does Not Adequately Protect Mexican Gray Wolves

The Western Environmental Law Center delivered a sixty-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) on behalf of WildEarth Guardians, New Mexico Wild, Western Watersheds Project, and the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project after FWS finalized a rule that ends its 2015 regulatory commitment to remove all endangered Mexican gray wolves above a population cap of 325 from the experimental population range. Conservation groups immediately criticized FWS for its designation of the population as “nonessential,” because it does not adequately protect the wolves from poachers and fails to adequately address genetic diversity which is essential for long-term survival of the species.