Posts by: Jeremy Bruskotter
In June of 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed removing federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection for the gray wolf (Canis lupus, Linnaeus) throughout most of the lower 48 U.S. states, with the exception of the Mexican wolf subspecies (C.l. baileyi) (78 Fed. Reg. 35,664). In an article accepted for publication [...]
Continue Reading →The Republican-led, House Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee has proposed eliminating funding for a variety of important fish and wildlife conservation programs. Specifically, the subcommittee proposed zeroing-out funding for the State & Tribal Wildlife Grants Program, North American Wetland Conservation Fund, Neotropical Migratory Bird Fund, Forest Legacy Program and Water Conservation Fund. These [...]
Continue Reading →Recent conversations with scientists at conferences, along with several comments made recently by readers of The Wildlife News got me thinking about this question. In one of the more bleak moments, a reader commented:
After years of reading and posting here, I finally got enough that I spoke out. I am a conservationist, I commit [...]
Continue Reading →Interior Secretary Sally Jewell received two letters today from conservation scientists criticizing a draft Rule that would remove protections for wolves across the lower 48 states. One letter came from the American Society of Mammalogists, the other from 16 conservation scientists. Signatories include several scientists who conducted the research the government relied upon [...]
Continue Reading →In an op-ed published in the New York Times yesterday, researchers from Michigan Technological University and Oregon State University advocated for the genetic rescue of the island’s wolf population:
As the lead researchers in the study of wolves and moose, we favor conservation or reintroduction. But more important than our view is the reasoning behind [...]
Continue Reading →On the 1st of May, Drs. John Vucetich and Rolf Peterson submitted written testimony in opposition to Michigan’s plan for a public harvest of gray wolves. I was asked to provide feedback on early versions of this text, and received permission to post the final version here. My hope is that it will generate some [...]
Continue Reading →Recent discussions about how wolves are portrayed in the news media got me thinking about public attention to this issue, generally. Is the wolf issue heating up or cooling down following their removal from federal protections? I used Google Trends, a tool for examining the content of web searches over time to see how issue [...]
Continue Reading →After the horrific tragedy in Newtown Connecticut, ecologist and animal advocate Marc Bekoff penned an essay in which he argued that “cruelty, violence and warlike behaviors in other animals are extremely rare” (Humanlike Violence is Not Seen in Other Animals). As evidence, Bekoff relies heavily on an essay by John Horgan critiquing [...]
Continue Reading →This past October, I helped organize a symposium entitled “Carnivore conservation in human-dominated systems: Ecological, ethical and social dimensions” at the EcoSummit conference here in Columbus, Ohio. The purpose of the symposium was to bring together international scholars from several disciplines to examine the ecological, ethical and social dimensions of carnivore conservation in [...]
Continue Reading →The idea that wolves and other large carnivores cause a “trophic cascade” through their impact on elk has been challenged by a number of recent publications. Last week another study was released that puts a dent in the notion– it suggests human activities, not large predators, are primarily responsible for elk vigilance in human-dominated landscapes.
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