Wolverine
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I attended the Fish and Wildlife Service’s wolverine listing hearings in Helena. Opponents, including a number of Montana state legislators as well as MDFWP, argued that wolverine populations were “stable” or even “increasing” and therefore did not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act. While the ill-informed state legislators who testified could be forgiven for…
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Due to petitions of a number of environmental groups, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) appears likely to list the wolverine under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Once found across much of the West and northern-tier states from Minnesota to Maine, wolverine are now limited to a few isolated populations in the western United…
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Move makes Montana’s wolverine season doubly dead- In a surprise move last Monday (Jan. 7), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced that on Jan. 18 it would issue a proposed rule protecting wolverines under the Endangered Species Act. This probably means it will be proposed as a threatened species instead of its current…
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Montana Dept of Fish, Wildlife and Parks maintains wolverine trapping. At their August 2, 2012 Commission meeting, the Montana Dept of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP) commissioners voted to continue trapping wolverine, despite a petition from eight environmental groups and one individual George Wuerthner (me) to halt trapping. The groups– which included Friends of the…
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Reliable spring time snow appears to be vital for wolverine kits to survive- Wolverines are legendary for traveling huge distances and eating just about anything. However, a study in the recent Journal of Mammology shows that this is hardly true when it comes to baby wolverine and their mothers. Wolverine females den in the snow…
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Tracks of a male found in the rugged mountain wilderness- Although it might just be passing through, this is a first for this mountain fastness. Last summer, my spouse (Jackie) staffed a fire tower on the edge of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, which covers much of the mountain range. The creation of the vast Eagle…
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Status Review is a result of a lawsuit Wolverines are very rare in the Lower 48 but there have been a few notable confirmations of them in Colorado where there is one being tracked by a gps collar and another in California which has been photographed with a remote camera for three consecutive years. They…
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How did a (probable) Idaho wolverine end up in the Sierra of California? Lone, lovelorn wolverine baffles scientists. By Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer