The Feds listed wolverine under the Endangered Species Act yesterday. This has serious implications for western trappers......just ask us Mainers what happened after lynx were listed.
Video link here: https://youtu.be/OAffMPgDXnY?si=VsSlSzkEKZmBHC5g

I forgot how to embed vids on here.....if someone doesn't mind posting it I'd appreciate it.

Thank you G Hose

The short of it.....federally listed status is an avenue for AR/enviro groups to sue states for trapping programs. That's how we got such crazy trapping regs in Maine, and it's starting in Montana right now with lawsuit to shut down wolf trapping season to protect grizzlies. Idaho, Montana and Wyoming trapping is going to undergo much more scrutiny in the coming years.....start raising money now to fight the lawsuits that are coming.

"The Service is also issuing an interim rule under ESA section 4(d) tailored to the wolverine’s conservation needs that exempts take related to research activities, take incidental to lawful trapping for other species, and take resulting from forest management activities associated with wildfire risk reduction in the contiguous U.S."



What's this mean?

Not many out here so maybe they need protecting. They have been protected in most Western states anyway.

We have Untrapped Wyoming , they got involved when a gal walking her dog at a refuge, off lease , got caught in trap on private land next to the refuge. The trapper did not have tag on his trap, not a good idea. Minor for the trapper but I don't think she got in any trouble with the dog, GW did tell her it was trespassing.

I would hope it means it is not a crime if I trap one incidentally. That doesn't mean States can't/won't enact all kinds of ridiculous laws about trap usage and restrictions "to protect" the wolverines.

Dirt I believe they included the incidental take provision in the interim rule to avoid blowback from the states, which would have made the listing more difficult to achieve. One of the advocates have already stated they will challenge this provision and make the argument that existing trapping activities harm wolverine populations. If an argument gets in front of a sympathetic judge (like Molloy in Missoula), the incidental take provision will likely go away.

Thanks for actually researching it Dirt. Means we get to keep trapping for now. The 4(d) rule is an interim rule that they are accepting public comments on. But now that they've played that hand it'll be harder to reverse course and maintain scientific integrity in subsequent court battles should they prohibit trapping in the "final" rule in 60 days. The rationale they used for the Incidental trapping exception is very well written and is something everyone should read. Here's a link to the Fed Register posting, you have to scroll to page 83769:

https://www.federalregister.gov/doc...-species-status-with-section-4d-rule-for


It's a long section, but you're looking for this part:

If things go the way they have with lynx in Maine, it will be up to judges to decide whether existing trapping programs can continue, and each state will have to submit plans to minimize the take of the listed species in their trapping programs. In Maine that required lynx exclusion devices in all baited conibear sets, max jaw spread restrictions and numerous mods on foothold traps, loss of the use of drags, etc.

I agree, they should be protected, but not via federal listing. I think the states have done a good job with management without all of the red tape and added restrictions that comes with federal listing.

Were Lynx listed because of global warming?

It's crazy that they can use a species that has historically always had a small population along it's fringe but a healthy population in its core range to place restrictions.

It would be like saying Water Moccasins are endangered in Georgia because they only occur in one river on the very edge of my county and two others.

I agree Jumperzee, it is very well written and makes a lot of sense. But it isn't the FWS biological opinion that I'm concerned about, it is the Fed Judge's opinion in forthcoming lawsuits. During the Trump administration the FWS recommended NOT to list the wolverine citing most of the same information provided in this rule. This was challenged in court and the judge ordered them to revisit the decision, which is how we got here today.

When wolverine are officially listed as a threatened species, the next lawsuit will be challenging the opinion that trapping does not harm the population. They will FOIA state data showing number of wolverine caught incidental to other programs and bring this in front of the judge. In the lynx case, we had far more Canada lynx in Maine than there are wolverines in the west, and the judge ruled that catching more than 3 lynx in a 15 year period would harm the population and thus our trapping rules had to change via the incidental take process.

It's a dated article.
M

Currently no state has a wolverine season in the lower 48. Montana had a very restrictive harvest quota before they were forced to close the season because of political maneuvering by the anti-crowd. A comprehensive study conducted throughout the western states showed that female wolverines made use of about half of the prime habitat available according to a western state furbearer biologist. My understanding is that female wolverines make use of snow dens to have their kits. I also have seen video of an active wolverine den in a large root wad. It seems to be political maneuvering to prove an agenda. Wolverine have been popping up in unexpected areas of the west for several years now.

If I remember right, that was just after Maine implemented the restrictive trapping regulations (lynx exclusion devices etc) and the ITP was approved. They sued again and lost, thankfully, so we got to keep trapping. But it pretty much cemented the idea that the LED's and foothold trapping restrictions were not going to go away as long as lynx continue to be a listed species.

"Canada lynx were designated as a distinct population segment and listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2000. This was due solely to the inadequacy, at that time, of regulatory mechanisms on federal public lands, where most potential lynx habitat occurs. Federal land management plans at that time were deemed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be inadequate to ensure the conservation of lynx populations and habitats."

Source: USFWS

Appears the problem claimed with Lynx was not enough regulations?

" Wolverine have been popping up in unexpected areas of the west for several years now." [/quote]

Traveling at 55 miles per hour I suspect too?

Yes, generally speaking it was due to lack of habitat protections in forest plans. Ironically, the regulations imposed on timber harvest have exacerbated fires in some areas which is leading to even more habitat loss.