Defenders: ‘Disappointed’ but also ‘hopeful’

Suzanne Asha Stone, Northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife, said, “We’re disappointed that the injunction wasn’t granted, and I think that right now we feel that a hunting season for wolves at this point still poses a threat to the regional wolf population.” But she said the group, one of 13 that sued over the delisting of the gray wolf in Idaho and Montana, is “hopeful that the court recognizes that we’re likely to prevail on our legal claim, that the Fish & Wildlife Service acted illegally by delisting wolves in Montana and Idaho. We’re encouraged that our ultimate goal of restoring a healthy wolf population to the region and making sure that it remains so after delisting is still very much a viable goal.”

Stone said there’s been a “missed opportunity” in the debate over the wolf for all the stakeholders in the region to come together and find compromise. “I think that’s been the one missed opportunity that has just really plagued this issue over the long term,” she said. “The conflicts have been so polarized, based on mostly misinformation, emotion and politics rather than on science and true negotiations on resolving these issues. We have another opportunity to try that again.”