A coalition of conservation groups sued the Trump administration Tuesday, saying its protection plan for Mexican wolves is inadequate.
The greens say the Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) violated the Endangered Species Act and ignored sound scientific findings in its November plan to increase Mexican wolf populations in the Southwest.
“Mexican wolves urgently need more room to roam, protection from killing, and more releases of wolves into the wild to improve genetic diversity, but the Mexican wolf recovery plan provides none of these things,” Elizabeth Forsyth, an Earthjustice attorney representing the group, said in a statement.
“The wolves will face an ongoing threat to their survival unless major changes are made.”
{mosads}Specifically, the groups say that the plan sets arbitrary population targets, doesn’t set site-specific objectives and doesn’t take advantage of public land resources for habitat, among other objections.
As of last year, FWS estimated there were only 113 Mexican wolves in the wild.
The suit is being brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife and the Endangered Wolf Center.
“Mexican wolves are vital to restoring natural balance in the Southwest, but they need a strong, science-based recovery plan to address urgent threats,” Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in the statement. “We’re gravely concerned that Trump’s plan would cut wolves off from habitats in the Grand Canyon and southern Rockies and remove protections while they’re still imperiled.”