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Groups to sue for Wolverine listing By Paul Fattig Environmental groups plan to file a 60-day notice of intent today to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in an effort to place the wolverine under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. The goal is to force the agency to take steps to protect the dwindling populations of the reclusive predator and its high-elevation habitat, said Joseph Vaile, spokesman for the Williams-based Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, one of the petitioners. "This species once inhabited much of the Oregon Cascades, Klamath-Siskiyous and Sierra Nevadas," he said. "Massive logging, road building and trapping have virtually extirpated the species." In addition to the center, other groups joining the legal effort include the Predator Conservation Alliance, Defenders of Wildlife and the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance. Wolverines, which weigh about 60 pounds when fully grown, look somewhat like a badger or a small bear but are in the weasel family. They are nocturnal, solitary predators. Since 1973, Oregon has listed them as a threatened species. They were first proposed for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1994, and again last August. The groups argue that the agency failed to act in a timely fashion on this year�s petition as required under the ESA. The Fish and Wildlife Service, which is responsible for listing threatened or endangered species, did respond, said Diane Katzenberger, spokeswoman for the agency�s regional office in Denver. "We responded telling them we didn�t have the time or the money to even look at the petition," she said, adding that the agency is swamped with higher priority issues, including lawsuits. "We told them that as soon as funding became available, we would look at it," she added. "We�re working on other issues that have higher priority right now." That is precisely why the groups intend to sue, Vaile said. "Fish and Wildlife generally doesn�t move forward unless they are sued," he said, although noting that he understands that the agency has a backlog of work. But that knowledge doesn�t protect the wolverine, which requires a huge range in high elevations, he said. "There are some pretty reliable reports of wolverines in the Siskiyou crest (in Southern Oregon) and the Marble Mountains in Northern California," he said. "There are also historical accounts of wolverines in this area. We need to protect what is left." There is evidence that there may be wolverines in the high country of Southern Oregon, said Simon Wray, a wildlife biologist who works out of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife�s Central Point office. "But we don�t know for sure (if they inhabit the region)," Wray said. "There is only evidence that suggests that. But there is no hard and fast proof." Evidence comes in the form of tracks found during helicopter surveys of likely wolverine habitat by his department in recent years, mainly in wilderness areas, he said. Females den in the high elevations during the winter months, he explained. Federal and state biologists on an aerial survey spotted possible wolverine tracks in the snow at 8,000 feet on the north side of Mount McLoughlin and near Devil�s Peak in the Sky Lakes Wilderness in March 1998. Another biologist saw similar signs in the Mount Thielsen Wilderness in the Umpqua National Forest during the same period. There were also several reports of fleeting glimpses of wolverines by hunters and others in the Rogue River National Forest in the early 1990s. Although no helicopter surveys were made last winter, they will resume this season, Wray said. "In the past, we didn�t have permission to land in wilderness areas," he said. "We now have very limited permission if we see tracks we believe are wolverines." That is, providing there is a place to land nearby, he added. "Wolverines tend to live in very remote areas and they tend to not like people," he said. "And they are very good at keeping themselves hidden." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.