LA Times Reported First: Federal authorities announced Friday that the geographically isolated Alexander Archipelago wolf of southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest may need protection under the Endangered Species Act to survive the impact of logging, hunting and trapping in its old-growth habitat.
Populations of the rare subspecies of gray wolf are in steep decline in portions of the heavily logged region, where they den in the root systems of western hemlock and Sitka spruce and hunt black-tailed deer, which also rely on the ancient trees to shield them from harsh winters.
The wolf, which scientists know as Canis lupus ligoni, relies on the deer for 90% of its diet during the winter months.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to determine within a year whether protecting the wolf as endangered or threatened is warranted.
The decision comes in response to a petition filed in 2011 by Greenpeace and the Center for Biological Diversity, which states that continued logging in the Tongass is destroying habitat and bringing new roads into the area, making the wolves — and their prey — increasingly vulnerable.
“The Alexander Archipelago wolf, one of Alaska’s most fascinating species, needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act if it’s to have any chance of survival,” Rebecca Noblin, Alaska director of the center, said in a prepared statement.
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