The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that the North American wolverine will be listed as a threatened species at risk of extinction in the contiguous U.S.—in part because of the “current and increasing impacts of climate change” the government said is imperiling the wolverines.
This photo provided by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife from a remote camera set by ... [+]
The Fish and Wildlife Service made the decision based on updated information on “climate change, habitat connectivity, trapping, snow, population density, and impacts on genetic diversity,” according to the department’s press release.
The FWS defines a “threatened species” as one “likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future” in all or most of the area it lives.
A species status assessment updated in September and cited in the decision said wolverine habitats in the contiguous U.S. are projected to decrease “because of climate changes that result in increasing temperatures, earlier spring snowmelt, and loss of deep, persistent spring snowpack.”
Wolverines are found in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountains and north Cascade Mountains and tend to live in remote parts of Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming, according to the Associated Press.
- That’s about how many wolverines are left in the contiguous U.S.
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said earlier this month, “any decision about placing or removing a species on the ESA must be based on updated population data, not potential climate effects on a portion of the habitat." Rosendale also expressed concern that protections would bring restrictions on what is allowed in places housing wolverines and could impact winter activities like skiing, the AP reported. FWS suggested there won’t be impacts to winter recreation since wolverines typically avoid those areas. “The Service is not concerned about the effects of winter recreation in established and developed areas,” like ski resorts, it said.
FWS recently proposed wolverines be listed as a threatened species in the contiguous U.S. in 2013. The status was denied in 2020 under former President Donald Trump’s administration when FWS officials said they believed wolverine populations to be stable and that previous concerns about climate change’s impact on the species were “overstated,” according to the New York Times.