While wolf advocates await a decision from USFWS, some wildlife activists are pursuing a parallel strategy of trying to use financial pressure to compel states to drop their anti-wolf laws.
The Global Indigenous Council, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the Center for Biological Diversity, and 25 other Native American, conservation, and animal welfare organizations have petitioned Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to withhold federal wildlife management funding from states like Montana and Idaho that target predators, including gray wolves.
If the coalition’s petition is approved, states that allow baiting, snaring, aerial spotting, and shooting young animals in their dens would be ineligible to receive grants under the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. The disbursement of Pittman-Robertson monies—which are funded by gun and ammunition sales—can under law be tied to certain conditions, though they are rarely enforced.
