BEFORE THE SECRETARY OF INTERIOR PETITION TO LIST THE ALEXANDER ARCHIPELAGO WOLF (CANIS LUPUS LIGONI) IN SOUTHEAST ALASKA AS THREATENED OR ENDANGERED UNDER THE U.S. ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT © ROBIN SILVER PETITIONERS CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, ALASKA RAINFOREST DEFENDERS, AND DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE JULY 15, 2020 NOTICE OF PETITION David Bernhardt, Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20240 [email protected] Margaret Everson, Principal Deputy Director U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1849 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20240 [email protected] Gary Frazer, Assistant Director for Endangered Species U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1840 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20240 [email protected] Greg Siekaniec, Alaska Regional Director U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1011 East Tudor Road Anchorage, AK 99503 [email protected] PETITIONERS Shaye Wolf, Ph.D. Larry Edwards Center for Biological Diversity Alaska Rainforest Defenders 1212 Broadway P.O. Box 6064 Oakland, California 94612 Sitka, Alaska 99835 (415) 385-5746 (907) 772-4403 [email protected] [email protected] Randi Spivak Patrick Lavin, J.D. Public Lands Program Director Defenders of Wildlife Center for Biological Diversity 441 W. 5th Avenue, Suite 302 (310) 779-4894 Anchorage, AK 99501 [email protected] (907) 276-9410 [email protected] _________________________ Date this 15 day of July 2020 2 Pursuant to Section 4(b) of the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), 16 U.S.C. §1533(b), Section 553(3) of the Administrative Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C. § 553(e), and 50 C.F.R. § 424.14(a), the Center for Biological Diversity, Alaska Rainforest Defenders, and Defenders of Wildlife petition the Secretary of the Interior, through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”), to list the Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni) in Southeast Alaska as a threatened or endangered species. Petitioners also request that critical habitat be designated for the Alexander Archipelago wolf in Southeast Alaska concurrently with the species being listed, pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1533(a)(3)(A) and 50 C.F.R. § 424.12. Petitioner Center for Biological Diversity (“Center”) is a nonprofit, public interest environmental organization dedicated to the protection of imperiled species and the habitat and climate they need to survive through science, policy, law, and creative media. The Center is supported by more than 1.7 million members and online activists throughout the country. The Center works to secure a future for all species, great or small, hovering on the brink of extinction. The Center submits this petition on its own behalf and on behalf of its members and staff with a long-standing interest and involvement in protecting the Alexander Archipelago wolf and its habitat. Petitioner Alaska Rainforest Defenders, founded in 2011, is a regional conservation non- profit corporation in Southeast Alaska. The Alaska Rainforest Defenders stand together to defend and promote the biological integrity of Southeast Alaska’s terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems for the benefit of current and future generations. Alaska Rainforest Defenders seeks to foster protection of southeast Alaska’s fish and wildlife and their habitat. The members of Alaska Rainforest Defenders use public lands throughout southeast Alaska for commercial and subsistence fishing and hunting, professional scientific work, and a wide range of recreational activities. Founded in 1947, Petitioner Defenders of Wildlife is a major national conservation organization focused on wildlife and habitat conservation. It has over 1.8 million members and supporters, and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. with field offices in 12 states. Defenders is a science-based advocacy nonprofit organization committed to conserving and restoring native species and the habitat upon which they depend. The USFWS has jurisdiction over this petition. This petition sets in motion a specific process, placing definite response requirements on the USFWS. Specifically, the USFWS must issue an initial finding as to whether the petition “presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted.” 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(3)(A). The USFWS must make this initial finding “[t]o the maximum extent practicable, within 90 days after receiving the petition.” Id. Petitioners need not demonstrate that a listing is warranted; rather, Petitioners must only present information demonstrating that such listing may be 3 warranted. There can be no reasonable dispute that the available information indicates that listing the species as either threatened or endangered may be warranted. As such, the USFWS must promptly make a positive initial finding on the petition and commence a status review as required by 16 U.S.C. § 1533(b)(3)(B). The term “species” is defined broadly under the ESA to include “any subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants and any distinct population segment of any species of vertebrate fish or wildlife which interbreeds when mature.” 16 U.S.C. § 1532(16). A Distinct Population Segment (“DPS”) of a vertebrate species can be protected as a “species” under the ESA even though it has not formally been described as a separate “species” or “subspecies” in the scientific literature. A species may be composed of several DPSs, some or all of which warrant listing under the ESA. The USFWS has recognized the Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni) as a subspecies of the gray wolf and as a listable entity. The best-available science clearly demonstrates that the Alexander Archipelago wolf is threatened or endangered throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Petitioners request that the USFWS recognize Alexander Archipelago wolves in Southeast Alaska as a Distinct Population Segment (DPS) and evaluate a Southeast Alaska DPS for listing as threatened or endangered. In the alternative, Petitioners request that the USFWS evaluate the Alexander Archipelago wolf subspecies for listing where Southeast Alaska constitutes a significant portion of the range. Pursuant to 50 C.F.R. § 424.14(b), Petitioner Center for Biological Diversity provided notice to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on June 12, 2020 that the Center intended to file a petition under the federal Endangered Species Act to list and designate critical habitat for the Alexander Archipelago wolf (Canis lupus ligoni) no sooner than 30 days from the date that notice was provided. (see Center for Biological Diversity 2020). 4 Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 7 Part I. Taxonomy, Distribution, and Natural History ................................................................... 12 A. Taxonomy ............................................................................................................................ 12 B. Distribution........................................................................................................................... 14 C. Habitat Use ........................................................................................................................... 15 1. Seasonal Habitat Selection ................................................................................................ 15 2. Habitat Use During the Breeding Season ......................................................................... 17 D. Diet and Foraging Ecology .................................................................................................. 19 Part II. Abundance and Population Trends ................................................................................... 20 Part III. The Alexander Archipelago Wolf As a Listable Entity Under the ESA ......................... 22 A. Listable Entities under the Endangered Species Act. ......................................................... 23 B. The 2016 USFWS Evaluation of Listable Alexander Archipelago Wolf Entities and the Listing Determination for Those Entities. ................................................................................ 24 C. Alexander Archipelago Wolves in Southeast Alaska Constitute a Distinct Population Segment that Warrants Listing under the ESA. ........................................................................ 25 1. A Southeast Alaska DPS Meets the Discreteness Criteria Based on Differences Across the International Boundary Between the U.S. and Canada. .................................................. 25 2. The USFWS has Determined in Similar Cases that a DPS Meets the Discreteness Criteria Based on Differences across the International Boundary. .................................................... 27 3. A Southeast Alaska DPS Meets the Significance Criteria of the DPS Policy. ................. 30 4. A Southeast Alaska DPS Warrants Listing as Threatened or Endangered Across All or a Significant Portion of Its Range. ........................................................................................... 33 D. Alexander Archipelago Wolves in Southeast Alaska Constitute a Significant Portion of the Range of the Subspecies. .......................................................................................................... 34 Part IV. Threats Analysis: The Alexander Archipelago Wolf Is Threatened or Endangered Based on the Five ESA Listing Factors ..................................................................................................