The Case for Wolves: Declaration Excerpts from our Wildlife Services Suit

Brett Haverstick Declaration Excerpt
“I believe the gray wolf epitomizes the spirit and character of wilderness. Thinking that wolves may be on the landscape has the unique ability to heighten an individual’s senses, expand one’s imagination and enhance the overall experience of a person in backcountry. The scientific literature is clear that wolves also enhance ecosystem function. As a keystone species, wolves positively affect many other animal and plant species…” (Read More)

Brett is a Moscow, ID resident with a Master’s degree in Natural Resources from the University of Idaho. He is the Education & Outreach Director for Friends of the Clearwater.

Ken Cole Declaration Excerpt
“In the spring of 2002, while working for IDFG, I was stationed at the East Fork Salmon River fish trap…I was excited to be stationed there because I knew there was a wolf pack named the Whitehawk Pack that inhabited the area.

On the morning of April 6, 2002, I witnessed a Wildlife Services’ spotter plane and helicopter in the process of gunning down the Whitehawk Pack because they had been implicated in livestock depredations. I was very disturbed by what I had seen…” (Read More)

Ken is a Boise, ID resident with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Idaho State University. He works for Western Watersheds Project as their Idaho Director. From 2000–2008, Ken worked for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Kelly Nokes Declaration Excerpt
“I regularly recreate in Idaho’s wild gray wolf habitat…Aside from the wolf I saw on the Montana side of Lolo Pass on January 20, 2017, I have only seen one other wolf in the wild – in Yellowstone National Park in October 2015…I have yet to see a wolf in the wild in Idaho despite my best efforts to seek them out in their natural habitats across the state.

I am aware that Wildlife Services kills significant numbers of wolves in the Lolo Zone (about twenty each year for years, for a total of over 100), and far more in the state as a whole. I am troubled by the unanalyzed cumulative impacts of this killing in combination with Idaho’s lengthy wolf hunting and trapping season…” (Read More) 

Kelly is a Missoula, MT resident with a Juris Doctor and Master in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School. She is employed with WildEarth Guardians as their Carnivore Advocate.

Many thanks to our partners in this important case for their detailed and informative declarations. Find out more about our Wildlife Services lawsuit to protect Idaho wolves here.