To the Editor:

Bad news from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which is again proposing to strike the wolf from the Endangered Species List with the same proposal that was shot down by public outcry in 2011.

But it is more important than ever to let the USFWS know that we in the Northeastern states will not stand for removal of all protection from any wolf who travels here from Canada or from the westesrn states, and that we do not want the USFWS to abandon plans for wolf recovery in New York, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts, all of which have suitable habitat for the wolf.

The link to the proposed recommendation, a 126-page document is: https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/06/13/2013-13982/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-removing-the-gray-wolf-canis-lupus-from-the-list-of

However, your comments are welcome at http://www.regulations.gov to be submitted before midnight on Oct. 28.  Alternatively, you can mail comments to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Headquarters Office, Endangered Species Program, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 420, Arlington, VA 22203.

There are so many reasons to keep wolves protected under the Endangered Species Act.  They are quite rare, particularly in this area; the presence of this species contributes to a balanced ecosystem; they are magnificent mammals and they represent a unique biological heritage, older than our own, that has a right to exist for its own sake.

Please join me in letting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service know that you value the gray wolf and all its subspecies.  By the way, most biologists do not believe that Canis lycaon is a separate species from Canis lupus, and we do agree there are very few wolves here in the Northeast.

We can expect that the few wolves that come here will be shot on sight if they are no longer a protected species.

Grace Nichols
Delmar