Expressing support for continued Federal commitment to repopulation and recovery efforts for the red wolf in North Carolina and across the country.

Expressing support for continued Federal commitment to repopulation and recovery efforts for the red wolf in North Carolina and across the country.

Whereas red wolves are classified as an endangered species and the most endangered canis on the planet;

Whereas red wolves are unique to North America and are apex predators, making them vital regulators of their ecosystems;

Whereas red wolves used to roam throughout the eastern seaboard from New York to Florida and as far west as Texas;

Whereas, in 1967, the red wolf was listed as “threatened with extinction” under Federal statute (Public Law 89–669; 80 Stat. 926), recovery efforts began soon after, and the Red Wolf Recovery Program, established in 1973, led to the first-ever reintroduction of a carnivorous species declared extinct in the wild in 1987;

Whereas the United States Fish and Wildlife Service sponsors the Red Wolf Recovery Program, the sole Federal effort dedicated to restoring the wild population of red wolves;

Whereas there are now 270 captive red wolves across the country thanks to the dedication and work at dozens of zoological parks and repopulation programs;

Whereas eastern North Carolina is currently home to the only wild population of red wolves in the world, with an estimated 15 residing in the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula;

Whereas recovery efforts would be impossible without the tireless work of biologists, zoologists, volunteers and others working in the field and at repopulation programs;

Whereas, as part of these recovery efforts, bipartisan action from current and recent presidential administrations have led to approvals of various programs, including wildlife corridors, to protect species such as the red wolf;

Whereas wildlife corridors are components of the landscape that are managed to create or improve ecological connectivity for one or more species and allow movement between areas of their habitat, thereby lowering the effects of habitat fragmentation and population management;

Whereas wildlife corridors will be placed along Route 64 in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge to protect red wolves across eastern North Carolina along roads that run through the heart of the recovery region; and

Whereas these wildlife corridors are an investment into the safety of motorists in the area while also creating safe passage for wildlife through underpasses in the refuge: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that continued support for red wolf repopulation and recovery efforts, with combined partnership between Federal, State, local, educational, and nonprofit institutions across the country, is needed.