Local conservationists and some scientists say not enough is known about the wolverines in the United States to determine whether the elusive and sparsely distributed animal should receive protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The statements come less than a week after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said protecting the species isn’t warranted because genetic tests show that U.S. wolverines are too similar to animals in Canadian populations. Fish and Wildlife officials said U.S. wolverines do “not significantly contribute to the Canadian and Alaskan wolverine populations’ ability to maintain their genetic diversity and viability.”

Federal officials did say they would continue “to seek new information regarding the status of the wolverine.”

Wolverines currently live in the Cascades in Oregon and the Northern Rocky Mountains in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The animal once lived in the Sierra Nevadas and the Southern Rocky Mountains, but became extinct in those places, likely because of human development and hunting.

A scientist recently photographed a wolverine by accident in northern California, but it is unknown if the animal is part of an intact population.

Teton Village resident Forrest McCarthy, a researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Greater Yellowstone Wolverine Program, called the reasoning behind the decision not to list wolverines “just ridiculous.”

He pointed out that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service never would have put Canada lynx, bald eagles, grizzly bears and wolves on the Endangered Species List using the criteria of saying the animals can be found outside the U.S.

“It’s completely out of step with any precedent,” he said.

McCarthy said that, because wolverines are so mobile and elusive, and because they require such a large home range, scientists have little idea how the population in the Northern Rocky Mountains is faring.

“We’re still trying to find out if [the population] is expanding or contracting,” he said.

Louise Lasley, public lands director for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, said the current research on wolverines is some of the first independent study ever conducted.

“It’s a little disappointing that a decision has been made when there is so little information on these elusive animals,” she said.

Lasley said the Endangered Species Act should be modified to provide protection for threatened animals that aren’t well understood.  

Preliminary research indicates that breeding wolverines mostly live in areas where deep snowfall persists until late spring. In the Northern Rocky Mountains, that means elevations above 9,500 feet.

“We know very little about their range or where to find them, and we have rapidly increasing recreational use at the elevations where they live,” said Lasley. “It doesn’t sound like a good combination.”