Delegation urges feds to be flexible on wolves
WASHINGTON (AP) – Wyoming’s congressional delegation wants federal
officials to work with the state on its plan to manage wolves.
Sens. Craig Thomas and Mike Enzi met Thursday with Steve Williams,
director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who is expected to discuss
the issue with state lawmakers next week in Cheyenne.
Enzi said it could be possible to adjust the plan’s wording without
changing the spirit of it.
“Wyoming took an honest and forthright approach by calling the wolf a
predator in its plan,” he said. “Montana, however, chose to avoid this
classification in its plan, but I believe in practice it allows wolves to
be managed as predators.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must approve Wyoming’s wolf-management
plan before wolves can be taken off the Endangered Species List.
After approving plans submitted by Idaho and Montana, the agency rejected
Wyoming’s plan last month mainly because it would have classified wolves
as predators in most of the state, allowing them to be shot virtually at
will.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal has said the state may sue the federal government
over the issue.
Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., said she is angry over the service’s apparent
flip-flop on the state’s plan.
“I don’t want to see Wyoming engaged in a lawsuit that could cost us
millions of dollars to litigate and take years to settle, and I’m not sure
our wildlife and livestock can outlast the wolves at the rate they’re
spreading,” Cubin said.