Gray wolves in Wisconsin called not endangered
The Capital Times
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has removed the gray wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act in the western Great Lakes, including Wisconsin, as well as parts of the northern Rocky Mountains states.
The ruling was announced Wednesday by Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett.
The western Great Lakes region includes Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan as well as parts of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, North Dakota and South Dakota.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said that since the gray wolf population in the western Great Lakes region dwindled to a few hundred wolves in the 1970s and the wolf was put on the endangered species list, the gray wolf population now is about 4,000 and occupies large areas of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.
The numbers are higher than the criteria established to take the species off the endangered list.
Populations are estimated to be a minimum of 537 wolves in Wisconsin, 520 in Michigan’s upper peninsula and 2,922 in Minnesota.
Gray wolves had been listed as endangered in all of the lower 48 states except in Minnesota, where the species was considered threatened.
The decision to take the gray wolf off the endangered list will take effect 30 days after the publication of two rules in the Federal Register. The two rules address concerns raised during two federal court actions last summer, requiring the Fish and Wildlife Service to reinstate endangered species act protections for the two wolf populations in the western Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountains regions.
The western Great Lakes population was originally removed from the endangered list in March 2007, and the northern Rocky Mountains population was removed in February 2008.
Wyoming, while part of the northern Rocky Mountains region, is not included in the decision because the Fish and Wildlife Service said the state had a lack of adequate regulatory mechanisms ensuring the wolves would be protected under state law.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said the wolf management programs in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan are appropriate to guarantee long-term success of the populations.
“The service is committed to ensuring wolves thrive in the Great Lakes and the northern Rocky Mountains and will continue to work with the states to ensure this successful recovery is maintained,” said Rowan Gould, acting director of the Fish and Wildlife Service.