Grey wolf status could lead to changes in federal law
Could frustration over lawsuits involving the grey wolf, lead some politicians to try to re-write the Endangered Species Act?
By: Chuck Quirmbach, Wisconsin Public Radio, Superior Telegram
Could frustration over lawsuits involving the grey wolf, lead some politicians to try to re-write the Endangered Species Act? Some people are raising the possibility.
Whether the wolf should stay on the endangered species list is not just an issue in Wisconsin and the western Great Lakes region. There’s also a big debate in the northern Rocky Mountains, where plans for a wolf hunt in Idaho and Montana were recently put on hold. That’s frustrated some ranchers and hunting groups, and some of their allies in Congress. University of Montana wildlife biologist Dan Pletscher recently told the Society of Environmental Journalists that he’s worried the frustration will boost an effort to rewrite the federal Endangered Species Act.
Pletscher says researchers, wildlife groups and regulators need to come to consensus, so less money is spent fighting over wolves, and more funds can go into protecting other species. Suzanne Stone is with Defenders of Wildlife, one of the groups that has battled the federal and state governments over regional delisting of the grey wolf. Stone says the Endangered Species Act is not to blame for the controversy.
Stone agrees more people need to pay attention and resolve the fight over wolves. She says wolves are moving into more states, but are not yet in significant numbers in all regions that still have habitat for the animals.