State barred from killing wolves until public review
By LEE BERGQUIST
Wisconsin wildlife officials can no longer kill wolves that attack farm animals and pets after a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had not given the public an opportunity to comment on the practice.
The judge’s ruling means that Wisconsin and Michigan are barred from killing problem wolves – at least for now – until the Fish and Wildlife Service and the states participate in a public review.
The suit was filed by the Humane Society of the United States and other groups. Federal Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on the case late Tuesday.
“The court’s decision to halt this action from the bench shows just how far the Fish and Wildlife (Service) has strayed from its duty to protect endangered wolves,” Jonathan Lovvern, vice president of animal protection litigation for the Humane Society, said in a prepared statement.
Wisconsin had killed 29 wolves since April, said Adrian Wydeven, a wolf specialist with the Department of Natural Resources. Officials estimated that the state’s gray wolf population was at 425 to 455 during the 2004-’05 winter. That’s up from 373 to 410 wolves the previous winter.
“This is not good news for us,” he said. “It reduces our flexibility for killing problem wolves.”
Wydeven said the state will investigate claims of wolves attacking livestock and pets, and if necessary, authorities will trap and move the wolves.
As wolf numbers grew in the United States, the Fish and Wildlife Service removed some protections in 2003 and downgraded the status of the wolf in Wisconsin from endangered to threatened.
The change permitted authorities to shoot problem wolves. But the plan was challenged, and a federal judge in Oregon threw it out.
Michigan and Wisconsin, however, obtained permission from the Fish and Wildlife Service to kill a limited number of wolves, which continued until this week’s ruling.
Wydeven said the state will try to regain the authority.