Wolf off endangered list again
By Chuck Quirmbach/Wisconsin Public Radio, Superior Telegram
The Interior Department has decided to again take the grey wolf in the western Great Lakes off the list of endangered and threatened species.
The Obama Administration had ordered another look at a Bush Administration ruling to delist the grey wolf in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan and part of the northern rocky mountain region. Interior secretary Ken Salazar said taking the grey wolf off the endangered species list is scientifically supportable in both the upper Midwest and most of the northern Rockies. He says the grey wolf will not be delisted in Wyoming, because he says that state does not have a good recovery management plan for the wolves.
The decision for Wisconsin could soon mean wolves that kill livestock and cause other major problems can be euthanized. That’s good news to DNR secretary Matt Frank. He says it will take at least 30 days before landowners will be able to get DNR approval to kill problem wolves.
Meanwhile, wildlife groups could file another lawsuit to block the delisting. The groups have succeeded in court before.