USFWS Reinstates Great Lake Wolves As Endangered
On June 29 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reinstated Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes. In response to a legal challenge from the Humane Society of the United States, the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Animals and Their Environment, Born Free USA, and Help Our Wolves Live, the USFWS withdrew the April 2, 2009 final rule that delisted the Western Great Lakes population of gray wolves.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service NEWS RELEASE, June 29, 2009 [here]
Statement on Status of Gray Wolves in the Western Great Lakes
Service Will Provide Additional Opportunity for Public Comment
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has reached a settlement agreement with plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the Service’s 2009 rule removing Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes. Under the terms of the agreement, which must still be approved by the court, the Service will provide an additional opportunity for public comment on the rule to ensure compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act.
Gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes area have exceeded recovery goals and continue to thrive under state management. However, the Service agrees with plaintiffs that additional public review and comment was required under federal law prior to making that final decision.
Upon acceptance of this agreement by the court, and while the Service gathers additional public comment, gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes area will again be protected under the Endangered Species Act. All restrictions and requirements in place under the Act prior to the delisting will be reinstated. In Minnesota, gray wolves will be considered threatened; elsewhere in the region, gray wolves will be designated as endangered. The Service will continue to work with states and tribes to address wolf management issues while Western Great Lakes gray wolves remain under the protection of the Act. …
In other Great Lakes wolf news:
Wisconsin wolf population surges
By Lee Bergquist and Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 19, 2009 [here]
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/45452492.html
Wisconsin’s gray wolf population has jumped 26% in a year, and the steep increase is sure to sharpen tensions over how best to manage the elusive predator.
After two years of stability, wolf numbers have increased to 630 to 680 animals - the largest overwinter population since wolves began returning to the state in the 1970s.
The preliminary figures - derived from winter tracking surveys - compare with 540 wolves in 2008, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
Adrian Wydeven of the DNR attributed the rise to relatively severe winter weather conditions that made it easier for wolves to chase down and kill deer.
Minnesota and Michigan also reported larger wolf numbers this year, but the changes are not as large as Wisconsin’s.
“We thought that we were getting close to the carrying capacity for wolves,” said Wydeven, the DNR’s wolf ecologist. “It’s possible we’re still a ways from it.” …
