A petition by the Center for Biological Diversity asks the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to continue endangered species protection on wolves in the Great Lakes and Rocky Mountains until the predators have expanded their territory to more of the United States.
The Duluth News Tribune’s John Myers has the full story, HERE.
The advocacy group’s petition argues that gray wolves need to be recovered in “multiple, connected populations throughout the U.S.’’ before they should be considered recovered under the Endangered Species Act. The group wants wolves to roam in Colorado, New England, the Pacific Northwest, the Great Basin, California, and the Great Plains.
The USFS has tried to remove federal protections on Great Lakes wolves — those in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan — arguing that the population has recovered. The animals remain protected, however, due to various court orders which have confounded the USFS efforts.
Meanwhile, state agencies in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as hunting and farming advocacy groups have recently petitioned the USFS to removed Endangered Species Act protections from Great Lakes wolves and pass wolf management responsibilities to states, saying the Great Lakes wolf population has indeed recovered.