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WOLF RETURNS TO THREATENED LIST
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 -- 12:16 pm
Posted by Riley Hebert-News Director
A federal court ruling Monday placed the gray wolf back on the Endangered Species list.
The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. overturned the 2007 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to remove the animal from the list in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by several environmental groups, including The Humane Society of the United States.
The ruling puts a halt to any wolf killings; even of those that kill livestock.
"Landowners can no longer get permits that are occurring on their property causing depredation, they can no longer shoot wolves in the act of attacking pets and livestock on their property," explains Adrian Wydevan of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, "Right now, the state has no authority to remove problem wolves at all."
"We are very restricted in our management abilities," he adds.
Problem wolves are killed more often than you might think.
41 wolves have been trapped and euthanized in Wisconsin this year. Landowners have shot another 4 animals, Wydevan says.
The DNR will likely seek a temporary permit to allow them to control problem wolves, but that will take months. They’ll also likely appeal the ruling, but that will take even longer.
The massive Clark County Forest is home to several wolf packs.
"It's the area we call our Central Forest Wolf Population. We counted about 75 wolves in that area last winter. That population jumped quite a bit higher in the spring when the pups were born," he says.
As you might imagine, the Wisconsin Farm Bureau is upset.
They note a survey taken this year showed there were 2,921 wolves in Minnesota, and at least 537 in Wisconsin and 520 in Michigan.
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