Wolves In Great Lakes To Go Back Under Protection Of ESA
Posted by Tom Remington on September 29, 2008
A federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled today that the USFWS is breaking the rules of the Endangered Species Act by attempting to delist the wolves in the Great Lakes area. As I understand the ruling, the court is saying that because wolves were listed as endangered everywhere south of the Canadian border, then removing them from protection cannot be done until evidence shows recovery everywhere south of the Canadian border exists. In short, never!
I am in the process now of analyzing the ruling but if this is the case, then this is a clear indication of a faulty ESA, one in drastic need of amending. A ruling like this, if upheld, would have sweeping consequences across the entire country.
I’ll have more on this ruling tomorrow.
Tom Remington
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Considering the number of wolves in the Western Great Lakes area and that their numbers were to be monitored for 5 years before hunting would be allowed it probably would have been in the best interest of all parties if the wolves had not been relisted under the ESA. Hopefully, they will be delisted again. Had Montana, Idaho, and particularly Wyoming taken a similar approach rather than planning to drastically reduce their numbers the wolves may have stayed delisted.
The groups that filed the lawsuit in April of 2007: The Humane Society of the United States, Help Our Wolves Live, Animal Protection Institute, and Friend’s of Animals and Their Environment. I don’t consider these to be environmental groups.
“Ron Refsnider worked as a biologist in the FWS’ Endangered Species Program for 23 years before retiring in 2007. For most of that time he was associated with the wolf recovery program in the Midwest, and he was the primary author of the FWS’ 2007 WGL DPS delisting rule.” He has a good discussion of this issue includiing:
“There are now 18 months of solid data showing that the Midwestern states are successfully managing their delisted wolf populations, and wolf mortality at the hands of private citizens did not skyrocket following delisting, as had been predicted by delisting opponents. These data make it crystal clear that Midwestern wolves neither need, nor qualify for, the protections of the ESA. One of the above alternatives, or perhaps another, almost surely will be pursued by FWS, and Midwestern wolves will again be delisted in the near future.”
November 12th, 2008 at 5:08 pm