Federal wildlife officials on Friday moved to permanently shift responsibility for managing gray wolves to the states, proposing removal of the animals from the list of threatened and endangered species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the proposal comes after a comprehensive review has confirmed the successful recovery of gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountains.
After nearly two decades since their reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park, population trends show that gray wolves are unlikely to thrive in sections of Wyoming outside the northwestern corner of the state.
Many wolf supporters remain dissatisfied with Wyoming’s so-called “dual status” management approach, which classifies wolves as trophy game in the area around Yellowstone and as predators elsewhere. But a state wildlife official said Thursday that policy changes won’t have much effect on wolf numbers across most of the state.
A coalition of environmental groups filed suit in federal court in Denver on Tuesday seeking to return management of gray wolves in Wyoming to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claiming wolves should remain classified as an endangered species.
Over objections from some environmental groups and with the praise of many sportsmen and ranchers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday announced the removal of wolves in Wyoming from the endangered species list.
The move returns management control over gray wolves in the state to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department after a series of long-running disagreements and legal challenges over the state’s dual approach to treating wolves as regulated trophy game in the greater Yellowstone area and as a predator with no protections across most of the state.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
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