Minnesota's gray wolves may come off endangered species list
Minnesota's burgeoning population of gray wolves may be coming off the federal endangered species list -- again.Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., announced Friday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to remove the wolf population in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan by the end of next year.
But wildlife experts said the decision might simply set up the next chapter in the wolf's long legal history."I think she is optimistic," said Peggy Callahan, director of the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, noting that the de-listing question has wound up in court before.Federal officials have twice before tried to remove the wolf in Minnesota and the western Great Lakes region from federal protection. Each time, the decision was overturned in the courts as environmental groups disputed how much protection the animals need.
But today the population of gray wolves in the Upper Midwest has rebounded to about 4,000, roughly 75 percent of them in Minnesota. The state's wolf population is nearly twice the 1,600 minimum required by the Endangered Species Act to ensure its long-term survival, and many wolf researchers and advocates agree that de-listing is past due."It's appropriate," Callahan said. "I think the perpetual listing status is really dangerous for the Endangered Species Act."
Earlier this year, the state Department of Natural Resources also asked federal officials to remove the species from the list. The state has a plan to manage the wolf population once it's de-listed; it would permit livestock owners to kill wolves that threaten their animals while prohibiting hunting for at least five years.While under federal protection, problem wolves can be killed only by state or federal officials, and livestock owners are compensated for their losses.
A threat?
Klobuchar said the growing number of wolves could "threaten residents, livestock, and the state's hunting industry, which contributes over $600 million a year to Minnesota's economy."Not everyone agrees, however, that the wolf should be de-listed. Collette Adkins Giese, an attorney for the national Center for Biological Diversity, said wolves occupy only 5 percent of their original range in the lower 48 states, and number nowhere near the approximately 2 million wolves believed to have once roamed the continent.
However, Nancy Gibson, co-founder of the International Wolf Center in Ely, said the Upper Midwest population of gray wolves is reproducing at a rate of about 5 percent a year -- enough to ensure its viability. Now, she said, protecting wolf habitat is more important to its future than protecting it from conflicts with humans."I don't foresee the population going down," she said. "But it's a much bigger issue than just wolves. It's a habitat issue."Gibson said conservation easements in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin that preserve large tracts of privately held timber land as wilderness in perpetuity are a far better way of ensuring the species' long-term survival.
Klobuchar said she plans to sponsor a bill that would require de-listing of the wolves and give legal backing to the agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service, in the hopes of blocking future legal challenges.Giese said such legislation would be inappropriate, arguing that Congress has never exempted a species from the Endangered Species Act's protection.
But today the population of gray wolves in the Upper Midwest has rebounded to about 4,000, roughly 75 percent of them in Minnesota. The state's wolf population is nearly twice the 1,600 minimum required by the Endangered Species Act to ensure its long-term survival, and many wolf researchers and advocates agree that de-listing is past due."It's appropriate," Callahan said. "I think the perpetual listing status is really dangerous for the Endangered Species Act."
Earlier this year, the state Department of Natural Resources also asked federal officials to remove the species from the list. The state has a plan to manage the wolf population once it's de-listed; it would permit livestock owners to kill wolves that threaten their animals while prohibiting hunting for at least five years.While under federal protection, problem wolves can be killed only by state or federal officials, and livestock owners are compensated for their losses.
A threat?
Klobuchar said the growing number of wolves could "threaten residents, livestock, and the state's hunting industry, which contributes over $600 million a year to Minnesota's economy."Not everyone agrees, however, that the wolf should be de-listed. Collette Adkins Giese, an attorney for the national Center for Biological Diversity, said wolves occupy only 5 percent of their original range in the lower 48 states, and number nowhere near the approximately 2 million wolves believed to have once roamed the continent.
However, Nancy Gibson, co-founder of the International Wolf Center in Ely, said the Upper Midwest population of gray wolves is reproducing at a rate of about 5 percent a year -- enough to ensure its viability. Now, she said, protecting wolf habitat is more important to its future than protecting it from conflicts with humans."I don't foresee the population going down," she said. "But it's a much bigger issue than just wolves. It's a habitat issue."Gibson said conservation easements in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin that preserve large tracts of privately held timber land as wilderness in perpetuity are a far better way of ensuring the species' long-term survival.
Klobuchar said she plans to sponsor a bill that would require de-listing of the wolves and give legal backing to the agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service, in the hopes of blocking future legal challenges.Giese said such legislation would be inappropriate, arguing that Congress has never exempted a species from the Endangered Species Act's protection.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment