Wolf delisting lawsuit filed in federal court.

[Lee Borgersen]

4/9/2010 5:52:00 PM 
 
Wolf delisting lawsuit filed in federal court

by Nick Wognum

An Ely man coordinating a federal lawsuit to have the gray wolf delisted within Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan said the paperwork was filed in federal court on April 7.

Case number 10-1161 has been scheduled to be heard by United States District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen.

Gerald Tyler of Ely and Dale Lueck of Aitkin, MN filed the suit and will have it served on Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, and Rowan Gould, the acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Once the U.S. Attorney's office in Minneapolis is presented with a summons, then the parties have 60 days to respond," said Tyler.

The next expected action?

"We anticipate coming into this roaring will be the Humane Society," said Tyler.

The USFWS initially attempted to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act in 2004, but was sued by the Humane Society, which won its case in federal court in the District of Columbia.

A second attempt at delisting was fumbled by the USFWS when procedures weren't followed that call for a 60-day public comment period.

Tyler and Lueck are seeking to have the court declare the USFWS must follow the provisions of the Endangered Species Act and properly delist the gray wolf in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

They cite population surveys which show the gray wolf to have exceeded goals of a federal recovery plan.

The state of Minnesota has taken a separate route and petitioned the federal government to have the "Minnesota gray wolf removed immediately from the federal government's endangered and threatened species list and returned to state management."

Tyler said the state may support the private lawsuit, which is provided for under the rules of the Endangered Species Act wheree citizens can sue the federal government for not following the act.

"We want the federal government to do what should have been done and that's remove the gray wolf from the list. They've tried twice and both times they've been thwarted by the Humane Society on procedural grounds," said Tyler.

The goal of the suit is to have the USFWS follow the rules and then remove the wolf from the ESA list.

"We're not asking for economic damages, we just want the wolf taken off the list so the state can manage them," said Tyler.

The state's petition has been supported by Minnesota Farm Bureau, Minnesota Farmers Union, Minnesota State Cattlemen's Association and Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers.

"Minnesota's gray wolf population has clearly exceeded the recovery goals established under the federal Endangered Species Act," said Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation President Kevin Paap.

"We have more wolves than every state except Alaska. Once the wolf is delisted, our state has an effective wolf management plan in place to ensure a viable gray wolf population in the future, while providing farmers and ranchers who suffer from wolf depredation more options for protecting their livestock."

According to the DNR, Minnesota's wolf population has more than doubled the delisting goal of 1,252-1,400 wolves with an estimated population of approximately 3,000 wolves.
 
 

[Go Big Red!]

De-listing = tag = new trophy on the wall

We have too many.... simple as that.

[spear foot 1]

 I am so sick of these antis  and humane society crap.  They show the same cow and cats and dogs  in the ads.  Why dont they show the coyotes with mange and skin and bones or a skunk with rabies in any commercials. 

[GRIZ]

De-listing = tag = new trophy on the wall

We have too many.... simple as that.

I don't live in an area that has any but from talking to people, it appears there are too many. My only problem with your statement is the tag issue. Open the season and any smallgame or trappin lic will do, for what ever length of time they deem apropriate. An extra tag means extra $ and they squander enough of that the way it is.

[stevejedlenski]

i hope this will go through. anti-s obviously don't know whats good for a species if they don't want to manage populations. imagine how many diseased and suffering deer there would be without proper management!

best thing for wolves and the overall health of Minnesota's wildlife is "wildlife control specialists" (hunters)

[Go Big Red!]

De-listing = tag = new trophy on the wall

We have too many.... simple as that.

I don't live in an area that has any but from talking to people, it appears there are too many. My only problem with your statement is the tag issue. Open the season and any smallgame or trappin lic will do, for what ever length of time they deem apropriate. An extra tag means extra $ and they squander enough of that the way it is.

I see your perspective, yet we need wildlife funding and I think starting slowly with tag lottery will have it's benefits.  The state keeps cutting funding and they pass it onto all of us license holders.  If you want a chance to hunt wolf, then you should be willing to put forth money.  It's like drawing a moose tag, bear tag, turkey, or waterfowl stamps, etc.  You still need the basic license, an appropriate license, and then the extra stamps, endorsement if you are choosing to pay for it. 

The fact of the matter is, if and when the wolf is de-listed, it will take years for something to take shape for hunting since they will squander what to do and how to do it.

[GRIZ]

Well I do agree that we need wildlife funding. Just not any more $ of it. If they could manage what they got better, they would have more $$ to work with. Guess that's my thought.

[Go Big Red!]

Well I do agree that we need wildlife funding. Just not any more $ of it. If they could manage what they got better, they would have more $$ to work with. Guess that's my thought.

Well said GRIZ, well said.  And management is key, whether it be dollars, land, deer herd, and eventually wolves.  They'll screw it up some how and we'll be left to clean it up.