Wildlife Service will try to delist wolves again

[Lee Borgersen]

 

9/18/2010

 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will try to delist wolves again; Center for Biological Diversity says national plan needed first

by Bob Kelleher Minnesota Public Radio News

After three failed attempts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is again considering whether to remove the gray wolf from federal protection in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Spurred by petitions from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and others, the federal agency has opened a public comment period and is expected to issue a recommendation in six months.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded a 90-day review of petitions to remove the region's wolves from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. Lora Ragan, a Minnesota-based biologist for the agency, said the requests made a strong case.

"We think there is substantial information provided to indicate that delisting may be warranted here in the western Great Lakes," Ragan said.

The service is inviting public comment, while it continues evaluating the status of gray wolves.

About 3,000 wolves in Minnesota have partial protection under the law. Under certain circumstances, wolves can be killed but only when they have harmed livestock. Another 700 wolves in Wisconsin and Michigan are fully protected.

The region's wolves have been removed from federal protection three times. Each time, the decision was reversed after legal challenges from environmental and wildlife groups.

Wildlife groups argue that Great Lakes wolves cannot be considered a distinct population from wolves elsewhere -- many in places where historic wolf populations have not recovered.

Because of those decisions, Ragan said, the Fish and Wildlife Service has to come up with a plan that considers how to manage wolves nationwide.

"What we're trying to do now is take a comprehensive look at gray wolf conservation under the Endangered Species Act, to look at wolves throughout the lower 48 states and Mexico comprehensively, rather than looking just at the western Great Lakes, just at the northern Rocky Mountains, just at southwestern wolves, she said.

The service aims to come up with a science-based way to make future decisions.

Federal law requires the service to consider scientific and commercial data, but Ragan said a decision will rely heavily on biology.

New information on wolf genetics could work into the agency's decision. Ragan said researchers have discovered what may be two distinct species of wolves in the Great Lakes, which intermingle in the region.

"We would need to talk about the two different species we have here, how they interact, how we consider those to contribute toward recovery," she said. ""And then also we need to take a look at how the Endangered Species Act would deal with this."

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources asked federal officials remove gray wolves from protection last March. State Wolf Management Specialist Dan Stark said the agency wanted to get the process moving.

"We've by far exceeded the recovery goals for wolves in our region, and I think that should be recognized and we should move on to other things," Stark said. "The states are well-equipped to manage wolf populations, and so we're ready to do that."

But wildlife groups aren't buying it. Michael Robinson, a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity said it would be premature to remove the wolves from the list of threatened species until the Fish and Wildlife Service comes up with a national wolf-management plan.

"What it's attempting to do is piecemeal delisting without ensuring that wolves will be able to reoccupy and be safe in the vast areas throughout the lower 48 states where they are presently in tiny numbers, highly imperiled or not existing at all" Robinson said.

Removing wolves from the list in Minnesota, he said, could hurt chances of re-populating wolves in the Dakotas.

"Doesn't make sense to leave those animals stranded as populations may indeed be reduced in the Great Lakes following delisting," Robinson said

The Fish and Wildlife Service's review will end in the spring, when it concludes whether the data warrants removing wolves from federal protection -- and whether the service has the staff and resources to proceed.

[Lee Borgersen]

Feds again propose delisting of wolves




Posted on September 14, 2010 by Sam Cook






You may have seen the story in today’s Duluth News Tribune and online at www.duluthnewstribune.com that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided — again — to propose removing the timber wolf from the Endangered Species List in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The proposal was prompted in part by petitions from both Minnesota and Wisconsin.



The Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed delisting before, but the process was on hold because of law suits.



Below, you’ll find the News Tribune story on the proposed delisting, written by my colleague John Myers. You’ll also find a statement issued today by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank.



HERE IS JOHN’S STORY:
  more on the wolf issue

  ........


By: John Myers, Duluth News Tribune









// The federal government is ready to try again to take wolves off the endangered species list in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.



The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is publishing a proposal in the Federal Register today calling for public comment on its plan to delist wolves and hand their management back to state and tribal wildlife officials.



Today’s proposal is a response to four petitions that demanded the federal agency take action to end federal protections for wolves in the region.



“We find that the petitions present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that removing the gray wolf in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan from the list may be warranted,’’ the response notes.



The federal response is not surprising because the government has tried three times to delist wolves, only to be thwarted by legal action.



“It was kind of any easy call since we’ve already published proposals to delist,’’ Laura Ragan, endangered species listing coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told the News Tribune.



Ragan said a new wrinkle has entered the debate — new research showing increasing evidence that the region may be dealing with two distinct species of wolf: Eastern and gray. It’s not clear whether scientists and the government will ultimately declare each species separate for biological and legal distinction, a debate that could further delay changes in how wolves are managed.



The two species, or subspecies, are genetically different but geographically mixed and difficult to distinguish.




The service now will accept public comments to decide whether delisting is warranted and, if so, will develop a formal proposal to end the federal protection. That proposal may face a court challenge by wolf supporters.



The Minnesota and Wisconsin departments of natural resources also filed separate petitions seeking the removal of endangered species protections for the western Great Lakes wolves in March and April. Earlier this month, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and five other groups gave notice that they would sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if the federal agency doesn’t move quickly to remove Great Lakes wolves from the endangered species list.



The Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, the Dairyland Committee of Safari Club International Chapters of Wisconsin, National Wild Turkey Federation of Wisconsin, Whitetails of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Firearms Owners, Ranges, Clubs and Educators joined in signing the petition.



Meanwhile, pro-wolf groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, have called for the federal government to continue protections here until wolves have been restored across far more areas of their original range.



There are about 3,200 wolves in Minnesota and about 700 each in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. They currently are off limits to trapping, hunting or harassment, except in Minnesota, where federal trappers are allowed to kill wolves near where livestock or pets have been killed.



HERE IS THE STATEMENT BY WISCONSIN DNR SECRETARY MATT FRANK:



“We are pleased the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has found merit in the Wisconsin and Minnesota petitions to remove the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list in our states,” Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank said today.  “This is a positive first step to eventual delisting. We are confident the upcoming review of scientific information on wolves will show Wisconsin has a healthy and growing population of gray wolves that no longer needs federal protection and that the state has a well reasoned and scientifically valid management plan in place for wolves.”

[Cody Gruchow]

well not like we can relocate the wolves we have in minnesota and expect them to survive in the dakotas or nevada or anywere else, its a total different enviorment so its time to take them off...

[thunderpout]

Anyone see the article in the Sunday Mpls Trib Outdoors section?  It said the Red Lake band's Natural Resources  wants to have their tribal lands to become wolf sanctuary's and to have their own laws and plans to protect and control the wolves in northern MN..... interesting.....

[Cody Gruchow]

they can have them all.....

[MTCOMMER]

Anyone see the article in the Sunday Mpls Trib Outdoors section?  It said the Red Lake band's Natural Resources  wants to have their tribal lands to become wolf sanctuary's and to have their own laws and plans to protect and control the wolves in northern MN..... interesting.....

Yeah, I read that article, the indians love wolves.... I agree with Cody, they can have them.

[Lee Borgersen]

Red Lake Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Program Begins Second Year of Wolf Project


The Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 provided protection for wolves throughout the lower 48 states, marking the beginning of population recovery efforts and wolf range expansion in Minnesota.  Wolves were removed from the Federal Endangered Species Act in 2007, but re-listed again in 2008, despite populations exceeding the recovery criteria for the past 10 years. 

In 2008, the Red Lake Band of Chippewa was awarded a grant through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Tribal Wildlife Grant (TWG) program.  This grant is being used to conduct intensive monitoring efforts to identify important wolf areas, habitat use, and generate current estimates of wolf distribution and abundance on Red Lake lands.  Survey data will be used to develop Red Lake’s Wolf Management Plan and Tribal Council approved regulations and ordinances governing management of wolves on Red Lake lands. 

Wildlife personnel have been surveying roads, trails, and other areas on the diminished reservation, ceded lands and Northwest Angle for wolf sign throughout the year.  In areas that appear to have relatively high wolf activity, trail cameras were placed to determine wolf numbers in that area.  During late summer and fall, thirty surveys were conducted by placing a fatty acid scent disk in a circle of fine soil and then documenting tracks the following day.  Winter track surveys and exploratory surveys were conducted when there was adequate snowfall (late November through February) and following a new snow fall to determine wolf activity in each area.   

The primary goal of the wolf management plan will be to maintain wolf numbers at a level that will contribute to the long-term survival of the species, and that are widely accepted by tribal members.  Habitat management and public education will be key components to the plan, allowing humans and wolves to coexist, in accordance with Red Lake’s tribal traditions and customs.