Gray wolves listed again, for better or worse
Nancy Jo Tubbs
One of the more contentious issues of 2014, now bleeding into 2015, has involved wolves, wolf hunting and recently the return of wolves here to full protected status under the Endangered Species Act.
In case you haven’t heard the most recent rumbles and shouting, the gist is that on Dec. 19, a federal judged ruled to place gray wolves in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin back on the Endangered Species List. The 111-page ruling moves management of the species from the states, back to the federal government for the fourth time, thereby halting the states’ annual hunting and trapping seasons for the foreseeable future.
Most wolf advocates are celebrating. Most wolf hunters, deer hunters, stockmen, people who fear wolves, and biologists who believe wolves are not endangered here are bummed. The relevant state agency folks have expressed disappointment and concern.
So it was interesting on Dec. 22 to hear a variety of experts, board members of the International Wolf Center in Ely, speak out on the controversial topic in a phone press conference. They included Dr. Dave Mech, senior research scientist with the U.S. Department of Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey, who founded the Center, and Mike Phillips, executive director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund, who led the project to return wolves to Yellowstone National Park.
via Gray wolves listed again, for better or worse – Timberjay.com.