A year ago Saturday marked the one-year anniversary of the shocking federal decision to relist the gray wolf as endangered in the Western Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
However, I feel it was not a day to be celebrated by many across the Arrowhead. Surely not by most deer hunters.
The controversy surrounding the wolf has gotten out of hand, convoluting the courts and costing everyone a lot of time and money.
The bottom line is that the majority of people who go afield and live where the wolf does agree that they no longer belong on the list of endangered animals.
And, with many high-profile state and federal supporters in favor of taking the gray wolf off the protection of the Endagered Species Act — including the presidential administration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the Minnesota DNR, both Minnesota U.S. senators, an Eighth District congressman and the governor — it’s just a matter of time until the state resumes management of the animal.
I think everyone would agree to some point that there needs to be some protection for the wolf, just not an absolute pardon.
It may seem like little has been done since last Dec. 19 in the effort of delisting the wolf in the Great Lakes states, but there are some like those at the Sportsmen’s Alliance who are taking steps to end the laborious and costly fight.
The following is a news release excerpt generated by the Sportsman’s Alliance, who has been dedicated to being the voice of those in favor of delisting the gray wolf.
o
On Dec. 8, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and our partners filed its brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals in the long-running Western Great Lakes wolf lawsuit. The case, brought by Humane Society of the United States and their anti-hunting allies, sought to reinstate federal Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Alliance and our partners are fighting to ensure wolves are delisted and returned to state management.
“The science is settled and the experts agree, wolves are recovered, period,” said Evan Heusinkveld, head of government affairs and interim president and CEO of Sportsmen’s Alliance. “We should be celebrating this as a great victory of the Endangered Species Act, but instead we’re forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting anti-hunting interests in court just to ensure the ESA is applied correctly.”
Despite wolf numbers at record levels well-beyond what was required when originally listed as endangered in the late 1970s, U.S. District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell returned wolves to the endangered species list in late 2014. The ruling effectively requires wolves to be recovered in their entire historic range before they can be considered recovered in the Great Lakes states.
“It makes absolutely no sense to require wolves be reestablished as Judge Howell ruled. It was never the intent to have wolves returned to places like New York, Chicago or Seattle,” continued Heusinkveld. “This ruling not only contained both legal and factual errors that could spell disaster for the future of the Endangered Species Act, but if allowed to stand, wildlife management efforts — specifically endangered species recovery — will be greatly impacted.”
Joining the Sportsmen’s Alliance in the appeal of the lower court’s decision are Safari Club International, National Rifle Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, Michigan United Conservation Clubs, Wisconsin Bowhunters Association, Upper Peninsula Bear Houndsmen Association and the Michigan Hunting Dog Federation.
Sportsmen’s Alliance files brief in Great Lakes wolf case – Mesabi Daily News: Featured.