Up North Progressive
Politics and commentary for Northern MichiganMichigan Wolves Will Remain On Endangered Species List
Tuesday , 30, June 2015 DNR, Upper Peninsula, Wolf Hunt 3 Comments
The US Fish and Wildlife Service denied an appeal by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and State Attorney General’s Office to change the classification of wolves from “endangered” to “threatened.” In December of 2014, a federal court ordered wolves in the Western Great Lakes to be put back on the endangered species list.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service stated not enough evidence was presented in the appeal to change the court’s ruling on the status of wolves.
In February of 2015, a number of wildlife enthusiasts, the Michigan DNR, and even the Human Society of America appealed the decision to list wolves as “endangered” asking the federal wildlife agency to reclassify wolves as “threatened.” This would have still provided some protection to wolves, but also allowed states more authority in population management. There was a controversial wolf hunt in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the autumn of 2013, but only half of the available tags for wolf harvesting were filled.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service will not consider any more action on the subject of wolf classification in the contiguous 48 states.
Despite the ruling to keep wolves on the endangered species list today, the Michigan DNR developed a wolf management plan for the state, and according to the plan believe that, “Wolves in Michigan have surpassed State and Federal population recovery goals … and regardless of the Federal listing status, the State has and will continue to have a management responsibility for wolves in the state.” The Michigan DNR considers 600 wolves currently living in the state as surpassing recovery from extinction.
Kristi Lloyd says: The USFWS denied the downlisting from Endangered to Threatened so that after wolves in MI, MN, WI are again taken off the Endangered List they can be hunted. The USFWS is caving to political pressure from the likes of Scott Walker and WY Rep. Cynthia Lummis. The USFWS did not downlist to threatened because that will not allow wolves to be hunted. There is also a rider in legislation attached to the Appropriations bill to fund the Dept. of Interior that adds to delisting…without further judicial review, which means the delisting can not be challenged in court and the mass killing of wolves will continue on and no legal means to stop them. The USFWS is a federal agency. The Snyder appointees are state and have nothing to do with listing, downlisting of the wolves in MI.
This is how these decisions should be made, by government employed experts with the knowledge and the mission to make the correct decision. The antics of our legislators, the inane ballot proposals putting these issues into the hands of largely under-informed voters (I include myself as one of the under-informed on such environmental and biological issues) are not remotely appropriate mechanisms for making good decisions regarding wildlife.
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Up North Progressive says:
I’m glad the US Fish and Wildlife service stepped in and said the wolves stay on the endangered list. This new commission that has the power to decide what animal is game is made up of Snyder appointees. None of them have any background in ecology or wildlife management.