Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 8 May 2017

Midwest wolves may find themselves in the crosshairs again

STEVE KARNOWSKI an urban-suburban dis- Whether Minnesota, Wis-
Associated Press trict in the Twin Cities, took consin and Michigan
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) credit, putting her at odds could hold wolf seasons
— Gray wolves in Min- with rural lawmakers from this fall would depend
nesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest, includ- in part on how soon the
Michigan could again ing Minnesota Democratic court rules. The Minnesota
find themselves in hunters’ Rep. Collin Peterson. Department of Natural Re-
crosshairs — possibly as Peterson said he antici- sources can’t make plans
soon as this fall if federal pates “several other op- unless it’s certain wolves
protections are removed portunities” to pass the will be coming off the list,
for the predators. rider. But if the appeals said Dan Stark, the agen-
A ruling is expected soon court rules as it did in the cy’s large carnivore spe-
from an appeals court that Wyoming case, there may cialist. It would take time to
recently lifted protections be no need. publish the rules and set up
for wolves in Wyoming. Lawyers on both sides said a permit lottery, he said,
In Congress, wolf-hunting the Wyoming decision but it might be possible to
supporters aren’t giving doesn’t necessarily fore- speed the process.
up even though a Minne- shadow how the court will Wisconsin Department of
sota representative was rule next. Natural Resources spokes-
instrumental in killing an This July 16, 2004, file photo, shows a gray wolf at the Wildlife The two cases are similar man Jim Dick declined to
effort that would have al- Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn. “at the 50,000 foot level” speculate.
lowed the three western Associated Press because they both involve “State law requires us to
Great Lakes states to re- “delisting” wolves in spe- hold a harvest season
sume wolf hunting. Service has repeatedly Wisconsin and Minnesota cific regions, though there if wolf management is re-
Gray wolves were once tried to remove wolves each held three wolf sea- are differences in the de- turned to the states,” he
hunted to the brink of in Minnesota, Wisconsin sons before a federal judge tails, said James Lister, said. “We are prepared
extinction in most of the and Michigan states from put their wolves back on who argued the Great to respond to a change in
country, but they recov- the endangered species the list in December 2014. Lakes case for pro-hunting listing status, if and when
ered under Endangered list, but courts have sty- Michigan held one. groups, including the U.S. it happens, whether it
Species Act protections mied those efforts. Now, a Backed by farm groups Sportsmen’s Alliance Foun- comes through congres-
and reintroduction pro- panel of the U.S. Court of upset about depredation dation and the National sional action or through a
grams. They now number Appeals for the District of on livestock, and hunt- Rifle Association. court ruling.”
over 5,500 in the lower 48 Columbia Circuit is looking ers who would like the Ralph Henry, litigation di- Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder
states, including nearly at the issue. The same ap- chance to bag a wolf, rector for The Humane So- signed a law in December
3,800 in Minnesota, Wis- peals court in March took lawmakers from the region ciety of the United States, authorizing wolf hunting if
consin and Michigan. wolves off the list in Wyo- have tried to attach riders who argued the opposite Congress or the courts per-
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife ming. to various bills in Congress side, stressed the differ- mit, but the state’s Natural
that would “delist” wolves, ences. The Wyoming case Resources Commission has
return management re- hinged on whether that the final say.
sponsibilities to the states state’s management plan Michigan Department of
and bar further court chal- provided adequate pro- Natural Resources wildlife
lenges. The latest effort tections, he said. The Great biologist Brian Roell said
failed when congressional Lakes case focused on the his agency would need to
negotiators dropped that process the U.S. govern- know by sometime in June
language from a $1.1 tril- ment used for taking the to make it work.
lion spending bill that Presi- three states’ wolves off “When you combine all
dent Donald Trump signed the list when the animals the nuances it’s not as
Friday. haven’t spread enough to simple as, ‘OK, they’re off
Democratic U.S. Rep. Betty repopulate other states in the list, let’s have a hunting
McCollum, who represents their former range, he said. season,’” he said.q