Page 28 - AT

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 8 March 2019

U.S. plans end to wolf protections; critics say it’s premature

By MATTHEW BROWN and recovery of wolves every-
JOHN FLESHER where is not required for
Associated Press the species no longer to be
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. in danger of extinction.
wildlife officials plan to lift John Vucetich, a wildlife
protections for gray wolves biologist at Michigan Tech-
across the Lower 48 states, nological University, said
re-igniting the legal bat- most wolf experts probably
tle over a predator that’s would agree the species
running into conflicts with is not at imminent risk. But
farmers and ranchers as its said he dropping federal
numbers rebound in some protections was a prema-
regions. ture move.
The proposal would give Many people “still find it dif-
states the authority to hold ficult to live with wolves,”
wolf hunting and trapping primarily because they kill
seasons. It was announced livestock as well as deer
Wednesday by acting In- and elk that people like
terior Secretary David Ber- to hunt, Vucetich said. If
nhardt at a wildlife confer- wolves are returned to state
ence in Denver. management, he said, “I
Wolves had previously lost do worry that some of the
federal protections in Mon- states could be overly ag-
tana, Idaho and Wyoming, In this April 11, 2018 file photo, a gray wolf stands at the Osborne Nature Wildlife Center south of gressive and that wolves
where hunters and trap- Elkader, Iowa. could fare worse than their
pers now kill hundreds of Associated Press current condition.”
the animals annually. eagle, that have been ing. The animals are prolific Washington and California. The government first pro-
Wildlife advocates and brought back from the breeders and can adapt to Those states so far have posed revoking the wolf’s
some members of Con- brink,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife a variety of habitats. not allowed hunting, de- protected status across the
gress reacted with outrage Service spokesman Gavin Wildlife advocates want spite growing pressure from Lower 48 states in 2013. It
to the latest proposal and Shire said in an emailed federal protections kept in ranchers whose livestock backed off after federal
promised to challenge any statement. place until wolves repopu- herds have been attacked. courts struck down its plan
final decision in court. Agriculture groups and late more of a historical The Fish and Wildlife Ser- for “delisting” the species
Jamie Rappaport Clark, lawmakers from Western range that stretched across vice has argued for years in the western Great Lakes
a former director of the states are likely to support most of North America. that gray wolves have re- region states of Michigan,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- the administration’s pro- Since being reintroduced covered in the lower 48 Minnesota and Wisconsin.
vice now with the group posal. in Yellowstone National states, despite experts who Fish and Wildlife Service offi-
Defenders of Wildlife, Long despised by farmers park and central Idaho in contend they occupy only cials disclosed to the AP last
warned of an “all-out war and ranchers, wolves were the mid-1990s, the Northern about 15 percent of the year that another scientific
on wolves” if the plan ad- shot, trapped and poi- Rockies population has ex- territory they once roamed. review of the animal’s sta-
vances. soned out of existence in panded to parts of Oregon, Agency officials insist the tus had been launched.q
“We don’t have any con- most of the U.S. by the mid-
They received endangered U.S. plans end to wolf protections;
fidence that wolves will be 20th century.
managed like other wild-
life,” she said. species protections in 1975,
But government officials when there were about critics say it’s premature
countered that the recov- 1,000 left, only in northern
ery of wolves from wide- Minnesota. Now more than By MATTHEW BROWN and
spread extermination last 5,000 of the animals live in JOHN FLESHER
century has worked and the contiguous U.S. Associated Press
they no longer need the Most are in the Western BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S.
Endangered Species Act Great Lakes and Northern wildlife officials plan to lift
to shield them. Rockies regions. protections for gray wolves
“Recovery of the gray wolf Protections for the Northern across the Lower 48 states,
under the Endangered Rockies population were re-igniting the legal bat-
Species Act is one of our lifted in 2011. State officials tle over a predator that’s
nation’s great conserva- and government biologists running into conflicts with
tion successes, with the say the region’s wolves farmers and ranchers as its
wolf joining other cherished have continued to thrive numbers rebound in some
species, such as the bald despite pressure from hunt- regions.
The proposal would give
states the authority to hold In this April 11, 2018 file photo, a gray wolf stands at the Osborne
wolf hunting and trapping Nature Wildlife Center south of Elkader, Iowa.
seasons. It was announced Associated Press
Wednesday by acting In- pers now kill hundreds of Jamie Rappaport Clark,
terior Secretary David Ber- the animals annually. a former director of the
nhardt at a wildlife confer- Wildlife advocates and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-
ence in Denver. some members of Con- vice now with the group
Wolves had previously lost gress reacted with outrage Defenders of Wildlife,
federal protections in Mon- to the latest proposal and warned of an “all-out war
tana, Idaho and Wyoming, promised to challenge any on wolves” if the plan ad-
where hunters and trap- final decision in court. vances. q