I guess we need to add Gray Wolves to to the fur
bearers list. A wolf was shot in Potosi,WI just over
the Mississppi River last week.
--- Contact: Hugh Vickery 202/501-4633
> > Ron Refsnider 612/713-5346
> >
> > Interior Secretary Gale Norton today announced
> that gray wolves in
> > Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan have recovered
> from the threat of
> > extinction, prompting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
> Service to propose
> > removing the wolves in this region from the
> federal list of threatened and
> > endangered species.
> >
> > In addition to the delisting proposal, the Service
> also proposes to
> > designate gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes
> region as a distinct
> > population segment (DPS) under the Endangered
> Species Act (ESA).
> >
> > “We commend our partners – states, tribes,
> conservation organizations, and
> > local residents – for their dedicated efforts to
> ensure the wolf is an
> > enduring part of the landscape in the Upper
> Midwest,” said Interior
> > Secretary Gale A. Norton. “Our proposal to
> delist the gray wolf indicates
> > our confidence that those who will assume
> management of the species will
> > safeguard its long-term survival.”
> >
> > The Service’s proposal to remove the gray wolf
> from the list of threatened
> > and endangered species applies to the Western
> Great Lakes DPS. This area
> > includes the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and
> Michigan as well as parts
> > of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois,
> Indiana and Ohio. Within
> > this area, the Service is proposing to remove
> federal ESA regulation
> > regarding the gray wolf and entrust wolf
> management responsibility with
> > states and tribes.
> >
> > The proposed DPS includes all the areas currently
> occupied by wolf packs
> > in
> > Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin, as well as
> nearby areas in these
> > states
> > in which wolf packs may become established in the
> future. The DPS also
> > includes surrounding areas into which wolves may
> disperse but are not
> > likely to establish packs.
> >
> > The population of wolves included in this DPS no
> longer meets the
> > definition of threatened or endangered under the
> ESA. The threats to the
> > population in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan
> have been reduced or
> > eliminated as evidenced by the current status of
> the population, where
> > wolf
> > numbers have exceeded the numerical recovery
> criteria established in its
> > recovery plan.
> >
> > The Recovery Plan for the Eastern Timber Wolf
> established criteria to
> > identify the point at which wolves would no longer
> be threatened with
> > extinction in the eastern United States. To
> achieve this recovery, the
> > plan
> > called for maintaining and expanding the Minnesota
> wolf population and
> > establishing at least one other gray wolf
> population in the eastern
> > portion
> > of the nation. The second population could be
> totally isolated from the
> > Minnesota wolf population, or it could be adjacent
> to it, as is the case
> > with the Wisconsin-Michigan population that has
> developed over the last
> > three decades.
> >
> > The gray wolf population in the western Great
> Lakes region now numbers
> > close to 4,000 animals over the three-state area.
> The Minnesota population
> > has steadily expanded; the latest estimate in
> 2003-2004 found about 3,020
> > animals. Wolves have become well-established in
> Michigan and Wisconsin,
> > with numbers there of 405 and 425 respectively.
> Wolf numbers in those two
> > states combined have exceeded 100 for the past 12
> years, thereby exceeding
> > the population criteria identified in the recovery
> plans.
> >
> > The Service’s current proposal, if finalized,
> would also remove ESA
> > regulation of critical habitat for the gray wolf
> in Michigan and
> > Minnesota,
> > and eliminate special rules for wolf management in
> Minnesota, as they are
> > no longer required.
> >
> > Once removed from the threatened and endangered
> species list, gray wolves
> > in the Western Great Lakes DPS will be managed by
> the states and tribes.
> > The Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin Departments
> of Natural Resources
> > have developed plans to guide wolf management
> actions in the future. The
> > Service reviewed these plans and found they
> established a sufficient basis
> > for long-term wolf management. Issues such as
> control of problem animals,
> > hunting and trapping, as well as long-term health
> of the wolf population,
> > will be governed by the appropriate state or
> tribe.
> >
> > The Service’s proposal comes after court rulings
> which overturned a 2003
> > final rule that reclassified wolves in most of the
> lower 48 states from
> > endangered to threatened and established three
> distinct population
> > segments
> > of the gray wolf. The rulings also invalidated a
> 2004 proposal to delist
> > the gray wolf in the eastern United States. The
> current proposal replaces
> > the previous actions with a much smaller Western
> Great Lakes DPS – a DPS
> > that is narrowly structured around the core areas
> where wolves have
> > exceeded their recovery goals since 1999 and the
> locations in which wolves
> > have dispersed from the core areas.
> >
> > In a separate action, the Service recently
> announced its intention to
> > propose delisting gray wolves in the Northern
> Rocky Mountains. Today’s
> > proposal would not affect gray wolves in the West
> (the Northern Rocky
> > Mountains) or in the Southwest, nor would it
> affect red wolves, a separate
> > species found in the Southeast.
> >
> > The Service’s proposal to remove gray wolves in
> the Western Great Lakes
> > DPS
> > from the threatened and endangered species list is
> available for review. A
> > series of public hearings will be held throughout
> the Western Great Lakes
> > DPS. The Service will announce details of these
> hearings in the near
> > future. Following the public comment period, the
> Service will evaluate all
> > information and make a decision on whether to
> finalize the proposal.
> > Until
> > a final decision is made, wolves in the Western
> Great Lakes DPS remain
> > listed under the ESA as endangered and threatened.
> >
> > Comments on the proposal to remove gray wolves in
> the Western Great Lakes
> > DPS from the federal list of threatened and
> endangered species may be
> > submitted by e-mail to [log in to unmask] or
> by sending a letter to
> > WGL
> > Wolf Delisting, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
> Whipple Federal Building,
> > 1
> > Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, MN 55111-4056 or by
> sending a fax to
> > 612-713-5292, or through the Federal eRulemaking
> Portal:
> > http://www.regulations.gov. Comments on the
> proposal will be accepted for
> > 90 days from the date the rule publishes in the
> Federal Register.
> >
> > More information on gray wolf recovery and the
> Service’s proposal to
> > delist
> > gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes DPS can be
> found at
> > http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf
> >
> > The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the
> principal federal agency
> > responsible for conserving, protecting and
> enhancing fish, wildlife and
> > plants and their habitats for the continuing
> benefit of the American
> > people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre
> National Wildlife Refuge
> > System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife
> refuges, thousands of
> > small
> > wetlands and other special management areas. It
> also operates 69 national
> > fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and
> 81 ecological services
> > field stations. The agency enforces federal
> wildlife laws, administers the
> > Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird
> populations, restores
> > nationally significant fisheries, conserves and
> restores wildlife habitat
> > such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native
> American tribal governments
> > with their conservation efforts. It also oversees
> the Federal Assistance
> > program, which distributes hundreds of millions of
> dollars in excise taxes
> > on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and
> wildlife agencies.
> >
> > - FWS -
> > For more
> information about the U.S. Fish
> > and Wildlife
> Service,
> > visit
> our home page at
> > http://www.fws.gov
> >
>
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