Federal wildlife officials removed the gray wolf from the U.S. Endangered Species Act list on Thursday, saying the wolf population has recovered and the animal no longer needs federal protection. With removal from the ESA list, state governments now have the authority to manage gray wolf populations and prevent livestock losses in accordance with state law.
Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, supported the delisting by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
“Federal protections restored healthy gray wolf populations years ago, and this rule appropriately returns the management of gray wolves to the states,” Peterson said. “For years, I have called for this change on behalf of livestock owners and rural communities in Minnesota. This final rule allows Minnesota to set rules and protections for gray wolves that are more responsive to the needs of local communities.”
A Department of Interior news release claimed that “no administration in history” has recovered more imperiled species in its first term than the Trump administration. Since 2017, the administration has delisted 14 species after finding them “fully recovered.”
The latest decision removes federal protection for the gray wolf – which has a population believed to be about 6,000 – in the Lower 48 states. Alaska’s wolves are not considered endangered and Hawaii doesn’t have wolves. Wolves in the northern Rocky Mountain area are already delisted. The Mexican wolf remains listed under the Endangered Species Act.
“The recovery and delisting of the gray wolf is an outstanding victory under the Endangered Species Act and should be celebrated accordingly,” said NCBA vice president and Minnesota rancher Don Schiefelbein. “Today’s announcement is the culmination of decades of work done by cattle producers and landowners nationwide to protect habitat ensuring wolf recovery efforts were successful, even when impacts to their livelihoods were significant. The road to recovery and delisting has been fraught with purely political lawsuits that promoted emotion over fact, and the facts are clear: the gray wolf population is recovered and states are well-equipped to manage this population.”
“This is an Endangered Species Act success story,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall in a statement. “The gray wolf joins more than 50 other animals, including the bald eagle, as an example of how careful management and partnerships between federal and state agencies can result in the successful recovery of a once-threatened species. The gray wolf population is now thriving so it is appropriate to turn management over to the states, which can oversee the species in a way that is most appropriate for each region.”
Over 1,600 species remain on the federal threatened and endangered list. Delisting the gray wolf allows the Department of the Interior to focus resources on other species in need of recovery.
Environmental groups called the delisting a tragic backward step in the face of global crisis, with a changing climate, declining biodiversity and a rising number of plant and animal extinctions. They believe delisting is a death sentence for the gray wolf, whose recovery is still in its infancy.
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By: Drovers