Judge stops wolf killing in Wisconsin

[HAY MAKER]

Judge stops wolf killing in Wisconsin
Friday, August 11, 2006, 1:04 PM

by Bob Meyer

Audio related to this story

(AUDIO: Jeff Lyon talks about the wolf problem in Wisconsin 1:57 MP3)

A federal judge in Washington D.C. has issued a preliminary injunction to stop the killing of gray wolves in Wisconsin. The wolf was reintroduced to the Badger State in 1989 and the effort has been successful, some say too successful. The latest estimates have around 560 wolves in the state, exceeding the goals of the recovery plan. The problem is wolves kill livestock. Last year, 25 Wisconsin farms had damage or losses, triple the number from 2001. That prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a permit to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for the killing of up to 43 gray wolves. Eighteen have been taken to date. A coalition of animal welfare and environmental groups filed suit claiming the practice was a violation of the Endangered Species Act; Federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued the preliminary injunction pending further review of the lawsuit.

Given the success of the recovery program, there has been a push to get the gray wolf off the Endangered Species List but the process takes time. Jeff Lyon with the Wisconsin Farm Bureau says this permit was designed to take care of the problem during the delisting process, "I think the whole thing shows that wolves need to be delisted so the state of Wisconsin can manage the population." Lyons says the Endangered Species Act was designed to re-establish sustainable populations of these animals. "We have a wolf population that is exceeding the goals and we need to have it delisted and be able to manage the population."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering an appeal to the preliminary injunction.


(Thom Gerretsen, Wheeler News Service, contributed to this story.)

 

[Liberty Belle]

Wyoming has legal problems with wolves too. Sure hope they win this lawsuit. I can't see that the Constitution grants the feds control over what the states do to protect themselves from predators or anything else that does damage to that state's citizens.

Wyo. to Sue Over Feds Wolf Management
By BEN NEARY
The Associated Press
August 9, 2006

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- The state will sue the federal government for rejecting Wyoming's request to take over management of its gray wolves, which prey on livestock, officials said Wednesday.

"So far, their position has been their way or the highway," Gov. Dave Freudenthal said Wednesday of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We've chosen neither; we're going to court."

Last month, the federal government rejected Wyoming's petition to remove wolves in the state from the federal list of threatened and endangered species. In addition, the federal agency has yet to take action on the state's request to amend regulations.

Freudenthal has said he sees the spread of wolves outside the national parks as a public safety concern.

State officials had proposed allowing trophy hunting of the animals in certain areas and classifying them as predators that could be shot on sight elsewhere. The plan would allow the wolves to live undisturbed in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

Federal officials said last month that they can't remove protections until the state sets firm limits on how many wolves can be killed and agrees to a minimum population. The state is now home to an estimated 252 wolves.

Freudenthal and state Attorney General Pat Crank sent a letter Wednesday to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and wildlife service officials notifying them of their intent to sue.

Ed Bangs, coordinator of the wildlife service's gray wolf recovery effort in Helena, Mont., said he was not surprised by Wyoming's action.

"They said they would pursue this thing in court, no matter how long it took," Bangs said. "I had hoped we could work out something more productive than litigation."

The Fish and Wildlife Service has already turned management of wolves over to state agencies in Montana and Idaho. About 400 wolves have been killed in those states for preying on livestock and for other reasons since 1987, Bangs said.

The federal government continues to manage wolves in Wyoming outside the national parks, Bangs said. Last year, wolves killed at least 54 cattle and 27 sheep, and 41 wolves were killed, he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/09/AR2006080902065.html