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.)
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.)