Acting Interior Secretary Announces Proposal to Remove Gray Wolves from Federal Protections
OutdoorHub Reporters 03.07.19
A report by the Associated Press states acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt announced the proposal to remove gray wolves from federal protections across the Lower 48 states during a speech on Wednesday at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference held in Denver.
The decision will almost certainly re-ignite a long-drawn debate over wolf hunting (predator control) in the Lower 48 states.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesman Gavin Shire said the move is “based on wolves successfully recovering from widespread extermination over the last century.” A majority of the reported 5,000 gray wolves now believed to exist in the wild occupy territory in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Lakes States. That number of existing wolves in the wild is much higher when compared to 1975 when the animal originally landed on the Endangered Species List.
It’s also worth noting this will be the fourth straight administration to propose the delisting of gray wolves from Endangered Species Act protections. Others were thwarted by wolf protection groups and federal law-makers who labeled past efforts unjustified or unwarranted.
According to Detroit Free Press, Tony Demboski, president of the Upper Peninsula Sportsmen’s Alliance, claims the wolf population “recovered a long time ago.” “[Wolves] are very detrimental to our deer heard, and we already have enough problems with the snow and cold.”
Demboski went on to point out he absolutely does not support another near-extermination of gray wolves.
“Nobody wants to kill all of the wolves – that’s not the idea,” he said. “But a scientific management of what we can have. We do it for everything else – deer, elk, moose, even our fisheries. Manage it.”
We expect further details to be made public during a formal announcement in coming days.
