News

Great Lakes wolves back on Endangered list

The gray wolf is back on the endangered species list in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Late Friday U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington D.C. ruled that the wolf’s removal from the list was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated the Endangered Species Act.  The Michigan Humane Society of the United States had filed the suit.

The states say they were surprised by the ruling and are going to study the decision before determining whether they will appeal the ruling.

The wolf was placed on the Endangered Species List when it was near extinction in 1974. By 2003 the population had rebounded to the point the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sought to take it off the list and turn management over to the states.  A series of court cases followed, this is the fourth time that the courts have ruled in the last 10 years.

It is estimated there are 3,700 wolves in the three states today.