Great Lakes wolves ordered returned to endangered list

[Fish Felon]

Great Lakes wolves ordered returned to endangered list

By John Flesher AP Environmental Writer

Friday, Dec. 19, 2014 - 12:01 a.m.


A gray wolf is shown on Isle Royale National Park in northern Michigan in this 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/Michigan Technological University, John Vucetich) (John Vucetich)

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- A federal judge on Friday threw out an Obama administration decision to remove the gray wolf population in the western Great Lakes region from the endangered species list -- a decision that will ban further wolf hunting and trapping in three states.

The order affects wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped federal protections from those wolves in 2012 and handed over management to the states.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday the removal was "arbitrary and capricious" and violated the federal Endangered Species Act.

Unless overturned, his decision will prohibit further wolf hunting and trapping in the three states, all of which have had at least one hunting season since protections were removed. More than 1,500 Great Lakes wolves have been killed since federal protections were removed, said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States. The group filed a lawsuit that prompted Howell's ruling.

"We are pleased that the court has recognized that the basis for the delisting decision was flawed, and would stop wolf recovery in its tracks," Lovvorn said.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Gavin Shire said the agency would issue a statement shortly. There was no immediate reaction from officials in the three states.

[Fish Felon]

Wow....what a crock of BS.


It blows my mind that after the USFWS tip-toed through getting wolves delisted, and following a very generous plan that erred on the safe side, this decision was somehow reached.

Hopefully it gets quickly overturned. Otherwise it's going to be a blood bath in the woods next fall with hunters going into revenge mode and most killing every wolf they see.

[Trigger]

Wow....what a crock of BS.


It blows my mind that after the USFWS tip-toed through getting wolves delisted, and following a very generous plan that erred on the safe side, this decision was somehow reached.

Hopefully it gets quickly overturned. Otherwise it's going to be a blood bath in the woods next fall with hunters going into revenge mode and most killing every wolf they see.

Im in full support of the seasons we have had on them, but I have never been anti-wolf in anyway, and never had the desire to kill one. Even with the low deer numbers, I have never blamed wolves. But of this decision holds, I might kill one just to spite these people.

[cstemig]

I wonder if this was more of an "Anti-Obama" decision, rather than common sense.

I thought that the overall wolf population had reached a sustainable level and didn't need any further protection.

I'm sure that a few wolves will end up being MIA

[get-n-birdy]

Wow....what a crock of BS.


It blows my mind that after the USFWS tip-toed through getting wolves delisted, and following a very generous plan that erred on the safe side, this decision was somehow reached.

Hopefully it gets quickly overturned. Otherwise it's going to be a blood bath in the woods next fall with hunters going into revenge mode and most killing every wolf they see.

X2!

Not sure what can be added to that.

Makes a complete mockery of the endangered species act.

If this sticks, I would not want to be a wolf in northern mn. The wolf population is much safer with a wolf season for a few weeks in late fall/early winter. Rather than no season at all and being hunted 365 days a year, 24/7 by locals fed up with a process that is based in pure bull chit.

[gimpfinger]

Just seen on Facebook on the mn dnr page some asked what if a wolf is attacking livestock and they answered call your CO. So you're supposed to just let them kill livestock? That will go for pets too. BS

Team Power Dump

[get-n-birdy]

So howling for wolves had nothing to do with this, it was the humane society. Yet the howling for wolves ding bat lady was all over the news last night, why? After chewing on this, Tom L is right, shocked. I'm stunned, I can't believe this got in front of a judge? How did that happen? Why was there no news coverage this was going in front of a judge? How can he overturn something the president did? Why aren't local residents, pet owners, hunters and cattle guys torching this judge's front yard?

The amount of time and money this country spends on rabbit holes like this is proof we are a country sucked into the never, never wonderland, with no clue. It'd be interesting to see how much money and resources have been sucked into this worm hole? The man hours and cash is mind numbing to think about.

After talking to CO's about this, these people have no clue. If I was a CO I wouldn't think twice about turning a deaf ear to private citizens wolf management plans.

[HnkrCrash]

What a waste, now instead of some money being made via license/application sales and the wolves being utilized, they will go back to being gut shot or floated down rivers.

This state is trying so hard to be the next liberal utopia it's scary.

[Goldfish]

First off, this judge is a her, not a him.

Second, she is married to an executive producer for national geographic. If that isn't a conflict of interest for her to be making this decision, then I don't know what is.

She should have her position and all credentials removed.

[Fish Felon]

It's going to be comical when this ruling totally backfires and about four times what the harvest was for last season are shot this year by guys who are pissed off.

It's truly hilarious that these bunny-huggers think that because wolves are 'protected' on paper it's going to stop people who live in the sticks from gutshooting every wolf they see because management went back to the feds, they shut down the season, and they're being told that if a wolf attacks their dog they are obligated by law to sit there and do nothing. Yup, I'd sure do that...because that's the law.

Before being lowered to threatened status and the state taking over management a lot of guys had already figured out enforcement is virtually impossible and a lot of wolves were being shot. Especially in the Northwest. I always get a kick out of citiots underestimating the mentality of the people who actually live in wolf country and expecting them to think and behave just like they do.

We're not talking a few degenerates either; the SSS mentality was widespread and will come back bigger than ever now. I was an acquaintance of a gentleman from NW MN who was a pillar in his community. He owned a very successful business, was very philanthropic, volunteered for a half dozen non-profits, went to church every Sunday, good family man, you get the idea. He's the type of guy that actually drives the speed limit because he doesn't like breaking the law. He had an impressive deer camp not far from the Canada border and I asked him how his season went (this was about 5-6 years ago). He said they didn't see squat for deer but he shot 5 wolves. Didn't even hesitate telling me...very matter of fact about it.

When you lose that type of guy you're flocked from an enforcement and management standpoint. I knew lots of other guys that openly talked about how many wolves they killed but they're more of what you'd expect. Hell, hit up a bar in Roseau and bring up wolves with the locals...good luck keeping track of the body count once they start talking.

Having wolves listed as threatened and allowing guys to legally defend their livestock and pets and having a conservative hunting and trapping season was just enough for a lot of the SSS-dudes to change their tune and comply with the law. Some even began to view wolves as a trophy that had real value...now they're back to being worthless vermin to be shot on sight. Oh boy, the HSUS won this one because it is now illegal to shoot a wolf for any reason. You know what else is illegal? Marijuana. That's why it's really, really, really hard to find.



Having wolves on the endangered species list is a joke. The gray wolf might be one of the least 'endangered' species in all of North America. The point of listing an animal is to hopefully save it from extinction. Typically you're talking about species that has a small range with a specialized habitat not resistant to change....like a rare species of salamander that has a few more spots than your average mud-puppy and is only found in the wetlands of two counties. Not an animal that covers most of the continent and if anything is increasing, but there's an area inside some imaginary lines drawn a couple hundred years ago where they used to be a lot of them, then not so many, and now there's a bunch again. You know what a Canadian hunter or trapper calls a MN wolf that crosses the border? Fair game. They're the same damn animals. There are tons of them. They're not at risk of extinction. MN tried their damnedest to eradicate them and couldn't do it. Now that there's thousands of them people are worried about killing a few hundred? They're dogs! They multiply like rats. Why do you think most people get their dogs fixed? Because if you didn't get your bitch spade you'd have 20 of them in a couple years.

MN used to have caribou. Where's the effort to reintroduce and save the MN caribou? Why isn't the MN moose on the endangered species list? How can you justify listing the wolf and not the caribou and moose? Why let the madness end?