Gray wolf makes a comeback

The nearly extinct eastern population of gray wolves has recovered and will be removed from the list of threatened and endangered species, Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton announced yesterday.

The wolves were given federal protection three decades ago, but their numbers have since increased substantially, and the administration is proposing that management of the species be given to individual states from Maine to the Dakotas.

The Southwestern and Western populations of gray wolves will remain under federal protection as threatened species.

“Thirty years ago, the future of the gray wolf in the United States outside of Alaska was anything but certain,” Mrs. Norton said at a press conference in Minnesota, home to nearly 800 wolves.

“Today we celebrate not only the remarkable comeback of the gray wolf, but the partnerships, dedicated efforts and spirit of conservation that have made this success story possible,” she said.

The announcement was met with protest from environmentalists, who called the plan “shortsighted” because only three states have adopted management plans to ensure that the species continues to recover: Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Some Canadian wolves are crossing over into Northeast ern states, and the National Wildlife Federation wants protection plans in place to establish a possible population.

“Wolf recovery in the Great Lakes represents a tremendous wildlife success story, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service should not abandon efforts to recover the wolf in the Northeast,” said Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Federation. “This proposal will remove protection for wolves far beyond the states where wolf recovery is actually taking place. It’s illogical to prescribe identical management regimes for both areas when the population in one is thriving and the other doesn’t even exist yet.”

The western boundary of the wolf population extends from the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas to the East Coast. The southern boundary includes Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and its northern boundary is the Canadian border. Red wolves in the Southeast still listed as endangered are excluded from the proposal.

“The effort to save an endangered predator such as the gray wolf carries with it special challenges and obstacles,” Craig Manson, assistant secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, said. “We chose a path that had recovery as its ultimate goal, but we used the flexibility under the Endangered Species Act to accommodate the needs of people who are most affected by the wolf’s comeback.”

Figures show there are nearly 3,000 wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and New England. Gray wolves have been sighted in the Dakotas, but there is no estimated population.

States will take responsibility for the packs and make decisions regarding hunting, trapping and animal control.

The federal government will continue to monitor gray wolf populations in the East for five years after the long process of delisting, which begins with a 120-day comment period from the public.