Wisconsin DNR and feds fight a lawsuit that puts grey wolf back on endangered species’ list

Talk about it

The Wisconsin DNR says it will help the federal government fight a new lawsuit that seeks to put the grey wolf back on the endangered species list.

Five groups filed suit in federal court in Washington Monday, asking that the wolf return to its previous endangered status while the merits of their case are considered.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped its protections last month, after the Obama White House agreed with the previous Bush administration that wolves can survive under state control.

But U.S. Humane Society vice president Jonathan Lovvorn says the grey wolf was “driven to brink of extinction on the states’ watch.”

He said Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota have plans that could reduce the total wolf numbers by up to 50 percent.

But Adam Collins of the Wisconsin DNR says it has no such intention – but it does intend to deal with problem wolves that kill farm livestock and other animals.

Wisconsin has had its own wolf management plan for several years.

And it’s been applied on and off while the issue has bounced in and out of the federal courts.

There’s been talk of a hunting season for wolves in Wisconsin, but there’s no firm proposal.

Still the Humane Society’s Lovvorn says the door is open to hunting, with a possible reduction in a wolf herd that’s now estimated in Wisconsin at 626 to 662 animals.

Tags: grey wolf, endangered species, outdoors