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Friday’s decision by the Secretary of the Interior to uphold the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List in Montana, Idaho and the western Great Lakes region, but not Wyoming, has garnered mixed reactions from politicians and conservation groups.
In Wyoming, wolves will remain under federal protection, because Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wyoming’s management plan is not adequate.
Wyoming did not demonstrate to the Fish and Wildlife Service that it could adequately manage wolf populations, said Yellowstone Wolf Project leader Doug Smith.
Until the state can demonstrate that it can maintain the wolf population, Smith said wolves will remain under federal protection in Wyoming.
One Wyoming Legislature bill would have eliminated the predator zone in which wolves could be shot on sight. But that bill was killed.
“I think they shot themselves in the foot by doing that,” Smith said.
“If Wyoming had eliminated the predator zone, I think the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would have included Wyoming in (Friday’s) delisting proposal,” said Melanie Stein, Sierra Club associate regional representative in Jackson.
“We believe that Wyoming’s wolf management plan is overly aggressive and will not sustain wolf populations in the future,” Stein said.
“Wyoming exceeded by leaps and bounds the number of wolves in the original recovery goals,” said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., in a prepared statement. “It’s time to let the states, all the states, have their shot at managing the wolves.”
“Wyoming’s wolf management plan was rebuked by a federal judge last year, yet the state continues to tout it as a viable option. Today’s news sends a clear message to Wyoming that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t think Wyoming’s wolf management plan goes far enough to protect wolves,” Stein said.
The Wyoming Legislature adjourned Thursday, so there is not a whole lot Wyoming lawmakers can do at this point, said House Speaker Colin Simpson, R-Cody.
The Wyoming Attorney General said Wyoming’s dual status is legally defensable because science said it would work, Simpson said.
Wyoming litigation with the federal government could be around the corner.
“I would think the state will file suit,” Simpson said.
Same old, same old, said Gov. Dave Freudenthal.
“Unfortunately, the Obama administration adopted the exact same approach as the Bush administration,” Freudenthal said in a prepared statement. “We are evaluating our options going forward. The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. had a similar reaction.
“Delisting the wolf in Montana and Idaho, but not Wyoming, simply does not make sense. Wolves don’t check for state boundaries,” said Barrasso in a prepared statement. “(Friday’s) announcement makes clear that ‘change’ has not come to Washington. Wyoming has honored its commitments to recover the wolf. It’s time Washington did the same.” Conservation groups say plan is flawed Although the Sierra Club wants states to manage wolves, Stein said she believes current state wolf management plans will reduce the population. “But we only want state management when we have a connected Northern Rockies wolf population that is sustainable over the long-term,” Stein said. “The Interior Department’s decision to let stand a flawed wolf delisting proposal conceived by the Bush administration fails to ensure thriving wolf populations in the Northern Rockies and should be challenged in court,” said a prepared statement by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition in Bozeman, Mont.
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