The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold an open house and public hearing on June 25, 2019, in Brainerd, Minnesota, regarding its proposal to remove gray wolves in the Lower 48 from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The Trump administration, and the Obama administration before it, recognized that wolves are recovered, thriving and in need of being removed from the Endangered Species List.
“Gray wolves have exceeded recovery goals in many states, including Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the western Great Lakes region,” Blake Henning, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation chief conservation officer, wrote in a public comment submitted to the USFWS. “RMEF maintains that where wolves exist, they should be managed by state wildlife agencies just as they manage elk, bears, deer, mountain lions and other wildlife.“
RMEF has been a long-time advocate for state management of gray wolves, which is in line with RMEF’s support of the North American Wildlife Conservation Model, under which state management of wildlife along with the financial contributions from hunters dramatically increased wildlife populations across the United States over the last century.
Wolves are currently above objective in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin and are spreading into California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and other states. The species is already under state management in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming where populations range anywhere from 150 to 400 percent above minimum recovery goals.
RMEF calls on its members who are able, as well as sportsmen and women, to attend the hearing and/or submit public comment here. Officials extended the comment deadline to July 15, 2019.