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Wyoming officials, enviros question wolf delisting plan |
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The Bush administration's proposal yesterday to remove Endangered Species Act protections from wolves in the Northern Rockies has raised concerns among some environmentalists and Wyoming state officials about how that state's plans will factor into future management of the wolves.
State and federal officials and environmentalists agree that the wolf has made a tremendous comeback in the Rockies. But they diverge on how best to manage the wolves once they are removed from the list.
Rodger Schlickeisen of Defenders of Wildlife said the announcement was cause for "celebration and alarm." Celebration over the wolf numbers and their successful management in the Great Lakes, but alarm over the potential management in Idaho and Wyoming, where he says officials seem more interested in eradicating the wolves than protecting them.
The Fish and Wildlife Service plans to finalize delisting for the Great Lakes wolf population and proposes delisting wolves in the Northern Rockies.
The Northern Rockies proposal currently includes Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, but FWS Director Dale Hall said the plan is contingent on Wyoming producing a satisfactory wolf management plan. Otherwise, Hall said, the administration would go proceed with the delisting of wolves in Montana and Idaho, but keep the Wyoming wolves as "endangered" and under federal control.
"I want to be clear about one thing ... we expect Wyoming to enact the same types of recovery plans that Montana and Idaho have in place," Hall said.
Hall said Wyoming has presented some "valuable information" but still has not moved far enough in its proposal for FWS to approve the recovery plans.
Questions about Wyoming
But Wyoming does not appear any closer to a compromise. There is "placeholder" legislation in the Wyoming Legislature that would allow the state to accept a FWS proposal for state management of the wolves, which would set aside a permanent wolf management area in northwestern Wyoming. Some landowners and livestock groups say they oppose the plan.
But Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) said yesterday he "remains concerned" about the amount of private land and the number of wolves the FWS proposal would require.
"The ultimate question is whether or not Wyoming will be given the flexibility to manage wolves that are causing an unacceptable impact on our elk and moose populations," Freudenthal said.
Wyoming state lawmakers have also proposed legislation that would fund extra lawyers for the state to face off against the Interior Department. The bill asks the state attorney general to look for opportunities to challenge the National Environmental Policy Act or the ESA.
Jamie Rappaport Clark, the Clinton-era head of FWS who is now with Defenders of Wildlife, said the tenuous position of Wyoming puts the FWS is on shaky ground legally.
"I don't know how they think they can just doughnut hole out political jurisdictions, when the wolves are listed in the Northern Rockies," Clark said.
She said that if the service finalized the rule, as it is written now, Defenders would bring "all of our resources against it, including possible litigation."
A federal judge threw out an earlier proposed delisting in 2004 because it combined areas where wolves were doing well with places where populations were still in danger.
Center for Biological Diversity wolf expert Michael Robinson predicted this proposal would meet the same fate.
"History is repeating itself, and it's ugly," he said. "The Fish and Wildlife Service clearly hasn't learned from its mistakes."
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 October 2007 )
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