Western Wolves Delisted from Endangered Species Act

Gray wolves in N. Rockies losing endangered protections; Great Lakes wolves next

The Obama administration on Wednesday moved to lift Endangered Species Act protections for 5,500 gray wolves in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes, drawing the line on the predators’ rapid expansion over the last two decades.

Public hunts for hundreds of wolves already are planned this fall in Idaho and Montana.

Conservationists have hailed the animal’s recovery from near extinction last century as a landmark achievement — one that should be extended to the Pacific Northwest and New England.

Wolves are neat animals.  As the original stock for the domestic dog, I have to admire them.  But, they don't co-exist too well with people.  For some reason, they think of the mildly crippled domestic animals we grow for food and pleasure are easy prey, and excellent table fare. People who raise animals resent losing them to wolves, and resent government attempts to protect the wolves who raid their stock. The move is championed by stock interests in  the west, who had their congressmen insert the delisting as as rider in the recent federal budget bill. However, environmental groups are opposed:

A coalition of wildlife groups plans to sue to overturn the delisting bill. According to the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, the legislation violates the constitutional separation of powers between executive and legislative branches of government.

Rodger Schlickeisen, president of the Defenders of Wildlife, also expressed dismay over the Interior Department's announcement despite having expected it.

But he chose to challenge state officials, saying, "Wolves can still have a bright future in the Northern Rockies if states manage them responsibly... The elected leaders of Montana and Idaho, in particular, continue to assert that their states know best how to manage wildlife. Now is their chance to prove it."

I hope he's right, and populations are high enough to support the inevitable hunting that will come with delisting.  I think she agrees: