Predator Xtreme - Feb 2012
Managing Great Lakes Wolves But it appears that reversal will now be reversed giving jurisdiction back to the Great Lakes states And for farmers ranchers pet owners and possibly hunters and trappers this will change the rules of engagement In May 2011 the U S Fish and Wildlife Service USFWS published a rule in the Federal Register to remove gray wolves of the Western Great Lakes DPS and portions of adjoining states from the endangered and threatened species lists because Gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes Region are recovered and no longer warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act said Acting Service Director Rowan Gould in a USFWS press release Under this proposed rule which takes into account the latest taxonomic information about the species we will return management of gray wolves in the Western Great Lakes DPS to state wildlife professionals We are confident that wolves will 64 www PredatorXtreme com FEBRUARY 2012 continue to thrive under the approved state management plans Wolf numbers and distribution in the Western Great Lakes DPS have exceeded the population criteria identified in the states recovery plans According to the most current population survey nearly 3000 wolves occupy Minnesota more than double the number required by its recovery plan Wolves are also well established in Michigan and Wisconsin exceeding population goals and still growing Michigans recovery and management plan calls for a minimum of 200 wolves in the states Upper Peninsula Current estimates put that population at 557 wolves In Wisconsin wolf numbers have climbed from 83 to more than 800 since 1985 The states management goal is 350 wolves As part of the rule the USFWS proposes to revise the range of the gray wolf by removing them from the ESA in all or parts of 29 Eastern states due to newer taxonomic information indicating that gray wolves did not historically occur in those states Over the past 30 years advanced genetic analysis techniques led to a number of wolf genetics studies and subsequent proposed changes to wolf taxonomy Because listing decisions are based on taxonomic entities species subspecies distinct population segments of species the USFWS undertook a review of wolf taxonomy studies and data interpretation in the Lower 48 states That review concluded that the gray wolf subspecies known as the Eastern timber wolf Canis lupus lycaon should be elevated to species status Canis lycaon Thus two species of wolves are present in the Western Great Lakes Region the gray wolf Canis lupus and the Eastern wolf Canis lycaon Michigan DNR officials support the move to delist the Western Great Lakes DPS Its wolf population goal met recovery criteria in 1999 and has been increasing
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