Fish and Wildlife Service to Reopen Comment Period on Wolf Delisting Proposal
Columbus, OH –-(Ammoland.com)- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that it will be reopening the public comment period for its proposal to remove recovered wolf populations in the Western Great Lakes region as a listed species under Endangered Species Act.
Through the new comment period, the Service will be specifically looking for input addressing whether or not there are two separate species of wolves in the region. Previously, along with announcing that it thought wolves should be delisted the Service also announced that it may recognize a second species of wolves in the Western Great Lakes region.
This scientific one-wolf, two-wolf issue could be a major roadblock for delisting the wolves. An incorrect finding by the Service that two species of wolves exist in the Western Great Lakes region would give animal rights organizations ammunition to try and block returning wolves to state management.
During the initial comment period, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation submitted extensive comments supported by wildlife and wolf genetics expert Dr. Lisette Waits. Those comments highlighted that genetic studies have shown there are not two separate wolf species in the Western Great Lakes region and the Service should not recognize a second species of wolves there.
“We are hopeful that this new comment period will give the Service additional information and time to reevaluate its previous two-wolf stance in the region,” said Rob Sexton, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation vice president for government affairs. “Prevailing scientific facts show that only one wolf population exists within the region. Continuing to go against these facts would place an unsupported obstacle in the way of delisting the Western Great Lakes region wolves.”
About:
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. Visit www.ussportsmen.org.