Two individuals, one a rancher and the other a retired real estate developer, “are suing to force the Department of Interior and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to delist wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan [,]” according to a press release issued by the individuals and found on Cow-Calf Weekly online.The rancher, Dale Lueck of north central Minnesota, and the retired real estate developer, Gerald Tyler of Ely, MN, filed a notice of intent to sue Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and three USFWS officials over their belief the government is not complying with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to delist the wolf despite the species’ recovery in the area in question. The intent was filed on January 15, 2010, and the “agencies have 60 days to respond to the complaint.”
Lueck and Tyler claim that the 1992 Eastern Timber Wolf Recovery Plan and the ESA “recovery criteria for the wolf in the Midwest have been fully met.” The 1992 plan called for there to be a sustained wolf population in Minnesota of 1,251-1,400, and currently there are roughly 3,000-5,000 timber wolves in Minnesota. The plan also called for Wisconsin and Michigan to maintain “viable populations” of the wolves in the respected states to the tune of at least 100 wolves. Now there are about 1,000 wolves in the two states.
The wolf was delisted in 2007, but in the fall of 2008 the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) brought suit in federal court in Washington, D.C., where the federal judge sided with the HSUS and put the wolves back under ESA protection. Lueck believes that since the wolf has recovered it is time for the USFWS to focus on other things, “[t]he wolf is recovered, and we need to move on and give USFWS credit for a job well done. It’s time we step in and delist the wolves. That will allow USFWS to focus on the real environmental problems we face here in the Midwest.”
To read the press release issued by Lueck and Tyler, click here.
Posted: 02/12/10
