Timber wolves to no longer be endangered

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The gray wolf, also known as the timber wolf, will be off of the Michigan state threatened species list as of April 22 and will no longer be on the national endangered species list as of May 4.

The wolves, which roam Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and parts of the Rocky Mountains, have been on the endangered species list since 1974. A species can be put on the list for several reasons.

“Some of them have a trigger number and others are put on by petition,” said Brian Roell, from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources-Marquette Office.

Hunters and livestock owners have been pushing for the delisting for several years. Hunters do not like competing with wolves for the wolves’ prey, such as deer, and livestock owners want to be able to kill problem wolves that attack their livestock.

The gray wolf was scheduled to be delisted in September 2008, but the Humane Society appealed the delisting and a judge ruled in their favor, Roell said. There is still a possibility that the Humane Society and other wildlife groups could file a lawsuit to block the delisting again.

The gray wolf nearly became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century due to over hunting and general carelessness on the part of humans. Roell said that wolves were “persecuted,” along with many other predators that humans believed to be a menace to settlers in the region.

“There were bounty systems, which paid people to kill (the wolves),” Roell said. “We didn’t realize that wolves were important to the ecosystem . How important it is to have all parts of the ecosystem. We didn’t have an understanding of the role wolves played.”

After being removed from the list, the gray wolves will not be treated much differently than they are now, and will be under a “management plan” to ensure that their numbers do not drop dangerously low again, officials said.

Wolves in Wyoming will still be considered endangered because the U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Service does not think the state has an acceptable recovery management program.

metro@cm-life.com