Bush proposes removing some wolf protections

Lisa Gibson and John Myers
Herald and Duluth News Tribune
Grand Forks Herald, ND
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Farmers and ranchers in northwestern Minnesota would have broader leeway to shoot and trap nuisance wolves under a new proposal made Thursday by the Bush Administration.
U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton set in motion a federal plan to hand management of gray wolves in the western Great Lakes states back to tribal and state resource agencies. _________________
See Also:
Wolves in danger of losing US protections
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Norton proposed removing gray wolves from the endangered species list, saying they have recovered to the point that federal protection is no longer needed.The proposal covers Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, where roughly 3,800 wolves live.
It also would remove federal wolf protection in neighboring parts of the Dakotas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, where rogue wolves might wander but where federal authorities say they are unlikely to establish populations.
Under the federal proposal, state and tribal governments would take responsibility for ensuring that populations of gray wolves, also called timber wolves, remain healthy.
Mar 17, 2006