In the latest court ruling in a 20-year tussle over gray wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, the U.S. Appeals Court for the DC Circuit put the predator back on the endangered species list, says MLive Media Group. The Interior Department delisted the Great Lakes wolves in 2011, saying the wolf population had recovered enough that federal protection was no longer needed and states could take over management of the animals.
A three-judge appellate panel ruled unanimously that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “failed to reasonably analyze or consider” the effect of partial delisting and “turned its back on implications of historical range loss” in 2011. The ruling upheld a 2014 federal district court decision in favor of continued protection of the wolf.
The Humane Society of the United States said the appellate ruling “provided a pathway for the Fish and Wildlife Service to more thoroughly examine the broader conservation status of wolves.”
MLive said, “Bills pending in both the U.S. House and Senate would drop the wolf from the endangered list and allow states to hold a hunting season. The bills would also bar the courts from hearing legal challenges.” The Senate bill was approved at the committee level last week. It would delist wolves in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Wyoming, said MLive.