September 16, 2021 |
At the urging of two environmentalist groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced yesterday that it will begin a comprehensive status review of the grey wolf in Wyoming and other western states. The move has the appearance of the Biden Interior Department angling to put the predator on the Endangered Species List despite its documented recovery.
Erik Molvar, a radical environmentalist based in Laramie, is the executive director of one of the groups. Mulvar is infamous to anyone in Wyoming with sheep or cattle operation. Mulvar’s newest group, Western Watersheds, petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife on July 29th to relist the grey wolf. In its petition, the group claims “the wolves are at risk of extinction throughout all of their range,” including Wyoming. The other group, Center for Biological Diversity, filed a petition at the end of May. The federal wildlife agency, in its announcement yesterday, said it found “substantial, credible information” in the complaints indicating that a listing may be warranted.
Wyoming Senator John Barrasso responded, saying, “Today’s actions are just more of the endless antics from Washington bureaucrats and extreme environmentalists who have no interest in doing what’s right for Wyoming.” Barrasso said Wyoming, not Washington, is best positioned to manage wolves within its borders. The agency will begin its 12-month status review beginning Friday. Meanwhile, Governor Mark Gordon has called a news conference for this afternoon to discuss the grizzly bear in the Greater Yellowstone region.
