February 4, 2022 |
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week took another step toward putting the gray wolf in Wyoming and other Rocky Mountain States back on the Endangered Species List. The agency announced in a letter that it will conduct a 12-month status review to determine if a listing is warranted.
Governor Mark Gordon said the Biden administration’s decision “indicates a strong disconnect between Washington D.C and realities on the ground.”
The gray wolf was removed from the endangered species list in 2011 in Idaho and Montana. They were delisted in Wyoming in 2016, a decision that was held up on appeal until April, 2017. Management of the gray wolf was returned to the states, where they are hunted in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana according to regulations as are other species of wildlife.
On October 29, 2020, the Trump administration announced the successful recovery of the gray wolf population across the contiguous 48 states. Then Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would monitor the species to ensure continued success.
The Biden administration has gone a different direction with the appointment of Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior.
In September of last year, U.S. Fish and Wildlife published a 90-day finding to reconsider protections. The decision was prompted by two separate listing petitions filed environmental groups. One petition proposed listing for the gray wolf in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, and north-central Utah. The other petition proposed an alternative DPS to include all, or part, of the Northern Rocky Mountains, along with California, Nevada, Colorado and Northern Arizona.
Last year’s 90-day finding concluded that relisting may be warranted, although no decision had been made yet.
In its letter this week, the U.S. Department of Interior said it anticipates delivering a 12-month finding of whether to reslist any of the distinct wolf population across the west by September 30th of this year. It gave the states until March 1st to submit any information to support their case for recovery and continued management without federal interference.
Governor Gordon called the decision by Interior to reconsider listing “very disappointing and indicates a strong disconnect between Washington D.C. and realities on the ground.”
The governor added that the wolf population in Wyoming is been successfully managed by the state’s wildlife experts since regaining authority in 2017. Gordon noted that managing Wyoming’s wildlife from Washington, D.C. is not a good model and is counter to the intent of the Endangered Species Act.
Just last month, Wyoming petitioned the Interior Department to delist the Grizzly bear in Wyoming.
