Gray Wolves No Longer U.S. Endangered Species in Three States
Johnson, Kirk. “U.S. Ends Protections For Wolves In 3 States.” New York Times. Feb. 22, 2008: A14.
The U.S. Government plans to end federal protection for gray wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho in March 2008.
Gray wolves were one of the first animals to be protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1974 when there were no gray wolves in the West.
Sixty-six wolves were brought into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s. They have multiplied to almost 1,300 wolves. About 230 wolves have migrated into the West from Canada. The population has been rising at a rate of about 24 percent a year.
State governments now allow wolf hunting and aim for target populations of 150 wolves in each state.
Several environmental groups and biologists think that federal protection should not be dropped and that a population of 2,000 to 3,000 would be more stable.
Some conservation groups are filing lawsuits against this action.
I’m Jean Mosher.