Gray Wolves: Endangered or Not?

Reader Contribution by Jessie Fetterling

The debate over endangered gray wolves continues. In October, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opened up a public comment period to discuss a 2007 proposal to remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species List. While some comments opposed the proposal, like the ones in Comment on the Gray Wolf’s Status, the Bush administration says it is removing gray wolves in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky Mountains from the list. However, Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett says that gray wolves in Wyoming will stay on it because the state has not done enough to guarantee the survival of the species.

The government has tried to remove wolves in these regions from the list before, but those efforts were overruled by the courts. In fact, last September, a federal judge sided with animal-rights groups that protested the 2007 decision to remove nearly 4,000 wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. While many farmers are concerned about wolves preying on their livestock, environmentalists believe wolves should stay on the list to help maintain biodiversity. If not, the gray wolf species could lose its chance of survival — and our ecosystem could suffer.

For more information, read Gray Wolf Removed From Protection.

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