United States Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar formally announced today that the gray wolf has been delisted from the Endangered Species Act in the Great Lakes region, ending a protective measure that has been in place for 33 years.
“Once again, the Endangered Species Act has proved to be an effective tool for bringing species back from the brink of extinction,” Secretary Salazar said. “Thanks to the work of our scientists, wildlife managers, and our state, tribal, and stakeholder partners, gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region are now fully recovered and healthy.”
This ruling primarily affects Michigan and Wisconsin, and Minnesota—where wolves were actually classified as a "threatened," not "endangered" species. Now it's primarily up to state governments to manage wolf populations, and undoubtedly controlled hunting will come to the forefront of management debate.
Do you think states in the Great Lakes region should open season on wolves?