U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Receives Minnesota Wolf Management Plan; Outlines Agencys Next Steps

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the federal agency charged with overseeing the recovery of the gray wolf in the United States, has received a plan developed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources outlining how the state would manage wolves if federal protection is removed. The Service will begin evaluating the plan, which is a critical step toward gray wolf recovery and eventual removal of the species from the list of endangered and threatened species.

"Now that we have Minnesotas plan, we will evaluate it to determine whether it provides adequate assurances for long-term survival of the Minnesota wolf population," said Bill Hartwig, regional director of the Services Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region. "The plan will also be evaluated by the Federal Wolf Recovery Team. Our hope is that it does provide the needed assurances, and we can begin work on delisting gray wolves in the western Great Lakes states."

Hartwig said the plan is the final component in a multi-faceted recovery effort for the gray wolf in the Midwest that requires reaching and sustaining a minimum number of wolves in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. It also requires evidence that the threats that caused the wolfs decline have been eliminated or reduced so they will never again threaten its existence; protective state wolf management plans provide that evidence. Both these recovery tasks must be completed in order for the Service to propose that the gray wolf in the Midwest be removed from listing under the Endangered Species Act.

In 2000, the Minnesota Legislature directed the Department of Natural Resources to develop a plan to manage the states wolves. The Legislature also outlined restrictions on how Minnesota wolves could be controlled after federal protection is removed.

Minnesotas estimated gray wolf population is at least 2,500 animals. An estimated 464 gray wolves are found in Michigan and Wisconsin. Recovery goals for wolf populations in the Midwest are 1,250 to 1,400 animals in Minnesota and another 100 total in Michigan and Wisconsin, for five years. These goals were reached in 1999.

Wisconsin and Michigan, the other states in the Midwest with wolf populations, have developed wolf management plans, which the Service has reviewed. Hartwig said if the Minnesota plan is found to be adequate, the Service could begin the process to delist wolves in the Midwest. That process would include publication of a proposed rule in the Federal Register outlining the basis for delisting; a comment period to obtain new data or other information on the status of the gray wolf; and public hearings to allow interested people and groups to present their opinions and information. A final decision would be made within one year of the proposal.

The gray wolf is currently listed as threatened in Minnesota, and endangered elsewhere in the lower 48 states. The Service has already proposed that the gray wolf in the Midwest and some other parts of its range