Levin welcomes news that recovery of gray wolves in Great Lakes region takes them off endangered species list
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
WASHINGTON – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., today welcomed an announcement by the U.S. Department of the Interior that the once-threatened gray wolf population has recovered in the Great Lakes region and no longer requires the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates that this important environmental statute and science-based decision making work,” Levin said. “With the protections provided under the Endangered Species Act, wolf populations have exceeded recovery goals, and their populations can be sustained under state management plans that protect both the viability of wolf populations and the needs of the public. I applaud the work of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state partners that helped with the recovery of this important species.”
Efforts to control predators in the early 1900s nearly led to the elimination of the gray wolf in the United States. In 1967, the Department of the Interior included the species on the endangered species list to help protect the diminishing population. Since that time, wolf populations have increased considerably. In the western Great Lakes region, gray wolf populations have exceeded established recovery goals, and the Fish Wildlife Service believes that a state management plan should be able to maintain a viable gray wolf population without Endangered Species Act protections.