Gray Wolves Once Again Endangered

The federal government has put the northern Rockies gray wolf back on the endangered species list.  This follows the recent delisting of the gray wolves over speculations that their populations had grown large enough to mandate some kind of control efforts.  (control efforts=hunting)

Wyoming recently held the first legal hunt of gray wolves and many other states would be following on their heels.  Once a few other states decided to run state-sponsored wolf hunts, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction protecting the wolves from any more destruction.

The wolf hunts sparked a large outcry from the conservation groups.  They cited that just because numbers were on the rise, that this did not mean the wolves were out of the danger zone.  As soon as states mentioned hunting the wolves, conservation groups were quick to sue.

Now it seems they’ve caught a major break: Wolves will now stay on the Endangered Species list for the foreseeable future, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service coordinator Ed Bangs. They plan to withdraw their rule that declared wolves officially recovered in the Northern Rockies. Wolves will enjoy full protection under the Endangered Species Act until the USFWS can draw new plans that better provide for wolf protection after de-listing.

This is coming from the Backpacker Magazine blog, The Daily Dirt, in relation to an Associated Press article that was released today.  This article goes on to explain that not enough information was known of the dangers of holding these types of hunts, and now the government will rely more upon studies that will be conducted by the Fish and Game Commission in the future.

I think that what was originally thought of as a good idea, has now been reconsidered.  Whichever side you are on, that of the hunter, or that of the hunted, you can expect that the gray wolf will still be protected for the foreseable future.

It is probably better for all of us that we know exactly what is going on before we jump the gun (figure of speech) of hunting a species that everyone was so adament about bringing back from extinction.  Now, at least, more studies can be done before deciding the best route to take in the future.