Gray wolves returned to Threatened and Endangered Species list

Gray Wolf. (Photo © Tracy Brooks. Courtesy Mission Wolf / US Fish and Wildlife Service)

By Jeff Towner and Terri Bocklund*
Information from Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC)
Posted Feb. 15, 2022, on upenvironment.org

The Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition and its Board of Directors are celebrating the decision last week that has returned Upper Peninsula gray wolves (and gray wolves in most of the lower 48 states) to the federal list of threatened and endangered species. On Feb. 10, 2022, a federal judge in the Northern District of California reversed and vacated a January 2021 removal of the gray wolf from the list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

For UP wolves, this specifically means that for the time being, efforts by Michigan legislators to bring about a recreational season for wolf hunting and trapping will come to a halt. Sen. Ed McBroom has energetically promoted a wolf harvest through proposed legislation and resolutions. He and those who work with him and support these legislative actions have now effectively had their hands tied. Notably, Rep. Sarah Cambensy "passed" on a recent legislative action (SCR 7) that would authorize and organize an Upper Peninsula wolf hunt. UPEC acknowledges and appreciates her position.

Gray wolves. (Photo © Yannick Menard. Courtesy UPEC)

However, the ruling does not change the delisted status of gray wolves in the Northern Rockies states of Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, where wolves are persecuted ruthlessly. This population of wolves was removed from Endangered Species Act protections by Congress in 2011 and was not part of the lawsuit. This act of Congress has proven to be ill-considered, especially in light of the wanton killing of wolves in those three states.

The Michigan Wolf Management Advisory Council will continue its work to update the existing Wolf Management Plan of 2015, and aims to make its recommendations to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission sometime in the summer or fall of 2022.  Meetings are held monthly, and are open to the public.  Members of the UPEC Board of Directors have attended some of these meetings, and have offered both spoken and written testimony in support of the best and most current science available, all of which points toward the senselessness of a wolf season in the UP. Interested persons can find specific information about these meetings at: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79137_79763_106230---,00.html.

Gray wolf. (Photo © Andrew Ly. Courtesy UPEC)

UPEC will be closely following further developments, and will continue to advocate for federal protection of gray wolves in Michigan and elsewhere. Should wolves again be delisted, UPEC will continue to argue that there is no credible scientific basis for a so-called recreational season on wolves in Michigan.

* Editor's Note:

Co-author Jeff Towner is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and member of the board of directors of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC). See his Oct. 22, 2021, Keweenaw Now article, "Wolf management in Michigan should set good example," which also appeared in the UPEC Fall 2021 Newsletter.

Co-author Terri Bocklund is a professional musician, composer, and songwriter who became an advocate for wolves after her experience as an Artist in Residence on Isle Royale in 2013. That experience led her to create and perform a unique pro-wolf multi-media experience, which she has presented at the Wolf Conservation Center (NY), the Pennsylvania Wolf Sanctuary, the Upper Great Lakes Visitor Center (WI) and several state and national parks, including Isle Royale National Park.