Call to Keep Wolves on Endangered Species List
Posted at: 03/05/2013 10:17 PM
| Updated at: 03/05/2013 11:05 PM
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - Members of Congress are asking federal officials not to revoke protections for the gray wolf in sections of the lower 48 states where the predator remains on the endangered species list.
After nearing extinction in most of the nation, the wolf has rebounded so strongly in the Great Lakes and Northern Rockies that it's no longer classified as endangered there.
Packs also have become established in Oregon and Washington, and restoration efforts continue in the Southwest.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering whether to drop the wolf from the endangered list in areas where none are known to exist.
However, the proposal would have no effect on wolves in the Northland. It would only keep protections in areas where they haven't already been dropped.
A letter to the agency sent Tuesday by 52 U.S. House members says legal protections should remain because the wolf could continue expanding its territory elsewhere, benefiting the environment.
(Copyright 2012 WDIO-TV, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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