Lawsuit: Groups go to court to stop wolf delisting

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MARQUETTE - Five groups sued the government Monday for removing gray wolves in the Upper Great Lakes region from the endangered species list.

The groups previously announced their intention to file the suit, which prolongs a dispute over whether the predator can survive without federal protection.

Despite the wolf's comeback from near-extinction in the region over the past two decades, some activists insist it remains vulnerable. The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeks an injunction returning Great Lakes wolves to the endangered list while the case is heard.

If an injunction is not granted, the Great Lakes states, including Michigan, would continue to manage wolves according to their management plans.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped federal protections last month, as the Obama administration upheld a Bush-era finding that the wolf could survive under state management. The animal protection and environmental groups disagreed.

''This is a species that was driven to the brink of extinction on the states' watch,'' said Jonathan Lovvorn, a vice president of The Humane Society of the United States.

Management plans crafted by Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin presently do not allow wolves to be hunted or trapped, although farmers and pet owners can kill wolves attacking domestic animals.

But the plans leave the door open for future hunts and other measures that could reduce wolf numbers by up to 50 percent, Lovvorn said.

Georgia Parham, spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the region's wolves had met population goals and other criteria for removal from the list.

''We have to look at whether the (state) plans to continue to ensure the survivability of the wolf,'' Parham said. ''We believe the plans do that.''

Gray wolves were listed as endangered in 1974. They had been wiped out across most of the lower 48 states by hunting and government-sponsored poisoning, although a remnant population survived in northern Minnesota.

By the late 1980s, some of those wolves had migrated into Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where they rapidly spread. About 3,000 are believed to live in Minnesota. Michigan has about 580 and Wisconsin's latest estimate is 626 to 662 wolves.

State officials said they had no intention of trying to cut their numbers in half.

Michigan's plan has no population target because wildlife managers believe a better strategy is to focus on eliminating wolves that repeatedly prey on livestock and pets, said Pet Lederle, research supervisor with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

''If we have one wolf and he's causing a lot of problems, maybe we've got one too many,'' he said. ''But if we have 500 and they're causing no problems, who's to say that's too many?''

Wisconsin's DNR also emphasizes dealing with problem wolves. Minnesota sets a minimum target of 1,600 but has no limit on wolf numbers.

No state-sponsored hunting or trapping will take place for at least five years after the animal's removal from the endangered species list.

Earlier this year, the Humane Society of the United States - joined by the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of Animals and Their Environment, Help Our Wolves Live and Born Free USA - filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to try to overturn the federal effort to remove wolf protections.

The opposition groups contend the Fish and Wildlife Service cannot lawfully designate and delist a western Great Lakes distinct population segment, has set arbitrary and capricious boundaries, violated notice and comment requirements, must analyze threats to wolves across the conterminous U.S. and failed to use the best available scientific and commercial data in making its determinations.

In the notice of intent, the groups also say the gray wolf does not satisfy statutory criteria for delisting and delisting the western Great Lakes distinct population segment jeopardizes the continued existence of the species in non-designated remnant areas.

Michigan wolf management coordinator Brian Roell said previously that a key to what will happen next is whether a judge will be willing to grant an injunction, which would halt the federal delisting process.

Without an injunction, the lawsuit could be tied up in court for a long time, allowing the states continue to implement their management plans, Roell said.

The wolf delisting requires monitoring of wolf populations to ensure their survival. If necessary, the species could be placed back on the threatened or endangered list.