President Donald Trump just ended federal protections for the gray wolf — because the species doesn’t need them anymore.
The Trump administration is set to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list following an explosive growth in the species’ once-threatened population.
Conservation Success
The move was first announced by acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who spoke at the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Denver, CO. A Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson later confirmed the proposal.
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will soon propose a rule to delist the gray wolf in the lower 48 states and return management of the species to the states and tribes,” a spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to The Hill. This means states and tribes will be able to set their own rules with regard to the hunting of gray wolves.
“Recovery of the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is one of our nation’s great conservation successes, with the wolf joining other cherished species, such as the bald eagle, that have been brought back from the brink with the help of the ESA,” the Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson added.
There were as few as 1,000 gray wolves in the contiguous United States in 1975, when the species was first granted federal protection. Since that time, the population of gray wolves has grown exponentially to more than 5,000.
Welcome News to Farmers
As with everything the Trump administration does, the move to delist the gray wolf immediately drew sharp criticism from some on the left, including environmentalist advocacy groups in Congress, like the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, and the private sector, like the Sierra Club.
Those groups have expressed concern that the withdrawal of federal protection is being done too soon, and suggested that the population of gray wolves hasn’t recovered as much as they’d like to see yet. But while environmentalists fret over continuing to protect the rapidly growing wolf population, farmers and ranchers have cheered the move, for both economic and safety reasons.
“This is welcome news to farmers and ranchers. The agency’s intent to delist the gray wolf is a triumph of common sense we all should herald as a conservation success story,” said American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall in a statement of support for the move. “There are more than 5,000 gray wolves in the United States and more than 10 times as many over the Canadian border.”
“The U.S. population of gray wolves far surpasses the recovery targets called for by the Endangered Species Act,” Duvall continued. “Populations have reached critically high numbers in many states — so high, in fact, that wolves are not just preying on livestock, but pushing elk and deer onto U.S. farms and ranches, which leads to even more destruction.”
Duvall went on to note that both the Barack Obama and George W. Bush administrations had looked into delisting the gray wolf, but backed down when faced with opposition from environmentalist groups.
However, as we have seen on so many other fronts over the past two years, opposition to common sense reforms won’t stop the Trump administration from doing what’s right.
646 Responses
I’m not sure exactly why but this site is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
The only thing I regret is not having found your blog site earlier.
The only point I lament is not having found your blog before.
A lot of bloggers nowadays yet very few have posts worth spending time on reading.
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any recommendations?
It is really a great and helpful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
Hello! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a wonderful job!
Sweet blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News. Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Cheers
F*ckin’ tremendous things here. I am very glad to see your post. Thanks a lot and i’m looking forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a e-mail?
It’s an awesome post designed for all the internet people; they will get benefit from it I am sure.|
Superb, what a blog it is! This webpage presents helpful data to us, keep it up.|
An intriguing discussion is worth comment. I believe that you ought to publish more about this topic, it may not be a taboo matter but typically people don’t speak about such issues. To the next! Cheers!!|
Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you are just too wonderful. I actually like what you have acquired here, really like what you’re stating and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it sensible. I can’t wait to read much more from you. This is actually a terrific website.|
What’s up to every body, it’s my first pay a visit of this weblog; this web site consists of remarkable and actually good material for visitors.|
I enjoy, cause I discovered exactly what I was taking a look for. You have ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye|
I have learn some good stuff here. Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot attempt you put to make one of these great informative site.
I appreciate, cause I found just what I was looking for. You have ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
obviously like your web site however you need to test the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I to find it very troublesome to tell the truth however I’ll definitely come again again.|
I love the way you have ended this article …