Midwest, Wyoming lawmakers target wolf protections again

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Midwest, Wyoming lawmakers target wolf protections again

By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Feb. 26, 2017 1:25 PM EST

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Pressure is building in Congress to take gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region and Wyoming off the endangered list, which would allow farmers to kill the animals if they threaten livestock.

Representatives from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Wyoming have asked House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for a fast floor vote before the season during which most cows and sheep will give birth begins in earnest. That followed testimony before a Senate committee a week earlier from the president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, who said producers need to be able to defend their livestock and livelihoods.

Meanwhile, both sides in the debate are waiting for a federal appeals court to decide whether to uphold lower court rulings that put wolves in the four states back on the list or to let the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service return management of the species to the states, which it has wanted to do for years.

Here's a look at some of the issues:

THE LETTER

U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, sent a letter co-signed by seven of his colleagues from the four states to House leaders urging a quick floor vote on a bill to return their wolves to state management. A key component of both is language that would prevent the courts from intervening.

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Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/88b9d0618ca447769acc4620248ef28f/midwest-wyoming-lawmakers-target-wolf-protections-again

[Panich52]

1. Idiots who don't understand conservation

Predators are a vital part of a healthy ecosystem.

This Will Shatter Your View of Apex Predators: How Wolves Change Rivers (vid)

http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/02/16/this-will-shatter-your-view-of-apex-predators-how-wolves-change-rivers/