Obama ends gray wolf protection

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

(Undated handout photo of a grey wolf from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. AP Photo)

by Jim Tankersley

After reversing President Bush on a pack of environmental rules in its first month, the Obama administration let one of Bush's last-minute changes stand on Friday: the removal of the gray wolf from the endangered species list in the Upper Midwest, Idaho and Montana.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the decision in a noon press conference, saying the finding by the Fish and Wildlife Service under Bush was "a supportable one...scientists have concluded that recovery has occurred."

He also agreed with the Bush administration's decision to keep the wolf on the endangered species list in Wyoming, calling that state's wolf recovery plan insufficient. He praised Idaho and Montana's efforts to restore and manage wolf populations and said "I do not believe we should hold those states hostage to the inadequacy we've seen in Wyoming."

The de-listing was the latest chapter in an ongoing battle over wolves between the federal government and environmental groups, who successfully sued to keep the animal on the endangered list. Bush's Interior Department announced it in the final days of his term, and it wasn't finalized by the time Obama took office and froze all pending rule changes.

Salazar's announcement on Friday almost assuredly means environmentalists will sue again to keep the wolf under federal protection, continuing the saga of an animal that rouses fierce debate among ranchers and conservationists in the West.

Wolves once roamed most of the nation but dwindled near extinction before the Clinton administration re-introduced them in Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s. Populations grew quickly enough that a decade after reintroduction, Bush officials tried to remove the wolf from the endangered list, only to be blocked by courts.

The announcement by Salazar, who grew up on a ranch in rural Colorado, came after a string of Obama administration moves to freeze or roll back Bush-era environmental decisions. The Interior Department alone has slowed efforts to increase oil and gas development offshore and in Rocky Mountain shale.

On Tuesday, Obama personally marked the department's 160th anniversary by announcing he was effectively overruling a Bush decision to allow federal agencies to determine on their own if construction projects would harm endangered species. Obama restored the practice of forcing all agencies to consult with expert biologists about potential impacts to protected plants or wildlife.

[Ban Hammer 13,641]

why does obama hate wolves? they are socialists!

[spookyturtle 9,466]

why does obama hate wolves? they are socialists!

[sj5 4]

I can keep wolf at home! Yayy.

Edited March 7, 2009 by sj5

[Perseverance 1]

I dont think the wolves should worry...unless Palin buys a new chopper......

[Pooky 3,844]

The decision sucks. It sucked when Bush was President. It sucks now that Obama is President.

[Nagishkaw 510]

[NickD 203]

Federal lands and state lands, our wolves are still protected by the states, but is just a written law, still doesn't stop anyone from shooting a wolf on private property, and if they did, how would they get caught. Or even on state grounds as far as that is concerned.

I encountered both a male and female and had my large German Shepherd Dog with me, nice and clean and brushed. The male wolf took one look at my dog and hit the trail, the female got all excited and waved her tail, she was hot to trot. But what a mess she was, hair or tangled, needed a good bath, and not sure what diseases she was carrying so gave her a loud git, and she took off like a bat.

In checking our states records, if they are true, no reported instances of wolves attacking humans, and they like to stay clear of them, their worse enemy. Obama is a city kid and doesn't know chit about nature, time to write him a 500 character or less note. They have a right to be protected, and mostly against human nuts. Females are the most dangerous if they have a liter, but just leave them alone and they won't bother you. They are just trying to protect their young and live a very difficult life.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Nature says that humans are retards and think animals have a conscious like humans.

[almaty 19]

they do

[Nagishkaw 510]

I second that.