Nolan to co-sponsor gray wolf bill

Gray wolves were taken off the Endangered Species list in December 2011 in the Great Lakes area when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that their numbers had sufficiently recovered.

But a federal judge in Washington D.C. reimposed federal protection for the gray wolves, saying the removal had been “arbitrary and capricious” and violated the federal Endangered Species Act.

Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wis., has introduced a bill that would restore wolves to their earlier unprotected status under a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule from 2012 in not just the Great Lakes states but also Wyoming.

Nolan will join Reps. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Sean Duffy, R-Wis., as co-sponsors of the measure.

If approved and signed into law by the president, the legislation would trump the judge’s ruling. The bill is supported by the Minnesota Farm Bureau and Minnesota Farmers Union.

“I’ll be going as a co-sponsor of the Peterson bill. A good case has been made to delist the gray wolf. The bill won’t jeopardize the Endangered Species Act ... and they can still be reclassified if necessary,” the 8th District Democratic congressman said in a telephone interview with the Mesabi Daily News on Friday.

Klobuchar and Franken responded by email to a request for comment from the MDN.

“Senator Klobuchar has always supported delisting the gray wolf, and believes the science and the facts support the delisting. She successfully led the effort to delist the wolf through the Endangered Species Act and disagrees with the recent court decision relisting the wolf.

“As a result, she believes the Department of Interior should appeal the court decision and she is also considering legislation to address this,” said a spokeswoman in Klobuchar’s Washington office.

“Our farmers and ranchers are rightfully concerned about losing their livestock — their livelihood — to wolves,” said Sen. Franken. “That’s why I supported the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to delist the gray wolf in 2011.

“My office has been in regular communication with the Fish and Wildlife Service about the judge’s ruling and I understand they are likely to press for an appeal. In the meantime, we need to deploy resources to protect livestock, and we have to make sure any losses are adequately covered by the Farm Bill’s livestock indemnity program.”

But Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of U.S. Humane Society, urged that any legislation to delist the gray wolves should be defeated.

“This legislation is an end-around a series of federal court rulings that have determined that state and federal agencies have acted improperly in acting to delist wolves.

“This bill is just the latest act of political bomb-throwing and gamesmanship and lawmakers who want balance on the wolf issue should reject it,” he said.

Minnesota held wolf hunting and trapping seasons in 2012, 2013 and 2014, with gray wolf numbers staying stable.

The state Department of Natural Resources last year made 3,800 hunting and trapping licenses available for the season, up from 3,500 in 2013, which allowed up to 250 wolves to be killed during the two seasons, which was an increase from 220 in 2013.