The U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today that the Gray Wolf would finally be removed from the list of endangered species. They also announced that the Mexican Wolf would remain on the list of endangered species and the proposal notes that recovery efforts for this subspecies will be expanded, though expansion will not occur within the state of Utah. Congressman Rob Bishop (UT-01), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee, has championed efforts to have the Grey Wolf delisted as an endangered species and is pleased with today's announcement.
"The delisting of the Gray Wolf is long overdue and states are more than ready to manage the wolf populations," said Bishop. "For quite some time, the Gray Wolf has been "recovered' and the issues with their being listed as an endangered species has limited states from employing responsible management practices, thus allowing the wolves to terrorize public land users and other animal species. I am pleased that states will now be able to actively manage the Gray Wolf population in a way that is beneficial to the wolf population as well as public land users, the sportsmen's community, and all those whose livelihoods have been impacted by the current listing," said Bishop.