Coalition Files Lawsuit Against Wolf Delisting - KGWN –Cheyenne, WY– Scottsbluff, NE News,Weather, Sports

Coalition Files Lawsuit Against Wolf Delisting

Environmental groups say the new regulations on wolves in the state are causing a lot of damage to the wolf population.

Since the state of Wyoming took over control of wolf management on October 1, more than 50 wolves have been killed in the state. The majority of those wolves have been killed in unprotected areas of the state and not in designated trophy hunting zones outside Yellowstone.

"It amounts to more like an eradication program in 85% of the state and we do not think that's either in the spirit or the letter of the Endangered Species Act," said Duane Short. 

Duane Short is the wild species program director at the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance in Laramie. His group along with seven other environmental groups are trying to fight back.

"We have filed suit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and we're requiring review of that delisting decision," Short said.

They feel that wolves are being managed in a way that's dangerous to their survival.

"We feel like wolves are being managed right on the edge of being threatened with extinction as opposed to being managed for recovery," Short said.

Ranchers have been in favor of wolf delisting because of kills to their livestock. But according to numbers the environmental groups received from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wolves killed less than one-tenth of a percent of all livestock in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana combined.

"It's just a myth that wolves are out there killing livestock on every front and frankly there aren't enough wolves to make a significant impact on the livestock industry," Short said.

But where the environmentalist are most concerned is the damage that could be caused to the ecosystem, by not having enough wolves to control elk and moose populations.

"They are not the big bad wolf as often portrayed. They do serve a valuable role in not just the Yellowstone ecosystem, but any ecosystem," Short said.