Wolf Delisting Pt 1
I'm Bob Larson. It was music to the ears of livestock producers in Washington state when Acting Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced last week a proposal to have U.S. Fish and Wildlife remove endangered species status for the gray wolf and return wolf management to the locals.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse applauds the move and likes the idea of local control ...
NEWHOUSE ... "And it's successfully being managed, at least in the eastern third of the state, by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife so I'd just like to applaud the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for moving forward with this proposal to delist and return the management to where it belongs, to the states and tribes."
But, why does he think states and tribes are better suited to manage the wolves? ...
NEWHOUSE ... "The closer to local control as possible the better off we are versus having federal agencies respond to local needs and conditions. I think it's proven that state departments and tribal agencies are much more cognizant of the local are and they are much more responsive."
And, Newhouse says we've done it ...
NEWHOUSE ... "They've proven themselves successful. We have a good wolf management plan that has been worked out between land owners, livestock producers, state agencies that is working and I think that this is an obvious step to take."
Granted endangered species protection back in 1975, only a thousand gray wolves remained and they were in northern Minnesota. Today, it's estimated that over 5-thousand gray wolves populate the lower 48.
Listen tomorrow for more on delisting gray wolves.
