Federal wild life officials announced today the gray wolf is fully recovered in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing again to take the animal off the endangered species list in the Western Great Lakes Region.
Two previous court battles resulted in keeping gray wolves under federal protection.
The Center for Biological Diversity says removing that protection is premature, since gray wolves only have recovered 5 percent of their historic range. They don't want the wolf delisted in this region before it's also better recovered in the Northeast.
State wildlife managers in Michigan say there are more than twice as many wolves here as the original recovery goal.
Public comment will be taken once the Fish and Wildlife Service order is published, within the next couple of weeks.
