Wisconsin Tribes Helped In Fed Case That Restored Federal Protection To Gray Wolves

WISCONSIN — Gray wolves have regained federal protection in 48 U.S. states, including Wisconsin, after a federal judge on Thursday invalidated the Trump administration's decision to take them off the Endangered Species List.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's didn't sufficiently consider threats to wolf populations outside the Great Lakes and Northern Rocky Mountains when it took the wolves off the list in 2020, wrote Senior District Judge Jeffrey S. White of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

A number of environmental groups sued to appeal the Trump administration's the decision.

“Restoring federal protections means that these vitally important animals will receive the necessary support to recover and thrive in the years ahead," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, a group involved in the lawsuit.

Several federally recognized Native American tribes in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin gave legal briefs in support of the petitioners, court records showed.

A Wisconsin wolf hunt was scheduled for Nov. 6, 2021, but its kill quota was lowered to zero until the state wildlife agency could come up with a complete plan for managing wolves' population.

See Also: No Wolf Hunt Licenses Issued Yet In WI: DNR

Six local tribes and several wildlife groups sued to stop the wolf hunt, which will now hang in limbo after the federal court order.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the agency that hosts various hunts in the state, is said it no longer authorized to host a wolf hunt season, the agency said in a statement.

In a separate wolf hunt in February 2021, hunters killed 216 wolves in three days. Wisconsin's wolf population declined at least 27 percent in 2020, according to a report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

RELATED:

• Wisconsin's Wolf Hunt: 5 Things To Know
• Wisconsin's 2021 Wolf Hunt Quota Lowered