Wolf Court Ruling Appealed By DNR

Are they endangered or are they not?  The argument continues over whether wolves in Michigan should be protected by law.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has filed an appeal of the December ruling by a federal district court that returned the wolves to the federal endangered species list.

This followed a 2011 decision that removed the wolves from the list in the Great Lake region.

The DNR will argue against the federal district court’s ruling that wolves must recover across their historic range – which includes the lower 48 states and Mexico – before Michigan’s wolf population can be removed from the federal endangered species list.

Michigan joins a number of hunting and conservation organizations, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service, in appealing the ruling.

According to the DNR, wolves in Michigan are 15 years past the population recovery goals set by the federal government.

Michigan’s wolf population numbers approximately 636 in the Upper Peninsula.