Wisconsin estimates a minimum of 1,000 and Michigan nearly 700. Minnesota hosts an estimated 2,600 wolves. The Wisconsin target of 350 and the Michigan target of 200 have also been eclipsed. In Minnesota, for example, the minimum population of 1,600 was reached many years ago. Those minimum population figures were surpassed, according to state estimates, many years ago. State management plans in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota have long included state-prescribed minimum populations. In its original proposal to remove the wolf from federal protection, the USFWS wrote: вЂњWe propose this action because the best available scientific and commercial information indicates that the currently listed entities do not meet the definitions of a threatened species or endangered species under the Act due to recovery.вЂќ Going forward, each state will determine the level of protection wolves receive and how they are managed. Wolves in California, for instance, are protected by state laws, having been granted protection by the stateвЂ™s ESA in 2014. This doesnвЂ™t mean they wonвЂ™t have any protections at all however. If wolves were to repopulate Utah, for example, they would not be federally protected. The latest ruling means that no states have federal protections in place for gray wolves, including those where wolves do not currently live. The estimated 10,000 wolves in Alaska are not and never were protected by the Endangered Species Act. In other parts of the country, such as the Midwest, wolves have been on and off the list and were federally protected until this recent decision by the USFWS. Congress delisted wolves in Montana, Idaho and parts of Utah, Washington and Oregon in 2011. That population was bolstered by the Yellowstone reintroduction in 19.ДЄs their numbers grew and met the biological criteria of the USFWS wolf recovery plans, efforts began to remove wolves from the Endangered Species Act. In the early 1980s, meanwhile, wolves that had dispersed from Canada were crossing over the border into northwest Montana. That population then spread into MichiganвЂ™s Upper Peninsula. The gray wolf population in Minnesota appeared to stabilize and that population helped grow the number of wolves in northern Wisconsin. Populations rebounded naturally in some places and with reintroduction efforts in Yellowstone National Park and Idaho. ThereвЂ™s no question the Act helped wolf populations in the lower 48 states. Gray wolves have had an on-again, off-again relationship with the Endangered Species Act since they were first listed as endangered by the Endangered Species Preservation Act in 1967 and legally protected in 1974 by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Those are important questions we hope to answer here as well as through regular updates on our website at and through our various social media platforms.

So what would it look like if wolves did not have those federal protections? Will there be hunting seasons on wolves across the lower 48 states? WhatвЂ™s next for wolves? More information on those can be found here. In fact, the first challenges were filed Nov. Of course, legal challenges are expected to be filed in response to this delisting. In the long term, this ruling means there will be no federal protections for gray wolves in any state. In the short term, this ruling mostly impacts Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota as wolves in those Great Lakes states are federally protected under the ESA. Jurisdiction for wolf management will now return to each state, similar to management of deer, bears and most resident species. The final rule will be effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, meaning that the ruling would take effect on Jan. 29 that wolves will be removed from the Endangered Species List.

Given that, it came as no surprise that it was formally announced on Oct. Fish and Wildlife Service told the Associated Press that, by the end of 2020, gray wolves would no longer be federally protected in the lower 48 states.

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What does esa protected rom mean