Gray Wolf Proposed for Delisting

July 16, 2004 -- Efforts to bring back the gray wolf from the brink of extinction in Minnesota have been successful. As evidence, Department of Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Assistant Secretary Craig Manson held a press conference this morning to announce that the gray wolf will be proposed for removal from the list of threatened and endangered species.

Norton and Manson made the announcement from the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minn. The federal action applies only to the eastern half of the United States and will have the most effect on Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, where gray wolves have rebounded beyond expectation according to federal officials.

The hand-over will take at least a year and will mean that states can start wolf trapping and hunting seasons. Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan each have a new wolf-management plan in preparation for final delisting.

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