Wolf advocates in Minnesota are in an uproar after the U-S House voted Friday to drop legal protections for grey wolves in the Lower 48 states. Doctor Maureen Hackett with the group Howling for Wolves warns, “This is the first step to taking apart the Endangered Species Act…. That’s really what this is about. It’s not just about the wolf.” The bill’s chief author, Representative Sean Duffy from neighboring Wisconsin, says farmers are “one step closer to having the legal means to defend their livestock from grey wolves.”
Livestock industry groups say producers have had to contend with wolves attacking their cattle and sheep. They say wolf populations have recovered and the animal would have been removed from the endangered species list except for activists who used the courts to circumvent sound science. Hackett responds, “I find it amazing that the very first bill that the U-S House of Representatives is doing during this lame-duck session is to remove federal protection for wolves all over the country.”