2/5/2025

UPPER MICHIGAN - Federal legislation has been reintroduced to remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list. The ‘Pet and Livestock Protection Act’ would return wolf management to individual states and prevent judges from relisting the wolf.  Two members of Congress from Wisconsin reintroduced the act. Rep. Jack Bergman (R-1st Congressional District which includes Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties) says the recovery of the gray wolf has gone well in Michigan.  A 2024 wolf population study showed a minimum of 762 wolves in the Upper Peninsula. In 2020 the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the gray wolf from the endangered species list for the lower 48 states. In 2022 a California judge overturned that ruling.  Opponents of the legislation say while the wolf population in Michigan has recovered, the same isn’t true for other states.  Congressman Bergman says he’s still working to get support for this legislation.