Gray wolf protections on track to survive the current Congress

Act in his home state, acknowledged that Congress is busy with more monumental tasks, such as funding much of the government through next fall and passing legislation governing farm policy.

“I think that’s a lot of things trying to get done in a relatively short period of time, and (we) gotta make sure we get our priorities right on those,” he said.

Ethan Lane, a lobbyist for beef producers who want wolves to be removed from the list of endangered species because they say wolves scare and attack ranchers’ cattle, said a different plan that would remove federal protections in only a handful of states has a better chance.

The HELP for Wildlife Act, a Senate bill, would remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Passage of that more limited bill would be a win for those like Barrasso who say the population has recovered and is “overrunning” the Great Lake states. Conservationists disagree, and contend that the wolf population still has a long way to go.

“Wolves have made an amazing recovery in many areas, but they are still very much in the beginning stages of recovery in a number of places, including in the western twothirds of Washington state, Oregon and California,” said Shawn Cantrell, a vice president with Defenders of Wildlife, an environmental A close up image of a gray wolf in autumn.