U.S. tribes demand quick protection for wolves

MADISON, Wis. — Dozens of American Indian tribes asked the Biden administration Tuesday to immediately enact emergency protections for gray wolves, saying states have become too aggressive in hunting the animal.

Groups representing the tribes sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland asking her to act quickly on an emergency petition they filed in May to relist the wolf as endangered or threatened. They also asked Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico and the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency, to relist the wolf on an emergency basis for 240 days, ensuring immediate protection.

The groups said that states have enacted “antiwolf” policies that present “a real potential of decimating wolf populations.”

The letter doesn’t name any specific states or polices.

Department of the Interior spokesman Tyler Cherry declined comment on the letter.