Fish and Wildlife Extends Comment Period for Gray Wolf Delisting

Farmers and ranchers now have more time to comment on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to take the gray wolf off the endangered species list, a move American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall called “a triumph of common sense we all should herald as a conservation success story.” The comment period has been extended by 60 days to July 15.

With more than 5,000 gray wolves in the United States and more than 10 times as many over the Canadian border, the U.S. population of gray wolves far surpasses the recovery targets called for by the Endangered Species Act, Duvall noted in a statement released when USFWS announced its proposal to delist the gray wolf. In fact, populations are so high in many states that wolves are not just preying on livestock, but pushing elk and deer onto U.S. farms and ranches, which leads to even more destruction.

“The administration’s decision to delist the gray wolf is the culmination of a decades’ long battle that has pitted science-based decision making against litigious, environmental activism. The Bush and Obama administrations supported delisting the gray wolf,” Duvall said.

He continued, “A third administration is now moving to delist the gray wolf. The time has come to resolve this issue once and for all and to base that decision on the science and the law.”