SF 79

as introduced - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 03/14/2012 11:16am

A resolution
memorializing Congress to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act.

WHEREAS, the purpose of the federal Endangered Species Act is to improve the status of
a listed species to the point that it no longer needs Endangered Species Act protection; and

WHEREAS, a successful recovery plan implemented after the gray wolf was first listed
under the Endangered Species Act in 1974 has resulted in a healthy, self-sustaining population of
gray wolves in the upper Great Lakes area; and

WHEREAS, the gray wolf recovery plan goal was for a population of 1,250 to 1,400
animals in Minnesota, at which point long-term population viability would be assured; and

WHEREAS, the Minnesota population of gray wolves has steadily expanded to at least
3,000 animals and is not therefore biologically in danger of extinction; and

WHEREAS, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has attempted three times to
remove federal protection of gray wolves in the Great Lakes region, only to have lawsuits
reverse such delisting; and

WHEREAS, wolf predation on livestock and big game species is resulting in economic
losses in the state of Minnesota; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that Congress should
speedily enact legislation to remove the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment of
gray wolves from the federal list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered
Species Act.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of
the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Environment
and Public Works, the chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, and Minnesota's
Senators and Representatives in Congress.