August 8, 2005, 6:14 PM
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- A federal agency didn't follow required procedures when giving Michigan and Wisconsin permission to kill wolves that attack livestock or pets, an animal protection group says.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued permits allowing the two states to use lethal control measures against problem wolves. Michigan's permit, received in April, says the state can kill up to 20 per year.
In a lawsuit filed last week, the Humane Society of the United States and 11 other organizations said the agency failed to notify the public and take comments before issuing the permits, steps required under the Endangered Species Act.
"The intentional killing of an endangered species is a drastic step, and one that should never be taken without first soliciting and carefully considering expert views about whether lethal control is really necessary," said John Grandy, the Humane Society's senior vice president of wildlife.
Georgia Parham, a spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said Monday the agency hadn't received the suit and could not discuss it. It was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
The suit seeks a court order to withdraw the permits and go through the process correctly.
Parham acknowledged public comments weren't sought before the permits were issued, but said the permits were linked to others issued previously. The agency is legally empowered to allow killing threatened or endangered species under some circumstances.
Patricia Lane, a Humane Society attorney, said lethal measures might be justified in extreme cases. But the permit issued to Michigan lets the state set traps without ensuring they would catch only wolves preying on livestock or pets, she said.
It also doesn't require farmers and ranchers to do all they can to prevent wolf attacks, she said.
Gray wolf numbers have surged in the upper Great Lakes region since the Endangered Species Act was approved in 1973. Scientists say about 3,800 live in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The latest census put Michigan's population at just over 400.
The Fish and Wildlife Service in 2003 reclassified the wolf in most of the lower 48 states from endangered -- on the brink of extinction -- to threatened.
Environmentalist groups, including the Humane Society, filed a lawsuit contending the new designation was scientifically and procedurally flawed. A federal judge in Oregon agreed last January, restoring the wolf's endangered status.
Jennifer Brown, Senior Program Specialist
The Humane Society of the United States
Central States Regional Office
800 W. 5th Ave., Suite #110A
Naperville, IL 60563
Phone: (630) 357-7015
Fax: (630) 357-5725
On the Web at www.hsus.org
Visit www.animalsheltering.org