Source: Green Bay Gazette
Recently, a few lawmakers in Congress attempted to subvert federal court rulings and attach a rider to a must-pass spending bill to remove federal protections for wolves.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) opposed this action, working with our allies to ensure that gray wolf populations in the Great Lakes states and Wyoming remain protected according to law. Wolves have no track record of hurting people, and under federal law, problem wolves can be removed under certain circumstances.
The Press-Gazette’s hunting writer properly noted our role in defending wolves, but mischaracterized our broader intentions. (“Wolf delisting out of budget package,” Dec. 24). HSUS is not trying to stop deer hunting and other forms of hunting that are conducted humanely and for meat. Nobody, on the other hand, is killing gray wolves for meat; they are inedible. They are killed for their heads and fur.
On the biology of the issue, more than 70 wildlife biologists and scientists recently wrote to Congress to state the ecological and legal reasons against delisting. In the end, Congress made the right call and showed proper restraint in not meddling with the Endangered Species Act.
Wayne Pacelle
Pacelle is president/CEO of the Humane Society of the United States
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