An effort to seek a temporary injunction on delisting the grey wolf as an endangered species in the Great Lakes region would undermine a highly successful and collaborative effort in Michigan to implement a wolf management plan that is based on the best science available and a comprehensive public input process. DNR Wildlife officials say an injunction would greatly limit their management options for wolf-human conflict and livestock depredation issues.

Russ Mason, chief of the Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife Division, today said that the latest legal moves by the Humane Society of the United States and several other organizations to derail the delisting of grey wolves as an endangered species in the western Great Lakes Region overlooks the fact that Michigan has a strong wolf management plan that was developed by a diverse cross-section of Michigan interests in wolves.

"It is time for the state to take over management of this species based on the best scientific practices outlined in a very comprehensive wolf management plan that was developed by a broad range of stakeholders in Michigan. These stakeholders worked closely with us over an extended period to make sure our plan addresses a broad range of concerns about wolves in our state," Mason said. "Our plan has adequate protection for wolves, and regulatory measures in place to ensure the conservation and protection of wolves in Michigan."

Mason said the Michigan wolf management plan, formally approved by DNR Director Rebecca Humphries in 2008, provides for continued viability of the grey wolf in Michigan above a population level that would again place it on the federal endangered and threatened species list. Following the official delisting of the grey wolf, the DNR acted quickly to place the species on protected animal status in the state.

The plan calls for a wolf management program that includes active research and monitoring to support science-based management of the species; education and outreach programs; regulations that help promote a viable wolf population; an adequate prey and habitat base for a sustainable wolf population; management of actual and perceived threats to human safety posed by wolves; professional response and management of wolf depredation on pets and livestock; and minimizing the impact of captive wolves and wolf-dog hybrids on the natural population.

"In short, we have a very solid plan that will provide for a sustainable wolf population in our state, following this very robust recovery of the species," Mason said. "If an injunction is granted at this time, it would greatly hinder our ability to manage wolf-human conflicts and respond to wolf depredation situations with pets and livestock. Spending additional time and money fighting the injunction is a waste of resources that would otherwise be applied to on-the-ground conservation actions that would benefit wolves and a host of other wildlife species."

Mason noted that since the grey wolf was delisted in the western Great Lakes Region, only one wolf has been taken under lethal control measures in Michigan - at an Ontonagon County farm that has had a history of wolf depredation issues.

For more information on Michigan's wolf management plan, visit the DNR online at www.michigan.gov/dnr and click on Wildlife and Habitat.