WASHINGTON, D.C. (KDAL) – Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson has offered an amendment to the upcoming Energy Policy Modernization Act that would return wolves to state control.
The amendment would instruct the Department of the Interior to re-issue final rules related to the listing of the gray wolf in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan and Wyoming under the endangered species act. Johnson says it’s been over a year since a judge returned the wolf to the endangered list and he “strongly agrees with Wisconsin farmers, ranchers, loggers and sportsmen that future gray wolf decisions should come from the experts, not from judges.” He says the responsibility for wolf population management “should be free from political intrusion and returned to state wildlife managment authorities.”
The amendment would also prohibit the Director of the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the Northern Long Eared Bat as an endangered species. Senator Johnson says “while the bat deserves and is receiving needed regulatory protection, federal regulators must not take a step that would significantly disrupt the forestry industry.” The bat is battling white-nose syndrome and is currently listed as a threatened species.