The Bush administration misread the law when it removed endangered-species protections from a population of some 4,000 gray wolves in the Great Lakes region, a federal judge ruled Monday. U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman reinstated the wolves onto the endangered-species list, agreeing with green groups that Great Lakes wolves are not a “distinct population segment” able to be de-listed without regard to wolf well-being elsewhere. Friedman’s ruling reverses new state rules that allowed residents in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to kill wolves that attacked livestock or pets. The ruling echoed recent goings-on in the Northern Rockies, where the Bush administration recently declared wolves recovered, inspiring states to lift bans on wolf hunting, only to see a judge reinstate endangered-species protections. Notes Amy Atwood of the Center for Biological Diversity, “The Bush administration’s repeated attempts to push the limits of the Endangered Species Act have been decidedly rejected by the courts.”
