Wisconsin Farm Bureau President Jim Holte issued the following statement regarding the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the listing of the gray wolf in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota:
“Although wolf numbers in our state have long recovered past the point of needing federal protection, lawsuits from extreme animal rights groups have kept this issue in a back-and-forth legal limbo. The decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals proves this.
With 4,000 gray wolves across the Western Great Lakes Region, the species is hardly struggling, yet our farmers struggle to protect their livestock from the growing population of these predators. Unfortunately, Wisconsin farmers will again be at the mercy of decisions made in court rooms instead of using sound science.
We ask that Congress modernize the Endangered Species Act so Wisconsin farmers won’t have their hands tied when it comes to defending their livestock and livelihoods.”
