MINNEAPOLIS, MN (AP)-- Some members of Congress are making another run at taking gray wolves in the upper Midwest and Wyoming off the endangered list.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had tried to take wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Wyoming off the list, saying those populations had recovered sufficiently to allow resumed hunting under state management plans. But courts in 2014 re-imposed federal protections for the wolves.
A bill introduced Tuesday by U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, Sean Duffy of Wisconsin and Liz Cheney of Wyoming would block the courts from intervening.
Similar proposals failed to advance last year, partly due to White House opposition, but farmers and ranchers who say they have no way to protect their livestock from problem wolves are hoping that changes under the Trump administration.
