Missoulian: Tester, Baucus renew wolf efforts with change in Wyoming leadership
With a new governor installed in Wyoming this month, Montana’s senators are calling for more effort to return gray wolf management to state control.
“We urge you to begin discussions promptly with the three governors with the goal of reaching a common solution that will return wolves to state management as quickly as possible,” senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday. “We believe that with renewed effort and a fresh perspective from the parties involved, we can resolve this issue and move forward.”
In 2009, the federal government allowed Idaho and Montana to manage their wolves after removing them from Endangered Species Act protection. Wyoming’s wolves remained under federal control because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that state’s wolf management plan inadequate.
