TRAVERSE CITY, MI (AP)-- A group of scientists is taking issue with colleagues who want the federal government to remove gray wolves in the Great Lakes region from the endangered species list.
Twenty-six biologists who favor lifting protections from wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin made their case last week in a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. The department has tried to drop wolves from the list but has been overruled by courts in lawsuits from animal protection groups.
In a statement Tuesday, 29 other scientists say Great Lakes wolves should stay on the list for now. They question the adequacy of state management plans and contend the wolves still meet the legal definition of endangered species.
And they disagree with the idea that keeping wolves on the list increases public resentment.
