Despite objections from Minnesota and other states, a federal appellate court on Tuesday upheld a lower court decision that keeps gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region on the endangered species list.The decision keeps in place current rules surrounding wolves, and blocks states from asserting management control over the species, including the implementation of hunting seasons.In Minnesota, that means wolves, at least for the time being, will continue to be classified as threatened under federal law, meaning Minnesotans cannot legally kill a wolf, except in the defense of human life.The case dates back to late 2011, when the federal government removed wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan from endangered species protection.

Source: Federal court keeps MN wolves under endangered species protection | Minnesota Public Radio News

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has sided with The HSUS and other animal welfare groups and ruled that federal protections for wolves under the Endangered Species Act should be maintained for 4,000 or so wolves inhabiting the northern reaches of the boreal forests of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This was a ruling nervously anticipated by all parties to the case, and it’s an enormously significant win for conservation, the integrity of the Endangered Species Act, and for the wolves. I am proud that The HSUS brought and led this case, and that the decision has now been affirmed by two federal courts.

Source: Breaking news: Federal appeals court rules to maintain protections for Great Lakes wolves · A Humane Nation

HOUGHTON — John Vucetich — Michigan Tech professor in the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science and co-director, with Michigan Tech Professor Rolf Peterson, of the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose study — recently returned from Washington, DC, after testifying before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works at the July 19 Legislative Hearing on S. 1514, the Hunting Heritage and Environmental Legacy Preservation (HELP) for Wildlife Act.

Source: Keweenaw Now: Michigan Tech Professor John Vucetich testifies before Senate Committee: S. 1514 would weaken Endangered Species Act, strip wolves of protection

State wildlife managers have removed one wolf from the Smackout Pack to head off a series of depredations in Northeast Washington.They say that the lethal removal operation, which began a week ago, will continue for another week, and be followed by an evaluation period.The goal is to take out one or two members of the calf-killing pack to change its behavior.

Source: 1 Smackout Wolf Lethally Removed In Ops To Halt NE WA Depredations

The Research, The work took place at Notre Dame’s Environmental Research Center that straddles the border between Michigan’s Western Upper Peninsula and Northeast Wisconsin. The site has forest, bogs and swamps, with red and sugar maples as the dominant hardwoods — a preferred food for deer.Of wolves, deer, maples and wildflowers by Eric Freedman first published on June 16, 2016 Source breaks the results of the research down in the following article:Grey wolves are good for wildflowers like the nodding trillium and the Canada mayflower in the Great Lakes region.They’re also good for young red maples and sugar maples.That’s because white-tailed deer are bad for both wildflowers and maple saplings.And wolves are bad for deer.

Source: Gray wolves in northern Wisconsin are saving the forest  – Wolves of Douglas County Wisconsin

A federal judge has ordered Idaho to destroy all information collected from collars placed on elk and wolves obtained illegally by landing a helicopter in a central Idaho wilderness area.

Source: Judge orders Idaho to destroy elk and wolf wilderness data | KTVB.COM

Looking for answers: Researchers monitoring wolf movements near DuluthBy Sam Cook on Jul 15, 2017 at 8:43 p.m.AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to Facebook6Share to TwitterShare to RedditShare to EmailShare to Copy Link1 / 7Christina Maley followed the drag marks across the logging road and peered into a dense tangle of spruce and balsam fir. She saw something moving in the shady undergrowth.”It’s a wolf!” said Maley, wildlife research and management specialist at the 1854 Treaty Authority based in Duluth. A big grin spread across her face. A wolf was exactly what she was hoping to see. Maley and two of her colleagues were just a few miles north of Duluth on Tuesday morning, checking 21 wolf traps they had placed the day before on county and state land.

Source: Looking for answers: Researchers monitoring wolf movements near Duluth | Duluth News Tribune