Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake has introduced an amendment to the Senate Energy Act that would delist Mexican gray wolf. The amendment would remove from the wolf from the Endangered Species Act list.
The amendment – found at this link – calls for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to verify that at least 100 MGWs exist within a 5,000 square mile region, and to remove federal protection as per the Wolf Recovery Plan of 1982, which declares MGWs recovered at that threshold.
The amendment reads in part: Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall determine whether a population of not fewer than 100 Mexican gray wolves in a 5,000-square-mile area within the historic range of the Mexican gray wolf has been established, as described in the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan of 1982 prepared by the Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan.
The ADI reported in January that Utah Wildlife Board Chairman John Bair said that the wolf was being used “as the silver bullet to kill the culture of the West,” and that claim appears to have been confirmed in recently uncovered emails from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.