Suit filed to remove Minn. wolves from endangered species list

Wolf
A captive wolf at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn.
MPR Photo/Bob Kelleher

Two Minnesota men have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to remove Minnesota wolves from the U.S. endangered species list.

Gerald Tyler of Ely and Dale Lueck of Aitkin filed suit in U.S. District Court in Duluth on Wednesday. Tyler said they're trying to return authority for managing Minnesota's 3,000 wolves from the federal government to the state.

"We're asking them to begin, conduct, and complete a review of the delisting criteria regarding the Minnesota gray wolf; and to issue the final rule removing the gray wolf species from the endangered and threatened list under the Endangered Species Act," Tyler said.

Howard Goldman, State Director of the Humane Society, said wolves haven't been re-established in enough of their US range to justify delisting. Under state management, protections for wolves would loosen, with the possibility of a public hunt after five years.