Wisconsin’s gray wolves would return to state control, under a bill endorsed by a U.S. Senate committee. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Wednesday approved an amendment to a bill that orders wolves to be removed from federal Endangered Species Act protections in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Wyoming.
The panel voted to request that the full Senate to add its proposal to a larger sportsmen’s act, after a similar effort to add the provision to a budget package was rejected.
The action would nullify a federal judge’s ruling from late 2014 that returned wolves from in the four states to the federal endangered species list. The panel’s amendment would prohibit courts from making future interventions in the four states.
The House has passed a similar measure, and a conference committee would have to pass a final compromise that’s acceptable to President Obama.