[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 4, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S1302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-7. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the State of 
     Michigan supporting scientifically-based state management of 
     gray wolves and calling for legislative action by the U.S. 
     Congress in an effort to remove the Western Great Lakes gray 
     wolf population from the endangered and threatened species 
     list; to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

                        Senate Resolution No. 7

       Whereas, On December 19, 2014, the U.S. District Court for 
     the District of Columbia returned the Western Great Lakes 
     population of gray wolves to the federal endangered and 
     threatened species list. This is the third time in the last 
     decade that federal courts have disregarded the judgment of 
     U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists and overturned a 
     delisting of the gray wolf in the Great Lakes regions; and
       Whereas, Based on objective scientific criteria, gray 
     wolves have made a remarkable recovery from near extinction 
     and are no and longer endangered in Michigan. Michigan's gray 
     wolf population exceeds by more than three times the number 
     or wolves biologists consider necessary to maintain a healthy 
     population and has grown steadily for more than a decade. 
     Michigan's wolf population has met all federal recovery goals 
     for delisting, both in terms of the number of wolves and the 
     stability of those numbers; and
       Whereas, The extreme protection afforded gray wolves under 
     the federal Endangered Species Act prevents sound management 
     of this species in Michigan. Gray wolves increasingly 
     endanger people and domestic animals as they encroach more 
     and more on developed areas, and they also impact other 
     wildlife. In 2014, deadly wolf attacks on livestock and dogs 
     increased 75 percent in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. As a 
     result of the court's decision, Michigan's laws allowing 
     citizens to protect their valuable livestock and dogs from 
     wolves have been invalidated. The federal law was designed to 
     bring back species from the brink of extinction, not manage 
     the complicated interactions between people and an 
     increasingly large and expanding predator population; and
       Whereas, Michigan is well-prepared to manage gray wolves. 
     The state of Michigan has developed a scientifically-based 
     management plan that will continue to maintain a healthy gray 
     wolf population while allowing for more flexibility when 
     conflicts between people and wolves arise. This plan will 
     allow the state to meets its obligations under sections 51 
     and 52 of the Constitution of the State of Michigan of 1963 
     to protect the public health and natural resources in the 
     interest of the general welfare of the people; and
       Whereas, Michigan cannot properly manage the gray wolf 
     population until gray wolves are removed from the federal 
     endangered and threatened species list in the Great Lakes 
     region. The federal courts' continued interference infringes 
     on this state's rights under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. 
     Constitution, and the U.S. District Court's ruling must be 
     overturned or the fundamental flaws in the federal Endangered 
     Species Act corrected so that science and reason can prevail; 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate, That we support scientifically-
     based state management of gray wolves by the Michigan Natural 
     Resources Commission and the Michigan Department of Natural 
     Resources; and be it further
       Resolved, That to achieve that end, we support federal 
     legislation to lift federal protections on the Western Great 
     Lakes gray wolf population so they are no longer considered 
     endangered, and we call on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
     and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to appeal 
     the recent federal court ruling that returned gray wolves in 
     the Great Lakes region to the federal endangered and 
     threatened species list; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     United States House of Representatives, the members of the 
     Michigan congressional delegation, the director of the US. 
     Fish and Wildlife Service, the Michigan Natural Resources 
     Commission, and the director of the Michigan Department of 
     Natural Resources.

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