<div class="xtend"><a id="pl.1.1"></a><var>1.1</var>A resolution<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>memorializing Congress to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>WHEREAS, the purpose of the federal Endangered Species Act is to improve the status of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>a listed species to the point that it no longer needs Endangered Species Act protection; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>WHEREAS, a successful recovery plan implemented after the gray wolf was first listed <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>under the Endangered Species Act in 1974 has resulted in a healthy, self-sustaining population of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>gray wolves in the upper Great Lakes area; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var>WHEREAS, the gray wolf recovery plan goal was for a population of 1,250 to 1,400 <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>animals in Minnesota, at which point long-term population viability would be assured; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>WHEREAS, the Minnesota population of gray wolves has steadily expanded to at least <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>3,000 animals and is not therefore biologically in danger of extinction; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>WHEREAS, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has attempted three times to <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>remove federal protection of gray wolves in the Great Lakes region, only to have lawsuits <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>reverse such delisting; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>WHEREAS, wolf predation on livestock and big game species is resulting in economic <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>losses in the state of Minnesota; NOW, THEREFORE, <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that Congress should <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>speedily enact legislation to remove the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>gray wolves from the federal list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>Species Act.<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Environment <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>and Public Works, the chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, and Minnesota's <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>Senators and Representatives in Congress.<br />
         		
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