1.1A resolution1.2memorializing Congress to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act.1.3WHEREAS, the purpose of the federal Endangered Species Act is to improve the status of 1.4a listed species to the point that it no longer needs Endangered Species Act protection; and 1.5WHEREAS, a successful recovery plan implemented after the gray wolf was first listed 1.6under the Endangered Species Act in 1974 has resulted in a healthy, self-sustaining population of 1.7gray wolves in the upper Great Lakes area; and 1.8WHEREAS, the gray wolf recovery plan goal was for a population of 1,250 to 1,400 1.9animals in Minnesota, at which point long-term population viability would be assured; and 1.10WHEREAS, the Minnesota population of gray wolves has steadily expanded to at least 1.113,000 animals and is not therefore biologically in danger of extinction; and 1.12WHEREAS, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has attempted three times to 1.13remove federal protection of gray wolves in the Great Lakes region, only to have lawsuits 1.14reverse such delisting; and 1.15WHEREAS, wolf predation on livestock and big game species is resulting in economic 1.16losses in the state of Minnesota; NOW, THEREFORE, 1.17BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that Congress should 1.18speedily enact legislation to remove the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment of 1.19gray wolves from the federal list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered 1.20Species Act.2.1BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is 2.2directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 2.3States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of 2.4the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Environment 2.5and Public Works, the chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, and Minnesota's 2.6Senators and Representatives in Congress.