LANSING (WKZO) — The State of Michigan will join other groups in a challenge a Federal Court ruling protecting Grey Wolves.
Animal rights groups have been gathering petition signatures for two years, only to have them torpedoed by legislative action specifially designed to keep the question off the ballot. Hundreds of thousands if not millions have been spent trying to both end and protect the right of the state to have wolf hunts.
It was a stunner when a Federal judge halted the practice with one swipe of a pen. His ruling effectively ended hunts in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The Judge ruled in favor of a suit brought by the Humane Society, arguing that the wolves should have remained on the Endangered Species list.
Now the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has notified the Federal Court of Appeals that they will be joining the Wisconsin DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in an appeal.
A number of hunting and fishing organizations also plan to participate.
