Red wolf panel’s struggles portend problems for species

JONATHAN DREW, The Associated Press Published: March 3, 2016

 

FILE - In this file photo taken Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015, a male red wolf enjoys a feeding in it's habitat at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, N.C. A lawsuit filed Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, argues that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act when it gave landowners permission on two occasions to kill wolves without meeting strict legal requirements. It asks a judge to force the service to stop such incomplete kill approvals and to perform a past-due review of the wolves' endangered status. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A panel convened to help chart the future of the dwindling wild population of red wolves has struggled to agree on how to move forward, prompting one member to resign.
The lack of progress caused biologist Ben Prater, who works for the nonprofit group Defenders of Wildlife, to step down from the red wolf recovery team organized late last year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Prater said in an interview that the 13-member team had trouble agreeing on whether the program should be continued or abandoned, making it difficult to develop recommendations for the government.
The government launched the recovery team with the goal of gathering stakeholders ranging from biologists to landowners to advise the government officials, who will ultimately decide the fate of the red wolf program.

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