Senator Casperson offered the following resolution:

            Senate Resolution No. 105.

            A resolution to support scientifically-based state management of gray wolves and memorialize the Congress of the United States to enact legislation that removes the western Great Lakes gray wolf population from the endangered and threatened species list.

            Whereas, Gray wolves have made a remarkable recovery from near extinction and are no longer endangered in Michigan. From only a handful of wolves in the late 1980s, Michigan's gray wolf population has grown over the last thirty years to more than 600 animals; and

            Whereas, Based on objective scientific criteria, Michigan's wolf population has met all federal recovery goals for delisting both in terms of number of wolves and the stability of those numbers. For nearly twenty years, Michigan's gray wolf population has exceeded the number of wolves biologists consider necessary to maintain a healthy population within the state. For more than five years, Michigan's Upper Peninsula has maintained a gray wolf population at least three times the recovery goal; and

            Whereas, Federal courts have disregarded the judgment of United States Fish and Wildlife Service scientists and multiple times in the last decade overturned the removal of the western Great Lakes population of gray wolves from the federal endangered and threatened species list; and

            Whereas, The extreme protection afforded gray wolves under the federal Endangered Species Act prevents sound management in Michigan. Gray wolves increasingly impact other wildlife and encroach on farms and developed areas, endangering people, livestock, and pets. The federal law was designed to bring back species from the brink of extinction, not manage the complicated interactions between people and a large 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; and

            Whereas, It is long past time for the management of the gray wolf population to be returned to state control. The federal courts have developed an unreasonable interpretation of the Endangered Species Act that infringes on this state's rights to manage wildlife and leaves little recourse but for Congress to step in; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate, That we support scientifically-based state management of gray wolves and memorialize the Congress of the United States to enact legislation that removes the western Great Lakes gray wolf population from the 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, and the members of the Michigan congressional delegation.