S. 5519 — Northern Great Lakes Wolf Recovery Act

This section defines terms used throughout the Act, including the 1978 Rule on gray wolf reclassification, the Northern Great Lakes Region Gray Wolf Advisory Committee, the February 2008 Post-delisting Monitoring Plan for the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment of the Gray Wolf, the Northern Great Lakes Region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula), and the Secretary of the Interior and Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

This section directs the Director, in consultation with the advisory committee, to update the post-delisting monitoring plan for the gray wolf population in the Northern Great Lakes Region within one year of enactment. It expands the Minnesota population description in the 1978 rule to include that region and requires the Secretary to issue a rule delisting the population under the Endangered Species Act.

This section establishes the Northern Great Lakes Region Gray Wolf Advisory Committee within 30 days after enactment. The committee consists of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Chief of the Forest Service, representatives of federally recognized Indian Tribes, heads of state agencies in the Northern Great Lakes Region, and experts in wolf biology and management. It consults on updates to the monitoring plan and on issuance of the delisting rule and the five-year post-delisting monitoring period.