California announces plans to relax protections for wolves as population grows
From MercuryNews.com:
In the latest sign that wolves are continuing to make a comeback across California after being hunted out of existence for nearly a century, state wildlife officials have announced that population numbers have increased enough that they plan to relax rules that have set strict protections on the high-profile species.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday that the changes, when finalized by the end of this year, will allow ranchers and other rural property owners to obtain permits to use more aggressive methods to chase gray wolves away from livestock — including firing rubber bullets or bean bags to scare them away, and using ATVs, motorcycles or other equipment to chase them from herds of cattle or sheep.
