Rebecca Humphries DNR director

ESCANABA — Department of Natural Resources Director Becky Humphries claims the federal government’s timetable on removing grey wolves from the endangered species list has soured public opinion. “I think the (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service waited too long to de-list,” she said. With the grey wolf federally de-listed earlier this year, management responsibility shifts to the state. They are still on the state endangered list, pending administrative review. Humphries visited Escanaba Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s Natural Resources Commission meeting in Munising, where the DNR’s wolf management plan was expected to be approved. It must also pass the state legislature. Also, three animal rights organizations have sued the FWS in order to return the wolves to the endangered species list in the Western Great Lakes. The DNR’s most recent data sets the U.P. wolf population at 509, just two decades after they had nearly disappeared from the state. In some parts of the U.P.